yachts holland michigan

Experience the Inspired Luxury of Tiara Yachts

Discover the tiara lineup.

An anthology of our rich history and portfolio, the EX Series embodies flexible luxury and endless adventure. This series combines elements of our latest outboard models to put a focus on maximizing exterior enjoyment, while providing all the lavish comforts required for an extended stay that are synonymous with our inboard heritage.

It's not Merely our craft. It's our calling.

Everything we do at Tiara Yachts centers around the enjoyment of friends, family and the water. We bring this focus to life through sophisticated design and engineering, creating yachts that are visually stunning, incredibly comfortable, technologically advanced and easier to pilot.

A passion for paint

Recognizable from a distance, the hallmark of each Tiara Yacht is its iconic hull shape. Your custom selection of hull paint creates the largest visual impact on your vessel, making your boat stand out from every other boat on the water.

50 Years of Inspired Luxury

For a half a century, our story has been based around friends, family and the water. Watch as members of the Slikkers family reflect on the evolution of Tiara Yachts as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary.

MEET THE EX 54

An anthology of our rich history and product portfolio, the EX 54 embodies the flexible luxury and endless adventure established by its predecessor, the EX 60.

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Welcome to anchorage yacht sales.

Anchorage Yacht Sales is a full service yacht brokerage firm located on Lake Macatawa in Holland Michigan. We have over 40 years combined experience in power and sailing, handling all aspects of BUYING, SELLING, or OWNING a boat – including a world circumnavigation! Most importantly…we at Anchorage Yacht Sales are boaters just like you! We share your passion of boating and make it our business to make the process of buying and selling a boat more enjoyable and trouble free!

At Anchorage Yacht Sales, we strive to save you time and money, to spare you mistakes and inconvenience, and to ensure that the day you buy your boat and the day you sell it are, indeed, the two happiest days of your life!

Authorized dealer

Anchorage Yacht Sales can offer you:

• An experienced & courteous full time staff that is fun to work with
• An “on-water” marina location that is open year round
• Our unique ability to take TRADES as a brokerage firm, this greatly helps in getting your boat sold
• Extensive advertising including personal and professional representation of your boat, a great looking ad makes a big difference. We do it right!
• Excluding Tidewater Center Consoles, we only sell pre-owned boats, your boat will not compete with a new boat line
• Bank financing and insurance resources, Marine surveyors, Transportation and all marine related Service needs
• Comprehensive boat handling instruction

Featured Boats

2008 Formula 400 Super Sport

Price: $234,900

Holland, United States

2015 Sea Ray 470 Sundancer

Price: $479,900

Cheboygan, United States

1988 Burger 80 Motor Yacht

Price: $599,000

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• Grand Rapids/Muskegon
• Saginaw/Bay City
• All Michigan

$3.5M luxury yacht built by West Michigan company like a ‘high-end home on the water’

• Updated: Mar. 17, 2022, 1:43 p.m.
• | Published: Mar. 17, 2022, 10:10 a.m.

• Brian McVicar | [email protected]

HOLLAND, MI — Inside Tiara Yachts, amid a whir of cranes, trucks and machinery, Thomas Slikkers climbs aboard a prototype of his company’s newest luxury watercraft, the EX 60.

Today, the 60-foot vessel is still a work in progress. Its hull is unpainted. The cockpit, engine and navigation system have yet to be installed. But Slikkers, Tiara’s president and CEO, lights up with excitement as he describes the high-end flourishes that will make his company’s newest creation akin to a “high-end home on the water.”

“It really is our greatest hits,” he said.

With a roughly $3.5 million price tag, the EX 60 will feature a customizable cockpit with plush seating, an outdoor breakfast bar, and two bathrooms. It boasts a well-appointed kitchen, and the propulsion system has extras such as assisted docking. Below deck, three sleeping areas can accommodate six adults.

For more than 60 years, the Slikkers family has been making boats in Holland — and the EX 60 is its biggest and most expensive boat yet.

The family’s start in the boating business dates back to 1955 when Leon Slikkers, Thomas Slikkers’ father, left his job at Chris-Craft Boats to start Slickcraft Boat Company. He funded the venture by selling his family’s home for $5,000 and using the proceeds to buy materials and rent space on Washington Avenue near downtown Holland. Then, he moved his family into an apartment above his new shop.

Launching the business was a gamble. But Leon Slikkers found success with the 16-foot Slickcraft premier. Featuring a molded mahogany plywood hull, the 16-foot vessel sold for $1,165 in 1958. By the late 1960s, the company had grown in popularity, and Slikkers sold his business to American Machine and Foundry.

But Leon Slikkers, whose family describes him as a “true entrepreneur,” soon craved independence.

In 1973, he resigned as president of Slickcraft, and the following year he launched S2 Yachts, the parent company of Tiara Yachts.

“It had very small, humble beginnings,” Thomas Slikkers said. “But within a short period of time, my dad was able to convince people that we’ve got a great product here.”

Today, the private, family-owned company has grown substantially.

Inside its headquarters, 725 E. 40th St., 600 employees design, build and sell yachts. The company’s boats, the least expensive of which retails for more than $500,000, are sold to customers throughout the U.S. as well as Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Italy and elsewhere. Its biggest markets are the U.S. and portions of Latin America.

“Wherever there’s big blue water, that’s usually a good market for us,” said Slikkers, who grew up with the business but officially joined Tiara Yachts in 1982 as an accounting clerk.

The EX-60, which has been in the works for 1 ½ years, is still under development, but the prototype is slated to be complete by mid-August and available to customers later this year. The company has a focus on luxury, and high-end features that create a comfortable, quiet experience for customers.

