Welcome to Hooper's Yachts,
Upper Midwest Sailing Experts

"When You Buy A Sailboat, You Buy A Way Of Life"

Tip on how to save fuel costs:  "BUY A SAILBOAT !"

  Dealers for new and used J/Boats , Bavaria Yachts , Precision Boatworks , Walker Bay Dinghies & NISSAN Outboards plus a great selection of USED & BROKERED SAILBOATS and we also offer, to meet your needs, a quality service department, storage, transportation & marine supplies and rigging.

   To see our list of used sailboats for sale, click on "Boats for Sale" & see our list. Click on any individual boat field & you will be taken to individual specifications & photos.   Thanks for visiting!

HOOPER'S YACHTS IS AN INTERLUX YACHT PAINT CENTER This is not new. We've been one for decades. You can purchase all Interlux products from our store and we apply Interlux products in our service department. Interlux has always been an industry leader when it comes to paint coatings with R&D to develop the best in marine products - something you can count on. VC Systems as well as Awlgrip are Interlux companies. J/111 Sailing Fast! (Bristol, RI)- This past weekend, the J/111 was launched in Barrington, RI in northern Narragansett Bay.  Sailing on the 111's maiden voyage was Joe Pimenta of builder CCF Composites, Ben Hall and Corey Butlin of Hall Spars,  Didier LeMoal of JB Composites (J builder in France), designer Alan Johnstone, and other J family members including Rod, Stu, Jeff and Matthew. The weather forecast was partly cloudy with spotty ESE breezes from 0-12 knots, which is exactly what we saw for the 111's first shake-down sail. It was a good test of the boat's balance and acceleration capabilities in the low wind ranges. As designer Al Johnstone commented, "even with a #3 jib flying, we could tell right away that the J/111 has all the elements we were hoping for in terms of speed, acceleration and a feather light touch on the helm both upwind and downwind.” On day 2, the full Doyle inventory (including #1 jib) was flown and a five person crew took the J/111 upwind in a steadier 12-16 knot southerly to test the balance, responsiveness and stability. Grins all around as the J/111 sliced effortlessly upwind with minimal wake and very easy steering/ trimming with helmsman able to drive and play the mainsheet (fine-tune) like a J/80.  Two people could handle the tacking duties, and the jib trimmer was in heaven being able to freely adjust the fore/aft/inboard jib leads with the cockpit led controls. Jeff Johnstone added “we then hoisted the large A-Sail (130m2) and took right off. The boat balanced great and we felt we had equal opportunity to either go deep and rotate the kite out, or heat up to double digit speeds.  We threw in several jibes, including a double-handed one in 15-17 knots with Rod on helm and mainsheet and Al on both kite sheets.” This week the commissioning continues with sailing electronics install, engine trials and final commissioning at Bristol Marine with sailing starting again this weekend in Newport. With the schedule beginning to fill up in August/ September for the Newport demo sails, please be sure to contact your J Dealer soon to get a taste of J/111's sweet sailing experience.  USED BOAT SALES ARE ON THE INCREASE   The yearn for sailing is upon us now. Sales have been tremendous as more sailors are making their choices for sailboats. Seriously, we are wishing we had more boats to sell because business is that good. Please consider us in your boat search or if you wish to sell your boat.

Hooper's Yachts is in her 24th year of business and brings to you nearly 36 years of sailing experience from certain members of our staff. We offer you expertise in all areas of sailing including cruising, racing and daysailing. Some of our staff members have cruised extensively on offshore salt water and great lakes passages (from the Chesapeake to Venezuala, the Bahamas, Gulf, California and Hawaii), raced on more boats than we could count - both one-design and handicap club competition. We not only know how to sail, but we understand sailboat rigging, systems and maintenance. Our service department is extensive and often our competition, involved in sales, but not service, sends customers our way to get their boat worked on. We have outdoor and indoor boat lifts for bottom maintenance and repair, keel and rudder work or loading or offloading. Our 5 acre boatyard will accommodate the DIY boat owner, outdoor storage, service work and we have more room for displaying new and used sailboats than any of our local competition. In addition we have a very well equipped store with all the supplies you need to outfit or maintain your vessel. We stock sailboat hardware such as HARKEN, SCHAEFER, SPINLOCK, RONSTAN, WICHARD, FORESPAR and more. We are an INTERLUX YACHT PAINT CENTER and a WEST EPOXY dealer. We also stock SAMSON CORDAGE and have a hydraulic swaging machine for your standing rigging and lifeline needs. We stock all the cleaning supplies offered by 3M, MEGUAIRS, STARBRIGHT and more, and we have all the maintenance material for the DIY such as sandpaper, paint supplies and fiberglass repair supplies. We stock ANCOR electrical fittings, HUBBELL and MARINCO shore power. We have anchors, dock lines, electronics, heads, hoses, clamps, stainless fastners, trailer accessories, teak cleaners, sealers, varnishes, and the list goes on. To put it briefly, we have experience, know how, understanding, supplies, service, transportation and are recognized for quality, fairness and smiles.

