The Rise and Fall of Uniflite: How the Navy's Toughest Boat Destroyed Itself

The Uniflite story is one of the strangest in American boatbuilding: the toughest fiberglass boat the U.S. Navy ever sent into combat, the only pleasure boat built with fire-retardant resin, and the brand that destroyed itself with a single change to that very resin. In this Rise and Fall, we cover Art Nordtvedt and the "united crew" who founded United Boat Builders in Bellingham, Washington in 1957, the move to the Fairhaven plant in 1959, the 1962 New York Stock Exchange listing, and the Vietnam-era PBR (Patrol Boat, River) program that turned Uniflite into a legend on the rivers of the Mekong Delta. We get the history right, too: the PBR was designed at Hatteras Yachts by Willis Slane and Jack Hargrave and built by Uniflite, two patrol boats a day at the peak, more than four hundred of the Mark II boats and over seven hundred PBRs in all. Then the fatal mistake. The mid-1970s resin change, the bromine-driven acid blistering that ate through entire hulls, the early-1980s class-action lawsuit that taught the whole industry how water wicks through fiberglass, the April 8, 1980 Fairhaven factory fire, the Swansboro, North Carolina plant, and the 1984 Chris-Craft sale that ended in shutdown by 1989. If you own, love, or are shopping for a used Uniflite, or you just want the real history of the brown-water Navy's patrol boat, this is the straight-talk version, with the dates verified and the names said right. Sources: Nautipedia, History of Uniflite Boat HistoryNet, "Vietnam's River Patrol Boats Packed Both Speed and Firepower" Navy Times, "Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy" David Pascoe (yachtsurvey.com), "Blisters Again?" (the Uniflite class action and fiber wicking) Port of Bellingham, "Shipbuilding in Fairhaven" (the 1980 fire; Chris-Craft 1984–1989) Additional sources: Wikipedia (Uniflite; Patrol Boat, River); The Hull Truth Uniflite threads; BoatBlurb "Gone But Not Forgotten" series; We Are The Mighty (PBR engines and Jacuzzi jets); SailNet and AllCoast owner threads (blister mechanism); Cruising Northwest (~11,000 boats built); BBJ Today / Norstar Boats (500+ employees); Denison Yacht Sales builder history; Shamrock Boat Owners Club (pre-blister vs post-blister). Write to me: [email protected] This channel is made by a boating enthusiast, not a marine professional. I'm not a licensed surveyor, broker, marine mechanic, naval architect, financial advisor, or insurance agent, and nothing here is professional advice. All content is for entertainment and general-interest purposes only. Boat histories, prices, specifications, and opinions are based on publicly available sources and my own research, and may contain errors, omissions, or out-of-date information. Prices and values vary widely by location, condition, and time. Brand names, models, and trademarks belong to their respective owners and are referenced only for commentary, education, and historical discussion. Before buying, selling, restoring, insuring, or operating any boat, always do your own research and consult a qualified professional.