In 1911 The Detroit News reported that the company had designed and built the fastest step bottom hydroplane in the United States, named Kitty Hawk II.

That same year the company gained attention after designing and building the first successful pontoons for Russell Alger's Wright Brothers Model B plane.

[2] Frank Trenholm Coffyn used the hydroplane in 1912 to take off and land on the Hudson River, enabling him to capture aerial video of the New York skyline for the first time in history.

In order to stay solvent the company also began building fast custom bootleggers for local rum-runners to smuggle booze the short distance from Canada to Detroit.

Mixing new technology[3] with tradition handed down by their fathers and grandfathers, the company still designs and builds custom one-of-a-kind mahogany boats up to 60' in length.

The boat's amenities include hand-wrapped ostrich skin seats, black ebony inlaid teak floors, 850 horsepower Italian Sea Tec diesels and custom fabricated stainless steel hardware.