For four years, while working at his father's business as a bookkeeper, he attended night school and took a correspondence course in order to become an accredited marine designer.

Once qualified (at the age of 22) he set about solving a number of problems that inhibited speed and performance in motor boats.

Hacker's first major task in boat design was to try to solve the problem of "squatting", which occurred with all the canoe-stern shaped powerboats of the 1900s.

The boat also featured Hacker's revolutionary "V"-hull design, which produced stunning speed and efficiency at low horsepower.

His combination of design flair and engineering brilliance led him to create the shape and style that was to become the signature look of American speedboats.

The names of his designs include Pardon Me, the Minute Man, Thunderbird, El Lagarto, Bootlegger, Peerless, Dolphin, Kitty Hawk, Tempo VI, the Belle Isle Bear Cats, Lockpat II, and My Sweetie.

In the same year he designed Kitty Hawk, the first successful step hydroplane that exceeded the then-unthinkable speed of over 50 mph (80 km/h) and was then the fastest boat in the world.

The company was thriving and in 1921, Hacker decided it was time to open a satellite facility in Mount Clemens, Michigan.

The boat works on the Clinton River in Mount Clemens continued to expand, and by 1928 they provided 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) of floor space for the handcrafting of fine mahogany runabouts.

That year the influential "Pageant of Progress" reported that the Hacker Boat Company employed sixty-eight men with demand growing rapidly.

Along with a handful of others, such as Gar Woods and Chris-Crafts, Hacker's gleaming mahogany runabouts captured the public imagination with their elegant design and breakneck speed and in the process quickly became the must-have play thing for the rich and famous.

[2] In Mount Clemens, Hacker Boat Company rebounded from the Depression with popular "utility" Hacker-Craft runabouts priced for the ordinary consumer.

In 1939 Hacker was commissioned by property tycoon George Whitell to build what was to be one of his masterpieces and is now a national historic treasure, a 55 ft (17 m) commuter called Thunderbird, which was commemorated on a postage stamp in 2007 by the U.S.

While retaining most of the traditional craftsmanship, Morgan made several significant improvements over the old plans, as concessions to the advancement of technology: dual exhausts, rather than the original single exhaust, for enhanced engine performance; the use of stainless steel fittings and hardware throughout so that pitting was no longer a problem; state-of-the-art epoxy encapsulation and bonding techniques; triple planked bottoms completely encased in epoxy; double planked sides and deck saturated in epoxy; 25% more frames; double the number of floor timbers; up to 18 coats of varnish; the use of renewable-resourced Honduras mahogany; new improved steering for more maneuverability; and laminated windshields with either blue or green tints.

In addition to the new production facility, the company's headquarters campus on Lake George, also the site of a full service marina, was upgraded, with a new showroom capable of displaying four boats.