North Star Yachts Ltd.

North Star Yachts Ltd. (sometimes stylized as Northstar Yachts Ltd.) was a short-lived Canadian sailboat manufacturer operating from 1969 to 1977 in Centralia, Ontario, as a rebranded subsidiary of Hughes Boat Works under U.S. Steel's ownership, during which it produced a select line of high-quality fiberglass racer-cruisers commissioned from the prestigious Sparkman & Stephens design firm. Founded amid the 1960s fiberglass boom, the company leveraged Hughes' established tooling and expertise—originally started by brothers Howard and Peter Hughes in Willowdale, Ontario, in the early 1960s for small dinghies— to expand into larger offshore designs, focusing on performance-oriented models for the growing one-design and IOR racing markets. U.S. Steel acquired Hughes in 1969 to capitalize on leisure market growth, renaming it North Star Yachts Ltd. and commissioning S&S designs like the North Star 500 (1973–1975, a 25 ft Quarter Ton racer, ~50 built) and North Star 600 (1975–1977, a 26 ft cruiser-racer evolution, ~50–100 built), both emphasizing lightweight construction, fin keels, and responsive handling for club racing or coastal cruising. The yard also produced the North Star 1000 (1974–1977, a 30 ft Half Tonner based on S&S #2098, later modified as the Hughes 31) and North Star 1500 (1974–1977, a 35 ft cruiser-racer, S&S #2166, developed into the Hughes 35 with ~20–30 hulls total). Economic pressures from the 1973–1974 recession contributed to its quick demise; U.S. Steel sold the company back to Howard Hughes in 1977, reverting it to Hughes Boat Works, which continued production of these designs alongside others like the Hughes 38 until a 1991 factory fire halted operations permanently, marking the end of North Star's brief but influential run.