Paul Mann Custom Boats Celebrated 30 Years of Custom Boat Building

Manns Harbor, NC –  It’s a little like excelling in playing the piano, painting, or engaging in any other art form. Assuming you are dedicated, gifted, and hardworking, in due time you become a master. Custom boatbuilding is, perhaps, a very different kind of art form than music or painting. But when you consider the depth of passion, experience, expertise, and attention to detail that Paul Mann brought to his boatbuilding craft, the logic of the analogy becomes clear. In short, after over 30 years of passionate dedication and continuous improvements, Paul Mann was among the best of the best–if not the very best–custom sportfish yacht builders in the world.
 
Paul’s secret in the celebration of those 30-plus years was the blending of tried and true traditional techniques learned from the original Outer Banks masters, particularly Omie Tillet, Buddy Canady (Capt. BC) and Sonny Briggs. But Paul was unique. His homegrown, down-to-earth honesty, his aptitude for engineering, and a keen understanding of the most up-to-date materials and technologies, underlain the magic of his art.  Paul’s ability to source and integrate the latest and greatest systems, running gear, and electronic and digital technologies, was unmatched. His customer service over the long haul for every owner family was beyond anyone else in the custom niche.
 
A unique combination of understanding the heritage and “tricks of the trade” of Carolina boat design and specialized running bottoms, utilizing the most modern building techniques and lightweight materials, and employing incredible craftsmanship along with an eye for detail, marked Paul Mann Custom Boats in its 30th year. Paul Mann himself had traveled around the globe, first to more fully experience how his boats were used and, just as importantly, to assess methods and materials that ensured the perfect marriage of high technology and proven traditional design.
 
Mann’s multiple-award-winning craftsmanship has been recognized throughout the marine and woodworking industries. Over its 30-plus years, the Paul Mann company evolved from building functional, sea kindly, great-running boats for the North Carolina coast who then became a true custom boatbuilding industry leader, who created magnificent fishing yachts that were home-away-from-home anywhere in the world. Every single build provided owners with superior performance.
 
Paul Mann Custom Boats built boats through the use of jigs or in the traditional frame and plank cold-molded style, or a combination of the two methods, according to customer wants and needs. The result was a magnificent yacht such as the 61-foot JICHI launched in 2017, or 2016’s 60-foot CAUGHT UP, or the 77-foot and 63-foot hulls that a few of the last hulls to be built in Paul’s boat building facility in Manns Harbor. Even Hull #1 launched in 1988 and still active in sportfishing today exhibits a marvelous unity of design because Paul himself is “hands-on” through every phase.

Mann began building his own hulls under the company name Mann Boat Works in 1988. A few years later, he incorporated as Mann Custom Boats, Inc., and had progressed to a 40,200-square foot facility. Mann had built over 40 yachts to date*, from 52 feet to over 80 feet LOA, each designed for exceptional performance whether in a following sea, side-to, or head-to sea. Paul Mann boats did not need an exaggerated flair or tumblehome to be a sleek, true Carolina hull.

Robin Mann said, “Building your Paul Mann boat is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. When an owner desires top performance and the highest quality, along with maintaining a budget and reaching their timelines, we can fulfill their goals. Owners have a unique opportunity to achieve their vision of building a yacht specifically designed for their lifestyle.” 

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* 40 yachts had been built by March 12, 2018