Four of America's best-known fishing boat brands are built in Fort Pierce
Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia all come out of Maverick Boat Group, a company that started with one skiff design in the mid-1980s.
By the numbers
If you fish anywhere from the Indian River Lagoon to the Gulf Coast of Texas, there’s a good chance you’ve seen one of these boats. What a lot of people on the Treasure Coast don’t realize is where they come from.
Maverick Boat Group designs and builds four boat brands in Fort Pierce: Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia.
It started with one skiff
According to the company, founder Scott Deal went into business with his brother in the mid-1980s with a narrow goal: build the best shallow-water boats around. Company materials date the start to 1984 or 1985.
They began by acquiring the hull and deck tooling for the Maverick 18, a shallow-water skiff. Deal reportedly traveled Florida selling it build-to-order, one customer at a time.
Then came the acquisitions
The company grew by buying names anglers already trusted:
- Hewes Boats, acquired in 1989 from its founder Bob Hewes, according to the company
- Cobia, bought from Yamaha Motor Corporation USA in 2005
In between, the company created a brand of its own. The Pathfinder bay boat launched in 1998. Maverick Boat Group says Deal sketched the original concept on the back of an envelope over dinner during a trip to Texas, where anglers needed a shallow-water boat that could also handle long, rough open-water runs.
The company says Cobia models have been the top-selling center consoles in the country in the 26- to 34-foot range since 2017.
Now part of a public company
In January 2021, Malibu Boats, Inc. completed its acquisition of Maverick Boat Group. Trade Only Today reported the price at about $150 million. The boats are still built in Fort Pierce.
Why it matters here
Boatbuilding is one of the Treasure Coast’s quieter industries. It doesn’t show up much on social media, but it employs skilled trades workers, supports a long chain of local suppliers, and puts “Fort Pierce” on boats that end up in marinas across the country.
Sources: Maverick Boat Group, Malibu Boats, Inc., Trade Only Today.
