ΤΙΜ WINTERS

A native of eastern North Carolina, Tim Winters wanted to build boats for as long as he can remember, even penciling in "boatbuilder" as his dream job back in kindergarten when other kids wanted to be superheroes or astronauts.

-  Sam White

He also does not have a family lineage of boatbuilding; instead, he started Winter Custom Yachts while attending North Carolina State University, where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. And yet his company quietly turns 20 this year, where it continues to build a unique variety of custom boats from a tiny coastal community just outside Swansboro, North Carolina.

(M) What made you want to be a boatbuilder?

I grew up on the water, and I loved everything about boats as a kid. Fishing was secondary. For me, it was more about the creativity and the engineering side. I had a neighbor who was a naval architect at Hatteras Yachts for many years, but I knew that I wanted to be more than just a yacht designer.

M Where do you stand these days from a business perspective?

I feel like we're in a good spot. We just started Hull No. 40, which will be a 72-footer which is hard for me to believe sometimes and we have a backlog of about three-and-a-half to four years. The service yard is busy, the new construction is busy, and we're just getting ready to start a new business called Winter Yachts, which will be a line of molded boats. We're building a sport coupe that will be a 50-knot boat, and Hull No. 37 is a 46-foot walkaround, our third one, which will spend time in Mag Bay as part of a mothership operation. Hull No. 38 is a 66-foot convertible, more of a conventional boat that will be based in Puerto Rico, and Hull No. 39 is a 50-foot outboard. We build a wide variety in wood, composite and molded construction.

(M) What makes a Winter Custom Yacht different from the rest?