VUE

T ucked into a small town on Lake George in New York, is a company that creates a product designed to make summer dreams come true. As warm weather beckons people to the coasts, the Hacker-Cra Boat Company offers to put you not near the water but on the water, away from the crowds, away from the noise, and truly away from it all. With a heritage and tradition stretching back more than a century, a classic wooden Hacker-Cra is luxury redefined for the discriminating captain. Hacker-Cra Boat Company was started by John L. Hacker (1877-1961) who built his first boat, a rowboat when he was just 14 years old. at early start launched him to become the preeminent naval architect of mahogany pleasure boats that in the 1930s were named "e Steinway of Runabouts." Used throughout the years by racers, celebrities, royalty, and captains of industry, his boats are designed to meet the company's tagline "To own a Hacker-Cra is to enjoy luxury few ever dream of." John Hacker's legacy lives on in the Hacker-Cra Boat Company, but today the business is helmed by COO, Erin Badcock. With no original intention of working in the boating industry, she's somewhat surprised how quickly she came to love the job. Having grown up spending summers boating on Lake George in her family's wooden boat, it was a natural fit. "My family became involved in Hacker Boat Company around 2008. I was finishing up college and my father had just taken over majority partnership. He asked me to come aer school and work for just a year. I never thought to do this. It wasn't on my radar. I naively said sure I'll work for you for now," Badcock said. Eleven years later, she's still here with no thoughts of leaving. e job brings new and different challenges and experiences each day, which keeps her interested, and a self-described "great team" and "customers who are a delight" make the work worthwhile. But where Badcock's enthusiasm really appears is when she starts talking about the boats. V U E N J . C O M 53

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