Lyle C. Hess

1912 - 2002

lyle hess photo

Lyle Hess designed and built his first boat at the age of 14. During WWII, he worked as a shipwright at Harbor Boatworks in San Pedro, building wood torpedo boats and minesweepers for the British Navy. After the war he built fishing boats for the Humbolt Bay Boat Company.

In 1946, with partner Roy Barteaux, he founded L. A. Yacht Yard in Harbor City, California.
He later sold his share and went into home construction business with his brother but still working at yacht design in his spare time.

With the introduction of the BALBOA 20, built by Arthur Marine, Hess was able to work at yacht design full time.

In addition, with the success of Larry Pardee's Seraffyn, designed by Hess, and the subsequent articles written about her, he was asked to design a 28' version, the BRISTOL CHANNEL CUTTER, for construction in fiberglass by the Sam L. Morse Company of Costa Mesa.

Sailboats Designed By Lyle C. Hess

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20 Sailboats / Per Page: 50 / Page: 1

MODEL LOA FIRST BUILT FAVORITE COMPARE
BALBOA 20 20.00 ft / 6.10 m 1967
BALBOA 26 25.58 ft / 7.80 m 1969
BALBOA 27 8.2 26.50 ft / 8.08 m 1976
BRISTOL CHANNEL CUTTER 28.08 ft / 8.56 m 1976
ENSENADA 20 20.00 ft / 6.10 m 1972
FALMOUTH CUTTER 22 22.00 ft / 6.71 m 1980
FALMOUTH CUTTER 26 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
FALMOUTH CUTTER 34 43.00 ft / 13.11 m 1982
FATTY KNEES 9.00 ft / 2.74 m 2000
KONA 14 14.08 ft / 4.29 m 1971
LA PAZ 25 25.00 ft / 7.62 m 1973
MONTGOMERY 12 12.20 ft / 3.72 m 1972
MONTGOMERY 17 17.08 ft / 5.21 m 1973
MONTGOMERY 17 FD 17.08 ft / 5.21 m 1975
MONTGOMERY 23 23.00 ft / 7.01 m 1979
MONTGOMERY 7-11 7.92 ft / 2.41 m 0
NOR'SEA 26 PILOTHOUSE 27.58 ft / 8.41 m 1978
NOR'SEA 27 27.00 ft / 8.23 m 1976
NOR'SEA 37 36.42 ft / 11.10 m 1992
RK 20 20.00 ft / 6.10 m 1972