american yacht stuart

Yachts For Sale

• CENTER CONSOLES
• MOTORYACHTS
• SUPERYACHTS

Welcome To The American Yacht Group

Hcb yachts dealer & professional brokerage firm.

American Yacht Group is the premier HCB Yachts dealer for South Florida, representing the luxury center-console builder in Naples, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Stuart, Bahamas, and surrounding areas. We are a professional yacht brokerage firm that specializes in the sale and purchase of luxury boats, motor yachts, cruising yachts, and high-end center-consoles. For a personal and customer-centric experience in buying or selling a yacht, we invite you to experience the difference when a yacht broker puts your needs as their top priority.

American Yacht Group is the premier HCB Yachts dealer for South Florida.

• Featured Listings

Check Back For New Featured Boats

Join the fun, live the lifestyle.

Follow American Yacht Group on Instagram. Tag us at @americanyachts

• Yacht Search
• Sold Yachts
• Naples Design Center

Willis Custom Yachts' plans will reignite Stuart's boatbuilding heritage, create jobs

Stuart's legacy of boatbuilding dates back 100 years. It was 1921 when Curt Whiticar built his first boat, launching Whiticar Boat Works and what would become a mecca for the construction of some of the world's finest high-performance sport fishing yachts.

Since then, Stuart has become synonymous with world-class sportfishing thanks to brands such as Monterey, Billy Knowles, Gamefisherman, Garlington-Landeweer, Jim Smith, L & H, Tribute and American Custom Yachts.

The latter, in the Treasure Coast Commerce Center in west Stuart, was acquired by  Willis Custom Yachts  earlier this year, but terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Boatbuilding: Flipping the 8 ton hull upside down is an important milestone

Moving day: How a 100-foot sportfishing boat goes from land to sea

Stringers Tavern & Oyster Bar: Great food blends with Stuart's boatbuilding history

Willis Custom Yachts is a new entity formed from Willis Marine Inc. , a boatbuilding company founded by Mark Willis of Stuart in 1990. American Custom Yachts was founded in Stuart in 1991 by Dominick LaCombe.

The new company plans to add 75 jobs soon, and more in the years to come once it starts to build the center console brand Venture Boats in a new manufacturing facility. The company plans to build that in two or three years on the vacant land across the South Fork of the St. Lucie River from the company's main yard.

But first, the boat must be redesigned to compensate for added outboard motors, said Doug West, president and general manager of Willis' yacht services.

Willis Custom Yachts

The sale of the waterfront property along the South Fork of the St. Lucie River and Okeechobee Waterway, and in between the bridges for Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike, gives Willis Custom Yachts:

• 64 acres on both sides of the waterway
• 34 acres of working boatyard
• About 300 feet of frontage along the waterway
• 25 wet slips with 8 feet of depth
• 2 haul-out wells

The new company announced plans to add:

• 220-ton marine lift
• 150-ton marine lift (new)
• 90,000-square-foot yacht-construction building
• On-site restaurant
• New construction facility for Venture Boats, a center console brand now owned by Willis Custom Yachts.

Willis Custom Yachts also will build a new waterfront facility east of Northwest Flagler Avenue near the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart to facilitate new yacht-customer deliveries.

“I am very excited to have waterfront access of this magnitude," Willis said. "It changes the game for us and will vastly enhance our ability to provide the highest quality service and support to all of our customers.”

Willis Marine sportfishing boats

Over the last 30 years, Willis has developed a reputation as being a builder of one of the finest sportfishing yachts on the ocean. His partner, Brooks Smith, founder and CEO of InComm Payments , a global financial technology company, is an avid angler and longtime Willis customer.

Willis, originally from North Carolina, began his career in the fishing and boating industry early in life, obtaining his captain's license at age 19. He got an engineering degree from Western Pennsylvania University. After graduating, Willis pursued his passion for fishing in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he built his first boat.

Willis Marine has built and launched 15 boats since being founded, including well-known boats on the sailfish and marlin tournament circuits such as Katie M, Lucky Punch, NuCo2, Uno Mas and the second Bone Shaker, which originally had been the Katie M.

