Steve VanderVeen: Leon Slikkers, founder of S2 Yachts, is a lifelong inventor
Leon Slikkers grew up on a farm near Diamond Springs, Michigan — but instead of doing chores, he preferred working with wood. So, in 1944, after his older brothers, Gerald and Dennis, got jobs at Chris-Craft in Holland, he tried to join them.
Chris-Craft wouldn't hire him, though, because he was only 16 years old. Finally, in 1946, when he was 18, Chris-Craft gave him a job in the joinery department. There, with Harry Bussker as his mentor, Slikkers worked on cabinetry, cabin tops, and floors. By 1952, he was assistant foreman — but then his peers went on strike.
More:The man responsible for Holland's Chris-Craft boats
More: Three brothers, plenty of celery and Holland Transplanter
Before the strike, Slikkers and another Chris-Craft employee, Jason Petroelje, had started building 15-foot wooden “Runabouts” in Slikkers’ two-stall garage at 81 W. 35th St. During the strike, they ramped up production, buying scrap mahogany and cutting it into parts for 10 boats.
They were working on their fourth boat when the strike ended — but Petroelje didn't want to go back. They divided up the wood and ended their partnership. Petroelje launched a custom boat company under the name Skipper-Craft.
Back at Chris-Craft, Slikkers’ responsibilities grew. Soon he was managing 60 people, but he never lost the itch to own his own boat company. He kept building boats in his garage. Unlike Petroelje, Slikkers’ dream was to build a dealer network and develop a national business.
In January 1955, Slikkers decided to leave Chris-Craft. When he told Herm Volkers, his immediate supervisor, he was leaving, Volkers told him to speak with the vice president. When the vice president asked him why he was leaving, Slikkers said he wanted to start his own boat company. The vice president acted surprised, warning him that even Chris-Craft was struggling, and saying he'd have a job waiting for him if Slikkers returned.
Slikkers never looked back. Working out of his garage, he built dual cockpit Runabouts with mahogany decks and molded plywood hulls, which he purchased from a supplier in Grand Rapids. His struggle became not selling boats but finding enough space to make them.
Where would he get money for a factory? He suggested to his wife, Dolores, that they sell their house. She agreed, not knowing where she, Leon, and their two young boys, David and Robert, would live. With the $5,000 Slikkers netted after selling the house and paying off his debts, he bought the building at 791 Washington Ave. — where Home Heating and Air Conditioning is located today — and purchased supplies.
But where would the family live? Dolores was willing to live in the tiny apartment upstairs, but only for a year. They lived there for eight.
In his first year, under the two-word Slick Craft name, Slikkers made 35 boats.
In 1956, Slikkers started experimenting with fiberglass. Initially, he purchased a kit from a small company in Minnesota. Then he met with an engineer from Canfield Plastics of Zeeland, which was making fiberglass chairs for Herman Miller. Then he bought 14-foot fiberglass hulls in batches from Poll Manufacturing Company, owned by Clyde Poll, son of Henry Poll, who had hired Jason Petroelje to design the molds.
To those hulls, Slikkers would add wood decks, chrome hardware and upholstered seats purchased from AutoTop, another local company.
In 1958, Slikkers made his first fiberglass boat — but still with beautiful, hand-varnished mahogany decks. In 1960, he made his first fiberglass hull and deck boat. In 1962, he faced a big decision. At the time, he was making about 200 wooden boats and 40 fiberglass boats per year. But he knew he couldn't expand the business without specializing in one or the other.
He chose to make all fiberglass boats and came out with an innovative design for a 16-footer, which he introduced at the Chicago Boat Show at McCormick Place. It was a black boat with a red interior and white shag carpet. It was the hit of the show.
Subscribe:Learn more about our latest subscription offers!
Needing more production space, Slikkers opened a facility at 1145 Washington Ave. — an old roller-skating rink. Meanwhile, his team, including former Chris-Craft employees, continued to grow.
In 1963, Slikkers introduced an inboard/outboard motor option and built his first cabin cruiser, an 18-footer. His business rapidly grew even though he refused to work or engage in commerce on Saturdays, the Sabbath for Seventh Day Adventists.
We'll continue his story next week.
— Community Columnist Steve VanderVeen is a resident of Holland. Contact him through start-upacademeinc.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland History: Leon Slikkers, founder of S2 Yachts, is a lifelong inventor
