It is a family-run business that was founded in 1816—the oldest continuously operating family boatbuilder in the United States, predating the Burger Boat Company of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, by 47 years.

[2] Hodgdon Yachts is noted for building superyachts, both sail and power, using advanced composite materials and construction techniques.

It's also noted for its ability to incorporate those advanced materials into traditional designs that employ modern electronic and mechanical marine systems.

Successive generations of Hodgdons maintained the business, as siblings left and returned from boatbuilding enterprises, elsewhere in Maine.

[2] The business regained vitality during the Korean War, when it built twelve naval patrol boats.

("Sonny") Hodgdon, Jr., who was born in 1922 and reputedly started work in the yard at an early age, rebuilt the boat-building sheds and obtained a contract to build the first boat designed by William Tripp Sr., Katingo.

Nicknamed the MAKO, the vessel was developed by a subsidiary of Hodgdon Shipbuilding, in collaboration with the University of Maine's Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center.

The MAKO is lighter than the current Mk V.[43] The Office of Naval Research funded the prototype "to compare the properties of composite construction with aluminum"[21] versions of the same craft.

The 12-foot vessel is called the Greenough Advanced Rescue Craft (GARC) and employs a 143-horsepower engine, driving a pump-jet.