Custom sportfishing boats of 60-90 feet in length cost owners millions of dollars and often take 2-3 years to build one boat. A 63-foot boat built by Willis in 2001 is currently offered by a broker for $2.9 million. 

What changes are coming?

The next Willis boats — 61-90 feet and designed to perform in fishing scenarios in seas around the world — will be rolling off the production line at a faster rate in coming years, West said.

"Smith is big into technology and innovation. We are going to introduce in the new boatbuilding facility a lot of machinery so we can reduce the build time significantly. That will allow us to build six boats at a time instead of one," West told TCPalm.

West joined Willis from Lauderdale Marine Center, where he worked in the yacht service industry since 2015. Before that, he worked for the family of Wayne Huizenga with Blockbuster and AutoNation. In 2005, Wayne Huizenga Jr. bought Rybovich , a boatbuilding and yacht repair and service facility in Riviera Beach. The next year, Huizenga Jr. called West about coming to Rybovich to get operations in shape.

West said Willis' main focus will be to complete the project begun in 2020 by American Custom Yachts, hull No. 22, a 68-footer named Cambeaux, and to finish hulls No. 15 and 16, two 70-footers. West said three new orders already have been placed.

Ed Killer is TCPalm's outdoors writer. Sign up for his and other weekly newsletters at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage . Friend Ed on Facebook at Ed Killer , follow him on Twitter @tcpalmekiller or email him at [email protected] .

American Custom Yachts

Photos & videos, services offered.

Verified by Business

Boat repair

Other Boat Repair Nearby

Treasure Coast Marine Services

Boat detailing, gelcoat and fiberglass repair. bottom painting, electronic installations and general boat maintenance . Fully licensed and insured with shop or mobile services, transportation can be offered read more

in Boat Repair

Custom Marine Carpentry

We are a Ft Lauderdale fully equipped Yacht Carpentry shop. Refit your boat or fix damage that's been done, We're here to help you every step of the way. We provide the best quality for all of our services, we will work with you to… read more

in Boat Repair, Decks & Railing, Carpenters

Nautical Ventures

4.2 miles away from American Custom Yachts

Explore our eclectic mix of water sports products from boats & tenders to kayaks & sups, submersibles to dive products, and yacht toys to land toys, all of which are on the cutting edge of water sports innovation. read more

in Boat Repair, Boat Dealers

About the Business

American Custom Yachts is a yacht-builder and marine service facility based on the St. Lucie Canal in Stuart, Fla. The company employs more than 100 full-time craftsmen with years of custom boat fabrication experience. Its marine store is stocked with vessel needs, including gasoline and diesel fuel. The 67,000-square-foot facility is equipped with a 150-ton travel lift that supports the largest of vessels. American Custom Yachts also paints vessels with a bay that is 150 feet long and 50 feet wide, with a clearance of 43 feet. As many as eight vessels can be worked on in the repair shop, which handles restorations to kevlar, fiberglass, aluminum and steel ships and also does electronic and mechanical repairs. The repair shop is protected by 24-hour security. …

Location & Hours

Suggest an edit

6800 SW Jack James Dr

Stuart, FL 34997

Recommended Reviews

• 1 star rating Not good
• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
• 3 star rating OK
• 4 star rating Good
• 5 star rating Great

Select your rating

Browse Nearby

Restaurants

Things to Do

Accountants

Boat Repair Near Me

Find more Boat Repair near American Custom Yachts

Related Cost Guides

Advertising

Editorial Services

Graphic Design

Office Cleaning

Shredding Services

Software Development

Translation Services

• 5 More Cost Guides

People Also Viewed

MakeOver Marine

Sunshine Charlie’s Yacht & Boat Detailing

Atlantech Marine Treasure Coast

Full Service Marine

Squeaky Clean Mobile Yacht Care

J-TEK Marine

Interface Marine

M & S Cleaning Services

American Custom Yachts

Member since: 01.26.18

Dominick LaCombe Jr.

