Kettenburg Boats

Located in San Diego, CA, Kettengurg boats was founded by George Kettenburg Jr. who began by building small power runabouts and then sailing yachts, most notably the PC Class which is still raced in the San Diego area to this day. During the 1930’s, when recreational boating dropped off, the company found new business in the construction of a specialized ‘Albacore’ fishing boat. During the WWII, the firm received a contract to build ‘plane rearming boats’ for the military. At the end of the war, George designed the PCC or PACIFIC COAST CLASS which proved to be nearly unbeatable on the race course as well as easy for a family to handle. The K-38, designed by Paul Kettenburg, was introduced in 1948. This was followed by the KETTENBURG 40 of which nearly 40 were built over a period of 7 years, an impressive number for boats of this type during this period. In later years, the firm concentrated more on repairs and maintenance of yachts as well as custom projects. An emerging fiberglass technology came to dominated the market for new sailboats. The company did produce a few fiberlass models in the 1960’s though the hulls were molded elsewhere. I should point out that the Kettenburg web site is one the best of it’s kind for Kettenburg owners and/or aficionado’s. The link is displayed above. Book available: Building Kettenburgs, Mark Allen SBN: 978-0-939511-26-6