Brad Knight grew up in the business – a second-generation North Carolina boat builder who spent his weekends running the Southern Kingfish Association tournament trail.  And somewhere between the boatyard and the leaderboard, he noticed something everyone else missed.

The SKA’s small boat class was measured by waterline, not length overall.  So in 2005, Brad started Onslow Bay Boatworks with one goal: build a 27 – foot boat that fished – and won- in the 23-foot class.  The first 23 Tournament Edition splashed in August 2007 and did exactly that.

That boat wasn’t built to fill a product line.  It was built to solve a problem, exploit an edge, and beat bigger boats to the fish. Every hull we’ve designed since – the 27′, the 33′, the 37′, the 41′ – carries that same DNA.

Nearly twenty years later, we’re still family-owned and still building boats one at a time. Around 30 boats a year, each one spec’d with its owner and built by North Carolina craftsmen who’d rather do it right than do it fast.  Brad’s office is still forty feet from the shop floor, and the door’s still open.

We didn’t set out to be the biggest builder on the coast.  We set out to build the boat we’d want to fish – and then build yours the same way.