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14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? OCTOBER 2013 ONE ON ONE WINN WILLARD, HUNT YACHTS What advantages do you reap from having three companies under the Hunt name? We?ve worked hard to expand the Hunt brand while continuing to car-ry out Ray?s life mission to always be innovative. Ray was never afraid to try a design just because it was different. To Ray, that was all the more reason to give it a shot. When we decided to start Hunt Yachts, we had a beautifully designed Surf-hunter. Still, some thought a design Þ rm would never succeed at also build- ing yachts. It was a risk. Today, Hunt Yachts offers 18 highly-customizable models, including day cruisers, coastal cruisers and express motoryachts. It broadened our customer-base, created a new line of business, and more impor- tantly, offered additional revenue. The same is true for Hunt Marine Services. We saw a gap in the market to bring the same elite customer experience offered in our design and boat building process to the service sector. Creating a new business is a risk, but ironically, those risks have now diversiÞ ed our business, allow the Hunt brand to grow in a time other brands were forced to fold. What beneÞ ts do you gain from de- signing in both commercial and consumer markets? Are there draw- backs? From a business perspective, a major beneÞ t is having a diversiÞ ed client base allowing us continuity. We have never had a layoff. Quite often the commercial and the pleasure sides are on different business cycles. Then there are concepts, details and practices that one sees in each market that can be ap-plied in the other. For example, a major draw for our larger pleasure craft cus- tomers, such as the Hunt 44, 52 or 68 Express Motoryacht, is knowing that the hull on their yacht is virtually iden-tical to the hull on the Hunt-designed pilot boats servicing our ports. Pilot boats must perform at a high level, regardless of the weather conditions, which provides our consumer custom-ers with peace of mind to tackle foul weather conditions. On the downside I see a lot of opportunities worldwide that we can?t always chase or concen- trate on. There are only so many hours in a day. What portion of your business is commercial? Right now, about 65-75%. There are signs of a comeback in the consumer markets, but it is very spotty and not strong yet. The commercial side is also slowing, in particular the mili-tary and quasi-military segment. We?ve been very fortunate to develop a repu-tation for reliability and dependability in the safety and security and pilot boat communities, in particular. Hunt pilot boats are used in more than two dozen Hunt Yachts, founded by Raymond C. Hunt in the mid 20th century, is probably best known for its ?deep-V? hull, a feature long revered as its signature. The business originated with the design of speedcruisers and motor yachts, evolving into military and commercial markets. Winn Willard, Director of Hunt Yachts and Vice President of Hunt Associates, spoke with Maritime Reporter on Hunt?s tradition, industry presence and outlook on future building markets. By Eric Haun Winn Willard The Director of Hunt Yachts and VP of Hunt Associates, has been with the company since 1970 and is responsible for some of Hunt?s most in uential designs. MR #10 (10-17).indd 14MR #10 (10-17).indd 1410/4/2013 10:47:14 AM10/4/2013 10:47:14 AM