 NOW, CHECK OUT "WHAT ELSE IS NEW" AT HOOPER'S YACHTS BELOW:

J/95 Winning Hearts of Traveling Sailors

It's apparent that the J/95 is striking a sensitive chord in those who wish they could have their "cake and eat it, too".  For once, a reasonable sized boat can be sailed in just about any body of water one wishes to travel to nearly anywhere in the world, be they a spectacular Swiss lake, a romantic anchorage on Italy's Lago Maggiore, a summertime soiree on Lake Dillon in Colorado or an adventurous trip to Lake Titicaca in Peru (well perhaps not, but fun to dream about!).  There are now two J/95s headed over to Europe.  One is going to the London Boatshow to be shown by J/UK-

The below link is video of the sail magazine test sail aboard the J/95.
 http://www.sailmagazine.com/racing/j95_review/

See the latest update photos of the J/95 below on this page.

Check out the video of a J/80 flying at 19.6 knots (with the sound turned up).  It’s a great reminder that the J/80 has the jets to satisfy speed junkies of all ages and yet can turn the corner and outperform all of the modern sportboats upwind, even short-handed.

If you watch closely, just before they jibe, one of the crewmembers walks all the way forward on the bow – while the boat is planing at 15+ knots.  What do you think would happen if you tried that on any other sportboat? Click on the link below:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psUrjHLiLVU

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CLICK THE "NEW VIDEO" BUTTON BELOW FOR A LOOK INSIDE THE BAVARIA 30 AND 34:  With the new ownership change in 2007, Bavaria came out with new models for 2008 (The Cruiser 31, 34 & 38). The 34 accommodation plan is clean and spacious, with light-colored joinery. The deck is layed out to be simple and functional. The hull is hand laid and reinforced with Kevlar in the bow. The Volvo inboard diesel is mounted under the cockpit sole to allow for easy access. The boat's 40 gallon fuel tank and 55 gallon water tank are intended to enable a longer cruising range that is greater than your average weekend cruiser she competes with. All Bavaria's come standard with a great deal of gear including sails, Furlex, wheel steering, compass, Tri-Data electronics and Wind Machine, refrigeration, hot and cold pressurized water with inside and cockpit showers, propane stove and oven, rails & lifelines, midship cleats, marine head with holding tank, anchor locker, battery charger, 2 bilge pumps, backstay adjuster, halyards lead aft to cockpit and inboard genoa tracks are adjustable from cockpit. You can choose between full battend mainsail or conventional mainsail and there is no upcharge for an in-mast furling mainsail system. Bavaria's are built efficiently with the latest in technological boat building advancement, are rugged for off shore use, are very functional below and on deck and sail extremely well. The best is they are very competitively priced. Too good to be true?  Not so. We invite you to stop by and see the new Bavaria Cruiser 34 today.   HOW DOES A BAVARIA COMPARE WITH THE COMPETITION? QUALITY CONSTRUCTION, MORE SENSIBLE STANDARD EQUIPMENT AND FEATURES IN THE BASE PRICE, SOLID HARDWOOD INTERIOR (NOT A SIMILUATED WOOD VENEER, MORE STORAGE, BUILT FOR OFFSHORE USE (NOT JUST INLAND OR COASTAL), EFFICIENT KEELS, AND THEY SAIL EXTREMELY WELL. LET US SHOW YOU EXACTLY HOW THEY COMPARE AND SHOW YOU HOW THEY ARE BUILT AND WHY THEIR SUPERIOR CONSTRUCTION AND EFFICIENT COMPUTERIZED FACILITIES OFFERS YOU A BETTER BOAT FOR LESS MONEY!!!!

NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY A SAILBOAT! INTEREST RATES REMAIN AT HISTORIC LOWS (NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE LAST 4 YEARS). COME IN TO DISCUSS YOUR NEXT NEW BOAT AND YOUR FINANCING OPTIONS SAILING IS "GREEN" THERE REALLY ISN'T A BETTER TIME TO BUY A SAILBOAT THAN IN 2010

 HOURS OF BUSINESS AND LOCATION: SUMMER HOURS:  9-5 MONDAY THRU FRIDAY, EXCEPT TUESDAYS, WE CLOSE A LITTLE EARLY FOR TUESDAY RACE NIGHT.  SATURDAY 10 - 2 AND CLOSED SUNDAYS.

WE ARE LOCATED AT 599 MANNING AVENUE SOUTH, AFTON, MN.  TAKE I-94 FROM ST. PAUL AND GO EAST, OR FROM HUDSON, WI AND GO WEST. TAKE EXIT 253 SOUTH AND YOU WILL SEE US ON THE LEFT JUST A HALF A MILE SOUTH OF I-94.  EASY ON AND EASY OFF.