The Builder

Founded in 1845 by the Ulm iron dealer Abt and Laupheim plane manufacturer Esslinger, the company began as a specialist in woodworking and metalworking. Over the decades, Esslinger & Abt (E&A) produced everything from school and workplace furniture to precision tools and steel equipment.

By the 1960s, managing director Dr. Kurt Huth—an avid sailor—saw an opportunity to apply the company’s craftsmanship to yacht building. While E&A already excelled in wood and metalwork, plastics and fiberglass hull construction required new expertise. Employees trained in Zaandam, combining professional instruction with their own enthusiasm and dedication, successfully bridged this gap.

Soon, around 12% of the workforce was devoted to yacht construction—laying the foundation for E&A’s future as a respected yacht builder.

The economic turbulence of the 1980s—marked by the oil crisis, stock market volatility, and rising unemployment—hit the European yacht industry hard. Demand for mass-produced GRP yachts collapsed, and many yards were forced to shut down or scale back dramatically.

For Esslinger & Abt, the boom years also came to an end. After a sharp decline in sales, the yacht-building division could no longer remain viable, and on February 25, 1985, the company filed for bankruptcy.

Later that year, the Liesen Yacht Trading Company of Lingen acquired all construction and naming rights, along with the complete design archives and technical equipment needed to continue production. At some point afterwards—though the exact date remains unclear—the molds were sold on to a Hungarian yard, where yacht building carried on for a time under new ownership.