The Mutineer 15 is a 15-foot (4.6 m) long fractional sloop sailboat currently manufactured by Nickels Boat Works. It has a dinghy centerboard hull, no ballast, and displaces 410 pounds. The Mutineer 15 has a 6-foot (1.8 m) beam, maximum draw of 4.08 feet (1.24 m), and has 150 square feet (14 m²) of sail area. The Mutineer 15 is commonly used for both day sailing and class racing. The Mutineer 15 can be comfortably sailed as a day sailer with a crew of four, but can also be raced with a crew of two, or even single-handed by semi-experienced to experienced sailors.

In 1968 boat designers Rod Macalpine-Downie and Dick Gibbs designed the Buccaneer 18. It was a popular sailboat design, but it led to a demand for a lighter, more affordable boat. Three years later, in 1971, Macalpine-Downie and Gibbs finished the design on the Mutineer 15. The Mutineer and Buccaneer are very similar in basic design, and include many of the same features. At the time it was designed, the Mutineer had several innovative features, including the roller furling jib, spinnaker rigging, and a foredeck launcher tube.

The Mutineer 15 had a series of manufacturers over the years. It was originally designed and manufactured as part of the Marine branch of the Chrysler corporation. When the Chrysler corporation restructured as part of a financial crisis in the 1970s, it sold the rights to the boat to Texas Marine International. In rapid succession, the Mutineer was then manufactured by Wellcraft Marine, Gloucester Yachts, and Cardinal Yachts. In 2003 Cardinal Yachts sold the boat rights to Nickels Boat Works, who modified the design slightly. Nickels Boat Works is the current manufacturer of the Mutineer 15.

The Mutineer 15 has gone through a series of company changes since its introduction in 1971. It was designed and first produced by the Marine division of Chrysler. The original design was developed by boat designers, Rod Macalpine-Downie and Dick Gibbs, who had previously worked on the Buccaneer 18. Several innovative features were included in their design, making the Mutineer 15 suitable for both racing and cruising applications. Some of these features included a roller furling jib, spinnaker rigging, a foredeck launcher tube, hiking straps, and a hiking stick. who included several innovative features in their design.

Between the boat's release in 1971 until 1980, Chrysler built over 6000 Mutineer 15s. Due to a financial crisis, however, Chrysler was forced to turn to the government for loans. The government stipulated that as part of the loan guarantees Chrysler was required to sell the marine division of its company. In 1980, Chrysler Boat, which included the rights to the Mutineer 15, was sold to Texas Marine International.

Texas Marine International was founded by former Chrysler Corporation executives. Texas Marine manufactured the boats from 1981 to 1982 but it soon failed financially as well. In 1982 another company, Wellcraft Marine, purchases the rights to the Mutineer 15 from Texas Marine and began manufacturing them under a different name, Starwind 15. Wellcraft Marine built Mutineer 15 (sold under the name Starwind 15) for two years from 1982 until 1984.

In 1985 Gloucester Yachts purchased the rights to the Mutineer 15. The company built approximately 40 of the boats before selling them to Cardinal Yachts in 1986. The rights to the Mutineer 15 were held by Cardinal Yachts until 2003 when Nickels Boat Works purchased the molds.

In the winter between 2007 and 2008 Nickels Boat Works completely revamped the molds in addition to making modifications to the boat itself, particularly in the cockpit and deck. While the hull design stayed the same, these changes constituted the third round of significant improvements to the boat's deck and cockpit design since it was first sold on the market in 1971. For a photo documentation of the changes over time, see: http://mutineer15.org/mutineer-timeline.html The Mutineer 15 is still in production today.