“We want you to enjoy nature, and enjoy the sounds of nature — not the sounds of our diesel engines,” said Andrew Bartlett, Tiara’s director of design.

Walking through the company’s cavernous factory, where about 400 workers create the yachts, Slikkers describes the craftsmanship that Tiara prides itself upon. Nearly everything on each yacht, from its furniture to its kitchen cabinets, are made in house. Engines that power Tiara’s boats are made by outside companies, such as Volvo Penta and Mercury.

Workers at Tiara can produce about one boat a day, Slikkers said.

On a recent afternoon, as a worker inside the factory inspected a 43-foot LS yacht, Slikkers said his company’s production line is not unlike an automotive assembly line. The process starts with the hull, the body of the boat, and about halfway through the deck is added. Later, chairs, furniture, paneling and interior fixtures are installed.

Finally, the vessel is painted, and put on a truck for delivery, he said.

“It hasn’t been painted yet,” Slikkers said, as he pointed to the 43-foot LS yacht. “So, it’s not as pretty as it’s going to be.”

Tiara Yachts, located at 725 E. 40th St. in Holland, on Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)

While Tiara has evolved, adding new models, production techniques and automation, the company has stayed true to its roots as a family-owned company, Slikkers said. Walk inside Tiara Yachts, and you might bump into one of his six family members who work there.

His brother David serves as director of government relations, while his brother Bob is senior vice president of operations. His son Alex is a sales and marketing specialist, and two of his nephews, Tim and Kelly, also call Tiara yachts home. Kelly’s wife, Tiffany, has joined the family business too. She works in human resources.

That level of family involvement creates a bond that isn’t present in every business, said Slikkers, whose father, Leon, retired from Tiara in September.

“We aren’t trying to make sure that we’ve got a golden parachute tucked in the back corner in case we ever need to jettison at the first sign of trouble,” he said. “We’re the guys that are still driving the ship when she’s taking on water.”

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(616) 392-2592

471 howard ave, holland, mi, keeping you on the water, 44° 6’ 44.64’’ n 70° 17’ 18.132’’ w.

WHAT WE’RE ABOUT

Doing the job right.

The boating season in Michigan is short. Our goal is to help you enjoy every last minute of it. We offer full restoration, repair, maintenance, and year-round storage options so all you have to worry about is the weather.

Our beautiful, state-of-the-art storage facility boasts radiant floor heat, 50 foot-candle motion-sensing LED lights, and 24/7 key card access. Complete with a ramp to the shores of Lake Macatawa and a 100-ton capacity hydraulic lift, we’re ready to retrieve and store nearly any vessel on the Great Lakes.

If you’re looking to restore your boat back to its glory days, or just want to keep it looking ship-shape, look no further. From engine repair to carpentry work to fiberglass repair and more—if you can dream it, we can do it.

Whatever you need, wherever you need it.

Enjoy every minute on the water.

There’s nothing worse than getting a group together, coolers packed with ice, planning on a fun day out on the water only to find out the motor won’t run because it wasn’t properly maintained. Keep your boat running the way you expect it to all year long with our full-service offerings.

We’re proud of the work we do. Our combined expertise in mechanics, electronics, paint, detailing, and fiberglass repair ensure that we can handle whatever your boat needs. Take a look at some of our completed projects to see for yourself.

43’ Tiara Complete Restoration

Teak Install

Sea Ray 26′

Me yacht restoration is proud to be a certified dealer and installer for honda, yamaha, seakeeper, seakeeper ride, scania and fpt powertrain technologies..

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Boats Made in Holland: A Michigan Tradition

Boats Made in Holland: A Michigan Tradition

Boats Made in Holland:  A Michigan Tradition  is available at:

Reader’s World

Holland Museum

Barnes & Noble

Holland Ace Hardware

Amway Grand Plaza

Schuler Books (Grand Rapids, MI)

McLean and Eakin Bookstore (Petoskey, MI)

The book is available for online purchase from The History Press .

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About the author.

Geoffrey Reynolds is originally from Charlevoix, Michigan, where he grew up around pleasure craft and grew to appreciate the beauty of area lakes and rivers. He is the Mary Riepma Ross Director of The Joint Archives of Holland at Hope College. His research and writing interests are the pleasure and racing boat building industry.

To contact Geoffrey Reynolds please email him at [email protected]

More Boat Companies

The companies included in this book include the following: Beacon Boat Company (1953-1960) Campbell Boat Company (1937-1956) Chris-Craft Corporation/Chris-Craft Industries/Murray Chris-Craft (1939-1989) Gill-Boat Company (1934-1942) Grand Craft Boats/Grand Craft Corporation Grand-Craft Acquisitions, LLC (1981-present) Holland Launch and Engine Company (1907-1916) Jesiek Brothers (1910-1973) Lovecraft (1970-1972) Mac Bay Boat Company (1948-1956) Michigan Fiberglass Company/Plastics, Inc. (1960-1963)… Continue reading More Boat Companies

“After Googling Beacon Boat Co. recently, I found your book “Boats Made in Holland. My name is Pam Munkwitz. My dad owned the Beacon when I was in grade school. I haven’t been back to Holland since we moved to Portland, Or. in the early 60’s. So my memories of that time are somewhat foggy. But I do remember the Beacon! I ordered your book and it arrived the other day! I was so happy to see my dad included. Reading that section and seeing the photos really took me back. It also helped put my vague memories into context. My dad, Orville (everyone called him “Munk”) died in ’85. But I know it would make him so happy to see the Beacon included in your history of boat building in Michigan. And thank you for giving me something that solidifies those days a bit for me!

Fondly, Pam

Beacon Boat Company

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