6800 SW Jack James Drive

Stuart, Florida, 34997

United States

Region: Southeast

Phone: 772-221-9100

Mobile: 772-215-9536

Fax: 772-288-4993

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.americancustomyachts.com

Jennifer LaCombe

Mobile: 772-486-7089

[email protected]

Wayne Lukey

Mobile: 772-260-8428

[email protected]

John Resnik

Mobile: 772-215-9156

[email protected]

Electronics

Engine- Repower

Manufacturer Custom Boats

Shipyard/Superyacht Builder

Yacht Maintenance

Yacht Repair / Refit

Login to your account

• Username/Email Address:

Forgot Password? | Sign Up

Reset Password

Already have an account? Login

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.

Signup to your Account

• Candidate I want to discover awesome companies.
• Employer I want to attract the best talent.
• First Name *
• Last Name *
• Confirm Password *
• Organization Name

Account Activation

Before you can login, you must active your account with the code sent to your email address. If you did not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder. Click here to resend the activation email. If you entered an incorrect email address, you will need to re-register with the correct email address.

• Your Email:
• Activation Code:

• Questions? +1 (202) 335-3939
• Pricing & Comparison Chart

There were 929 press releases posted in the last 24 hours and 414,342 in the last 365 days.

American Custom Yachts Facility and Assets Acquired by Willis Custom Yachts of Stuart Fl

Willis Custom Yachts is proud to announce the acquisition of American Custom Yachts Assets in Stuart, Florida

Doug West Willis Custom Yachts +1 772-221-9100 email us here

You just read:

EIN Presswire's priority is source transparency. We do not allow opaque clients, and our editors try to be careful about weeding out false and misleading content. As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. Your help is welcome. EIN Presswire, Everyone's Internet News Presswire™, tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today's world. Please see our Editorial Guidelines for more information.

• Past Issues
• Contact BVM
• Search for: Search Button

American Custom Yachts – Built on Tradition

Business View Magazine interviews Dominick LaCombe Jr., General Manager of American Custom Yachts as part of our focus on the maritime industry.

American Custom Yachts’ name reveals just a portion of what this Stuart, Florida-based company has to offer: repairs, repowering, and refurbishing yachts, complete painting services, and vessel storage are an important part of its business model. But it is ACY’s custom-built, high-performance vessels and their exceptional quality that truly established its name on the world stage.

American Custom Yachts was founded in 1991 by Dominick LaCombe, Sr., who had acquired a solid reputation in the industry by age 29, when he was running Monterey Boats, a leading manufacturer of sport-fishing yachts. At ACY’s inception, his résumé already included supervising construction of the fastest diesel powered, sport-fishing boat in the world, which reached speeds of 48 knots.

LaCombe partnered with a Louisiana-based family to start his new venture, which began by building a 58-foot demonstration yacht that took a year to build. “It literally went around the world and was shown off,” says ACY’s General Manager, Dominick LaCombe, Jr. “That was our marketing strategy, to demo the boat and show the world what we could do.”

Next, the partners asked him to build a slightly larger yacht, on spec. After the craft was built – another year’s work – it was also taken on tour. “The business started to pick up because people were seeing our style of boat,” says LaCombe. “It was a real fast, real lightweight boat that could take on almost any sea conditions.”

Custom-boat builders were commonplace at that time, with the city of Stuart being well-known in the industry. But most of the companies were not known for producing vessels that were exceptionally fast, a feature that is a calling card of ACY’s meticulously hand-crafted sport-fishing boats.

“Between ‘90 and ‘99, most boats were in the 30-knot range and they were made out of fiberglass,” says LaCombe. “We were among the first pioneers of more efficient hull designs which allowed us to gain speed and keep the weight down at the same time.”

The company’s vessels are crafted using traditional, cold-molded, wooden boat-building techniques, but feature ultra-light materials, such as Kevlar, which are used in the aerospace industry. For strength, laminated wood is used for the keel, stringers, and deck beams; fiberglass and Kevlar-laminated plywood are utilized for hulls and structural bulkheads. The Kevlar, a polymer stronger than fiberglass, is the secret to each craft’s light weight and high speed.

