Blue Jacket Yachts was first conceived between two sailing experts. The Blue Jacket 40 design was a collaboration between Naval Architect Bob Johnson, owner and designer of Island Packet Yachts, and Tim Jackett of Jackett Yacht Design.  Island Packet, well known for their comfortable big volume cruising boats, wanted to establish a departure in style and performance, asking Jackett to collaborate on the design.  With Jackett's decades of experience designing Tartan and C&C performance racer/cruisers, the outcome was predictable and the judges at Cruising World Magazine agreed - awarding the Blue Jacket 40 Boat of the Year in 2014. There have been 14 Blue Jacket 40 built between 2013-2016.  Many of the boats are on their 2nd owners.  We are hearing from them - and the boats continue to stand the test of time.

 

Mike Mullenberg & Tim Jackett first met in 1987 at Tartan Yachts.  Mullenberg first worked as a dealer, and then headed their West Coast expansion with sales, marketing, and dealer development. Jackett was a designer and head of production. Their careers continued to intertwine for decades and they remained great friends. In 2017, Mullenberg started his own yacht brokerage, Pacific Cruising Yachts, in Anacortes, WA.  He frequently met with customers who were looking for a performance cruiser, and there were not many that fit the niche. This sparked his idea to start his own design, and he reached out to Jackett, the now lead designer at Tartan Yachts, to throw around ideas and start drafting his vision. 

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Over time, it came to Mullenberg's attention that the Blue Jacket 40 exemplified much of what he envisioned. Jackett had designed the Blue Jacket 40 in an attempt to perfect the elusive idea of a performance cruiser - a versatile boat expected to excel in various conditions, all with the comforts of a luxury cruiser. Island Packet had built 14 boats, but tabled the design to meet other demands. So the idea struck - instead of starting from scratch, they would approach Island Packet for the chance to acquire Blue Jacket Yachts and relaunch the program. They said yes, and in 2022, Mullenberg, under the umbrella of Niche Watercraft, purchased Blue Jacket Yachts. Between Mullenberg's expertise and intuition for the boating industry, and Jackett's talents and prolific history in design, Blue Jacket Yachts is back and better than ever and ready to springboard the fabulous and proven designs forward into the next evolution. The new Blue Jacket Yachts will feature the same hull and deck, but feature new modern interpretations in interior and performance that embody creativity and design prowess.