Looking For History About Manufacturer

[Montreal]

"I seem to own the one and only May-Yacht boat ever made: a 1986 176 BR. Can't find any info about the manufacturer of this boat or any other boats made by the company either in Riverside, Missouri, where the tag in the boat says the company is located as May-Yachts, Inc., or in Iowa where a Hull Identification Number beginning with MZA indicates Harlan Boats, Inc was the manufacturer and located in Harlan, IA. I bought the boat in July of 2009 at an estate auction in northern Michigan - still had all the paint on the exhaust manifold. It's a good solid boat and rides nice. Just have always been curious about it's heritage. Any one have any knowledge of May-Yachts, Inc or Harlan Boats? Have not yet found any other May-Yacht boats on the internet.

 

[hemi rt]

Here is some info on Harlan boats - https://boathistoryreport.com/directory/manufacturers/detail/?mic=MZA

 

[Scott Danforth]

remember, hundreds of thousands of boat companies came and went prior to the internet coming in 1991

many of them only made one or two boats. some lasted for about a year and made a few hundred. many are copies of other boats, some buy hulls from a known supplier and upfit them themselves. you may never find information on it short of going to the library in Harlan IA and looking thru the newspaper articles from the 80's

 

[Montreal]

Thanks guys. I have used boathistoryreports.com in the past and, at least in my case, the $39.99 report didn't tell me anything that was worth the cost. Maybe someday there might be a reason to pass thru Harlan on the way to or from somewhere and I can then check with local resources - library or newspaper or State Business Entities records.