“The niche that we had was a quality built boat from start to finish,” LaCombe explains. “The idea behind our boats is to take, from the tiniest piece of wood on the keel, all the way up to anything on the boat, and build it from scratch and to fabricate it right here in our facility.”

As more orders were received, ACY found that it had outgrown its facilities, so the company shifted operations to a new location on the Okeechobee Waterway, with easy access to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The move also facilitated an update to the company’s business model to include repairs, repowering, and refitting, complete painting services, and storage for more than 300 vessels.

“ The idea there was it’s nice to build the boats and it’s great to love our name and our reputation, but being on the water allowed us to service the fleet,” LaCombe offers. “The nature of the business went that way because boats require a lot of service and maintenance, especially a wooden boat. The idea was to service our fleet and then to service other boats and it didn’t matter if the boats were made of fiberglass, wood, or metal. We have the ability here to fix and repair or upgrade any style of boat or any type of material a boat is built out of.”

ACY’s 63-acre campus also includes two subsidiaries, Bausch-American Towers, which builds aluminum sport-fish towers, custom-molded lightweight hard tops, and accessories; and Venture by American, which builds handcrafted, luxury, center-console boats.

From its humble beginnings, the company has grown to 95 employees, and over time, service and repair has replaced yacht building as the dominant portion of ACY’s overall business. “Up to 2005, we used to be about 65-70 percent production. Recently, we’ve probably reduced production to around 30 percent and service up to 70-80 percent,” LaCombe avers.

But broadening the business’ scope to include service and repairs has proven to be a game changer for ACY. “There was actually more competition, from a boat-building perspective, in our local area in the early nineties to the 2000s, but a lot of them didn’t have the ability to shift into that service model,” LaCombe speculates. “Unfortunately, a lot of the big names that I grew up looking up to are gone.”

In addition to adapting its business model, LaCombe believes that ACY has sustained itself through brand recognition and its longevity in the industry. But it still has to promote itself which is why it recently created an in-house, business development office. Another key move for the company came in 2014, when LaCombe’s partners purchased North America’s largest yacht manufacturer, Westport Yachts, based in Port Angeles, Washington.

“We’re looking at combined efforts in marketing because we’re able to service that type of fleet,” says LaCombe. “That purchase really works towards reducing some of the costs amongst both companies. One of the big things with the Westport purchase is we want to be known as a group that can build your entire fleet, from 160 feet down to 34 feet. There aren’t many companies in the United States that can pull that off anymore.”

AT A GLANCE

WHO: American Custom Yachts WHAT: Full-service boatyard and custom boat builder WHERE: Stuart, Florida WEBSITE:  www.americancustomyachts.com

PREFERRED VENDORS

Florida Marine Tech Inc. – www.floridamarinetech.com

Port Supply –  www.westmarine.com

DIG DIGITAL?

VIEW THE DIGITAL VERSION OF THIS FEATURE

October 2017

Window world of baton rouge – simply the best for less, dundee resort & golf club – par excellence in gorgeous cape breton, sanford, north carolina – leveraging its assets, whitehorse, yukon territory – the wilderness city, union city, california – on the move, the marquis-larson boat group – combining two great traditions, huckins yachts – yachts designed to make history, simpli home – life by design, sendero homes – custom, classic, and contemporary, scugog, ontario – ready for the future, hms global maritime – marine management and consulting, namepa – saving our seas, you may also like, lydford mining co. – lucrative limestone, longmont, colorado – the future of sustainability, halifax transit – moving forward together, nanaimo, british columbia – the harbour city, world’s tallest modular hotel set to rise..., easthampton, massachusetts – not your ‘run-of-the-mill’ city, aries industries – waukesha, wisconsin, griffin georgia – growing together, view or download the brochure for this article.

• Associations
• Clean and Green
• Construction
• Energy & Mining
• Facilities Management
• Food & Beverage
• Franchising
• Manufacturing
• Professional Services
• Public Sector
• Supply Chain and Logistics
• Transportation
• Volume 8, Issue 12
• Civil and Municipal
• Business View Caribbean
• Business View Oceania

JOIN THE WILLIS CUSTOM YACHTS TEAM!

