While our favorite legend Don Aronow was building the first Donzi's in 1964 for the ocean, a guy named Howard Brown started Howard Custom Boats (www.howardboats.com) in California the same year building boats for the lakes and rivers in that area. Mr. Brown's company built all types of boats until he retired and sold the business in 1988 to the current owners, the Willen family. Gene Willen and his son's took the company to a new level over the next 25 years building some very high performance stuff. Today, Howard's are considered one of the highest quality builds in the industry and command top dollar.
Back when Gene first took over the company they decided to build a small model for the ocean. It was also a 22 footer like the 22 Donzi and was evidently developed for races to Catalina Island. The boat was formally called the "220 Offshore" and came in a variety of layouts which is common for West Coast builders. They built the 220's from 1990 to 2005. After that Howard would occasionally build a new one if the client ordered it.
I have seen them pop up for sale over the years very infrequently. Now, in a twist of unusual events there are three different ones for sale. I've never seen that. In addition, making it even more unusual, each of the 220 Offshores have a different interior layout. One is a walk through open bow, one is a closed deck, and one is a really rare open bow with a "mid-cabin" layout that gives you seating under the dash area. These boats are full 8' beam, high freeboard V bottom wave crushers. Great "all around" high-performance boats that the family can also enjoy.
Here are the three ads ............... a 1991, a 1994, and a 1999.
1972 16 OB - C16B-63 - "Surface Tension" Resto Project
1974 16 OB - DMR16106017-B - "The Mule"
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