Spencer Yachts

In 1996, charter boat captain Paul Spencer found himself in need of a new boat. "I wanted a new boat but couldn't afford one. I had spent a lot of time around boats and saw a few being built, so I thought I might try my hand at it. Since I had always wanted to do it, I convinced the wife to sell everything we had, get a loan and build a boat."

Spencer's first effort performed so well that he immediately started to get orders for more. "I had a lot of fun building that first boat. I didn't set out to be a boatbuilder to make money, but I sure did make more than I did running a charter boat!" says Spencer. "I just found my passion. To me, building a boat is a lot like creating a painting; it allows me to express myself in an entirely different way."
 
One of the keys to Spencer's success lies in his ability to step away from what's been done before and come up with his own unique profiles. "I think one of the main things that propelled our boat forward was the blending of the sleek Florida look with the Carolina flare and tumblehome. At that time, builders were coming out with Carolina-style hulls that I thought were a bit exaggerated. The whole flare thing got out of hand and started to look ugly. Some fellows thought that if a little flare was good, then a lot was better. But that's not always the case. We changed the hull a little, made it narrower forward to improve the ride and performance," he says. 
 

At a Glance: • Very fast, 40-knot cruise • Excellent lines and styling • Great sea boat

"Basically it all boils down to how many accommodations you want. We don't like pushing the hull out to make more room. If we need to get more stuff into the boat, we make the hull longer instead of jamming it in," says Spencer.
 
Spencer looked to an old-time Carolina builder named Billy Baum for an important modification in his hull bottom. "We put a little shape between the keel and chine — a little round to it. It gives the water a place to escape and keeps the boat from pounding. Little things like that can make a big difference when a boat's going fast," says Spencer. "And we like our boats to go fast. We build several with a 40-knot cruise."
  
For more information, contact Spencer Yachts of Wanchese, North Carolina, at 252-473-6567, or visit www.spenceryachtsinc.com.
 

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