• Bausch Towers
• Job Openings

+772-221-9100

6800 SW Jack James Drive, Stuart, FL 34997

“A quality initial plan is imperative to a successful outcome.”

Luxury Sport Fishing Yacht Builders & Refit Company

Advanced technology. incomparable quality..

Willis Custom Yachts Acquires Waterfront Location in Stuart, Florida

• By Capt. Jen Copeland
• Updated: October 18, 2021

As rumors of a major shift in the Stuart, Florida, boatbuilding ­community swirled this past spring, it soon became evident that those rumblings were indeed true. While we always hate to see a storied property change hands, especially if it could mean that the one on the selling side might be lost ad infinitum, we also must give props to the buyer who shows a willingness to take on a project that includes nearly 64 acres of land.

Mark Willis, who established the now-esteemed Willis Marine Inc. in 1990, joined forces earlier this year with Florida entrepreneur Brooks Smith to form Willis Custom Yachts. Willis—once located on Southeast Commerce Avenue blocks from Manatee Pocket—acquired the Stuart canal-front property that was previously occupied for many years by American Custom Yachts. Willis is conducting all of its business at the Jack James Drive location, including its in-house design and CNC business, MarkCam Inc., citing additional capacity, and capability for much larger applications will now be more likely.

Watch: The Marlin team explores the fishery of the Andaman Sea off Myanmar in this episode of Bluewater Chronicles .

The expansion plan on the ­horizon for Willis Custom Yachts includes a 90,000-square-foot ­state-of-the-art manufacturing and boatbuilding ­facility, additional covered repair and dockage facilities, a new 150-ton ­travel lift, and an increase in the size of the haulout well with a proposal to purchase a 220-ton travel lift, as well as another facility east of NW Flagler Avenue for new-yacht deliveries.

Bausch American Towers, led by Tim Bausch, will continue to design, construct and install its custom towers under Bausch’s guidance, even though the subsidiary has also been included in this acquisition; it will be rebranded as Bausch Towers under the WCY umbrella. Venture—a center-console company that is also based at the property—is part of the asset as well, and plans are already on the drawing board to modernize the brand with an all-new design and ­subsequent tooling.

Willis is confident that the move will ensure that his operations increase new-construction capacity and ­shorten both build and service times. “I am very excited to be able to greatly expand our ability and offer the absolute finest quality custom sport-fishing vessels to many new owners. Having waterfront access of this magnitude changes the game for us and will vastly enhance our ability to provide the highest quality service and support to all of our customers,” he says.

Currently there are two boats under construction at the location—the 68-foot ACY Hull No. 22 and the 70-foot WCY Hull No. 15—with two more hulls slated to begin construction in the near future.

Read Next: Check out our review of the Willis 77, Uno Mas .

Doug West, who previously served as president of Rybovich in West Palm Beach and president/CEO of Lauderdale Marine Center, has also joined Willis in the venture, serving as president and ­general manager for Willis Custom Yachts, and, according to the ­company’s latest press release, “will be a major ­contributor in shaping the future of the facility and its operations.”

For more information of the ­goings-on at the new Willis Custom Yachts facility, please visit williscustomyachts.com .

This article originally appeared in the December 2021 print issue of Marlin.

• More: Boats , Custom Boats , December 2021

Free Email Newsletters

Sign up for free Marlin Group emails to receive expert big-game content along with key tournament updates and to get advanced notice of new expeditions as they’re introduced.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By signing up you agree to receive communications from Marlin and select partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy . You may opt out of email messages/withdraw consent at any time.

Armed and Dangerous: Carrying Weapons Against Maritime Piracy

Jimmy buffett’s maritime dream and legacy, merritt 88 skybridge review, updates to the right whale speed restriction rule, morocco hosts adopt-a-billfish, marlin expeditions instructor spotlight: brad goodrich and charles perry.

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Email Newsletters
• Tournaments
• Expeditions

Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. Marlin may receive financial compensation for products purchased through this site.

