-
In the 1940's Leon Slikkers joins Chris-Craft in the joiner department fabricating cabin tops
-
In the early 1950's Slikkers begins constructing 14' runabouts in his garage after work
-
1954 – The Slickcraft trade name is registered.
-
1955 – Slikkers departs Chris-Craft and sells his home to raise the capital needed to launch a small factory located on Washington Avenue in Holland, MI called Slickcraft.
-
1956 - Slikkers begins experimenting with fiberglass hull construction
-
1961 – The product line expands to include 17 foot boats and all of the wooden models are discontinued
-
1962 – Slickcraft expands into old skating rink on Washington Avenue
-
1964 – The SS235, Slickcraft's most successful boat and the a forerunner in the trend toward cuddy cabin boats that you could trailer.
-
1966 – Construction began on the new Slickcraft plant on Broods Avenue in Holland, MI
-
1969 – Slickcraft was sold to AMF and Leon Slikkers stayed on as President
-
1973 – Slikkers resigned as the President of Slickcraft
-
1974 – The establishment of S2 Yachts, Inc., a manufacturer of sailboats in a 72,000 square foot facility with 53 employees
-
1977 – Saw the beginning of the Pursuit series of boats
-
1979 – The plant capacity doubled and all product lines were expanded
-
1980 – AMF produced the last Slickcraft
-
1983 – S2 Yachts, Inc. purchased the Slickcraft name from AMF and a new plant was built in Fort Pierce, Florida.
-
1984 – Leon Slikkers is installed as Chief Executive Officer and David Slikkers is appointed President. Construction is completed on a 200,000 square foot two level facility in Holland which brings the total to nearly 500,000 square feet.
-
1986 – A key management team is assembled to incorporate separate dealer franchises for each of the product line, Tiara Yachts, Pursuit Fishing Boats, Slickcraft Sportboats, and S2 Sailboats
-
1987 – The Slickcraft product line is expanded to include five new models and the S2 Sailboat production is ended.
-
1988 – Finds Slickcraft introducing the 310 SC at New York Show. The corporate facilities are expanded which includes doubling the engineering area, adding a corporate sportswear store, and the expansion of the corporate entrance and lobby area
-
1989 – The Pursuit 3250 Open nears completion with its introduction being set for January 1990 at the New York Boat Show and once again new sales records established in all three brand names
-
1990 – Sees the introduction of a flotation bracket option for Pursuit products
-
1991 – The 1850 Pursuit Center Console is introduced at IMTEC
-
1992 – The 2650 Pursuit Center Console introduced at the annual Dealers Meeting and the 2655 Pursuit Center Console is named Boating magazine's "1992 Boat of the Year".
-
3100 Classic is introduced to the market as a Pursuit Express Fisherman and Pursuit also introduces the 1950 and 2150 Dual Console models.
-
The Pursuit 2855 Express Fisherman is introduced in early summer.
-
1993 – The new Pursuit models introduced include the 1950 Dual Console, 2150 Dual Console, 2150 Walk-around, 2355 Center Console, 2555 Center Console, 2555 Walk-around, 2855 Express, and 3100 Express
-
1994 – S2 Yachts was chosen as the winner of the manufacturing division of the MCI/Inc. Magazine's National Award for Positive Customer Service
-
The Pursuit 2600 Inboard Center Console is introduced at the Miami Boat Show
-
1995 – Sees the introduction of the Pursuit 2470 Center Console, 2470 Walk-around, and 3000 Offshore at the Annual Dealer Meeting
-
The new Denali series is introduced at the New York Boat Show featuring the Denali 2460 along with the introduction of the Pursuit 2870 Walk-around at the Miami International Boat Show.
-
1996 - Pursuit introduces the 2800 Walk-around (I/B), 2870 (O/B) & 2800 (I/B) Offshore Center Console boats.
-
The Pursuit 3400 Express, 2860 Denali, and 2270 Center Console were introduced at the annual Dealer Meeting
-
1997 – The Pursuit 2870 Center Console is introduced in February and the Pursuit 2270 Kodiak and 2260 Denali are both introduced in July. The all new Pursuit 3000 Express is introduced in November
-
1998 – The new Pursuit 3000 Express was introduced at the Miami International Boat Show in February
-
Pursuit introduced the “green hull” option for the 2270, 2470 and 2870 Center Consoles as well as the 3000 Offshore and 3400 Express in June.
-
The decks are redesigned on both the Pursuit 2870 Walk-around and the Pursuit 2470 Walk-around which were introduced in August