| The Halvorsen Tradition, Since 1887
Since 1887 when Halvor Anderson launched his first wooden craft near Arendal in the south of Norway, the Halvorsen family has been building boats. His son Lars built his first boat in 1903, and during WWI he employed 35 staff building boats up to 120'. In 1925 the family moved to Sydney, Australia, attracted by its beautiful natural harbour, and before long Lars had established himself as the number one boat builder in Sydney, with his five sons working at his side.
From 1925 to 1980 the family designed and built nearly 1,300 craft, including 237 vessels for the Australian, US and Dutch forces during WWII, which earned Lars' eldest son Harold the Order of Australia Medal. After the war, the Halvorsens ran a fleet of their own boats as a charter business in the waters around Sydney.
In 1975 a joint venture company was formed in Hong Kong to design, build and market a new range of pleasure boats worldwide. The company was called "Kong & Halvorsen Marine & Engineering Company" and over the next decade would build hundreds of the craft ranging from 30' to 80' under the "Kong & Halvorsen" and "Island Gypsy" brand names.
By the early eighties production had moved across the border to Southern China, and to the present day over 900 Halvorsen Boats have been built and exported worldwide.
Mark Halvorsen has been involved in the boat business from a very young age learning to operate a boat before he was 10. He has extensive knowledge in the marine industry and has been living in Asia and running the boat building side of the business since 1988. He is fluent in Cantonese and speaks Mandarin and from 2006 started operating his new boat and brokerage business from Empire Marina at Bobbin Head in Sydney.
The Halvorsen family have the distinction of having built boats on 5 continents, spanning 5 generations and the tradition continues...
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