Copyright © 2024 Marlin. A Bonnier LLC Company . All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Sign up for free Marlin Group emails to receive expert big-game content along with key tournament updates and to get advanced notice of new expeditions as they’re introduced.

Subscribe to Marlin

Subscribe now to get seven keepsake print editions of Marlin per year, along with instant access to a digital archive of past issues, all for only $29 per year.

• Bermuda Triple Crown
• Los Cabos Billfish Tournament
• Offshore World Championship
• Scrub Island Billfish Series
• Marlin Expeditions
• Casa Vieja Lodge Ladies Only
• Casa Vieja Lodge
• Nova Scotia
• Expert Instructors
• Corporate Retreats
• Our Sponsors
• Newsletters

We're here to Help! Call Our Office at (561) 427-0020.

American Custom Yachts For Sale

American Custom Yachts is a marine facility based on 63 acres and offering a full range of on-site marine services. The American Custom Yachts tradition began in Stuart over 60 years ago and to this day, they combine the old ways of craftsmanship with the new, resulting in custom sportfishermen. Ultra-light materials are utilized, as well as cold-molded wooden boat-building techniques.

American Custom Yachts

*Your information will never be shared with any third party.

ABOUT AMERICAN YACHTS, "GLOBALLY LOCAL"

A world class service with the very best local professional yachts brokers..

When experience and reputation count, there is only one choice and that is; American Yachts

Relationships with our customers. Number 1, our focus is always on the customer. How to bring them the best service anywhere and to add value in everything we do.

Relationships with our talented and knowledgeable brokers who bring much more than just experience to our buyers, they make the buying process both professional and enjoyable.

Relationships we have built over the years and across six continents with our global sales and marketing network.

"Success over the years comes as a direct result of our philosophy; Relationships, relationships, relationships. Buyers, Sellers, Individuals, Brokers and Dealers alike have all become our partners across the globe and it is this network that provides the kind of customer satisfaction that keeps them coming back."

32 years ago, American Yachts were amongst the first to embrace the internet in the yacht market and use it to bring buyers and sellers together across the Atlantic (as in those days, the market was mostly limited to Europe). Since 1992 we have exported thousands of boats into six continents and onto parts of the world you would never imagine. We were exporting boats from the US way before it became "fashionable" and everyone else tried to imitate our services. Global Yacht Sales has always been our forte.

IMPORT / EXPORT

American Yachts have been the industry leader in the logistics of moving boats around the globe and into different markets since 1992. We offer the most complete and professional import/export services, from; Shrink-wrap, cradles, CE certification, to US transport or Freight Forwarding Worldwide. Our experience and reputation gives us the opportunity not just to provide our International customers with the confidence and services they deserve but this networking opens up new markets to our local customers that other companies just don't have.

WHOLESALE AND TRADE-INS

Our heritage is from the global wholesale market and as such we still buy boats for cash. We also cash out trade-ins which helps more buyers and sellers get together on our brokerage listings.

American Yachts continue to lead the way and provide our clients and Brokers alike with the most sophisticated platforms available, in order to:

• Drive data to every MLS advertising site available
• Manage and nurture every lead
• Simplify the process of Listing and Sale Agreements through convenient electronic signatures
• Streamline the complex closing process into a professional experience

MARKETING AND NETWORK

American Yachts leads the field in Global Web Based Marketing. We currently advertise on approximately 100 MLS sites across the world, have locations in Europe and Australia and are honored to have a 25 year old network of buyers, sellers and business partners. Yes, We still buy and sell locally and nationally but our marketing also reaches the very corners of the earth. American Yachts have become Florida's #1 exporter of used boats and yachts.

Our marketing and presentation is second to none, with professional photographers and drone videos. Adding to our investment in traditional local print advertising, we have a local and global marketing platform that brings unparalleled results.

WE ARE GLOBALLY LOCAL

See how the best brokers and the best services, make all the difference. We are customer focused. Visit any of our water locations and you will find the very best and most experienced yacht Brokers in the marine industry. Local offices combined with our global reach is a very strong platform but the true value of our services comes from the relationships and knowledge our Brokers provide.