Hugh has lived on the waters of Michigan or Florida most of his life. He grew up in the pattern lumber business & built a couple boats as a pre-teen with his dad. Hugh was a boat builder in FL in the late ‘70s & ‘80s. In the mid ‘80s, sailing canoes and kayaks got his attention and he began developing modern sailing canoes.

Hugh's the designer of Bufflehead, although he prefers, "Developer," as he was not at the controls of the last computer work. “I was in effect looking over Chris Rauch's shoulder every step, though.” He says. “My 1st paper sketch was in '93 & moved it subsequently to my old NA software, now obsolete. Rather than invest in new software & hardware, I hired Chris as a post grad school degree NA student at the U of Michigan.”

Hugh has found himself at Cedar Key, Florida, the 1st full weekend in May the last couple dozen years for the Cedar Key boat meet, and several times throughout the year. He's building a house there.

Hugh Horton with Sven Yrvind center, Matt Layden right, at Cedar Key

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