 
Tiara, a division of S2 Yachts, Inc. has a rich boat building heritage which extends over four decades. We take great pride in providing our customers with yachts of sublime quality for years of enjoyment while maintaining a high resale value.
Headquartered in Holland, Michigan,
Tiara Yachts also maintains a second manufacturing location in Swansboro, North Carolina to facilitate production of our 5200 Express, 5000 Open, and 4400 Express. The product for 2003 includes Open and Express models with inboard power from 29-52 feet. S2 Yachts also produces Pursuit boats from 22'-38' in inboard, outboard and stern drive configurations.
Leon Slikkers started at Chris-Craft in the joiner department making cabin tops in 1946. In the early 1950's Leon began building 14' runabouts in his garage after work. In 1954 he registered the Slickcraft name, and the following year he left a promising career at the age of 27 to open his own shop and fulfill his dream. He sold his house and started a small factory on Washington Avenue in Holland, Michigan. Leon began experimenting with a new materialcalled fiberglass in 1955. Within three years,
the company put a few of the boats into production and, by 1963, had stopped building with wood completely.
In 1969, Leon sold Slickcraft to the AMF Corporation. He stayed on as President to head up three AMF
companies (including Slickcraft), but eventually realized that the large corporation's business principles did not match his own and left after four years. Leon started over in 1974 building sailboats under the name S2 Yachts. Within ten years, S2 was one of the top five sailboat manufacturers in the United States, known for building both quality cruising vessels
as well as racing boats. Gradually the company began producing high-quality power boats called Tiara, and phasing out the sailboats. S2 Yachts then constructed a second facility in Ft. Pierce, Florida and, in 1977, added Pursuit to its product line up. In 1983, S2 Yachts purchased the Slickcraft brand name from AMF, and the following year, Leon Slikkers became Chief Executive Officer and David Slikkers was named President.
|
