In 1917, Addison Whiticar moved his family to the then sleepy oceanside town of Stuart, Florida, to pursue a life in commercial fishing. The existence of a large and passable inlet, plus the knowledge that the Gulf Stream delivered desirable species to the nearby waters, created an opportunity that was too hard to ignore. Whiticar’s chance for success was boosted by Henry Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway. In 1912, Flagler’s venture had connected Jacksonville to Key West, bringing increased trade, land development and tourism.
In the mid-1930s, one of Whiticar’s sons, Curtis, who was a charter fisherman, built a single-screw 33-footer for himself. He then built a twin-screw, 38-foot sportfisherman for his dad. His skills set the family on a course that would inextricably bind their name with sportfishing—particularly among locals, tourists and retirees bent on pursuing the abundant billfish that were thriving just offshore.
The Whiticar reputation for solid, seaworthy and capable sportfishing vessels blossomed as Curtis’ boats evolved. In 1947, he opened his own business and two years later brought his brother-in-law John Dragseth into the company. Together they built customized, tournament-ready designs that were prized by saltwater anglers and had a reputation for careful construction and attention to detail. Eventually, the company switched from carvel construction to cold-molded hulls, which could run faster and were more maneuverable in the often-turbulent Gulf Stream waters. Whiticar produced boats ranging from 33 to 90 feet in length with all of the state-of-the-art fishing equipment, including outriggers,tuna towers, fighting chairs, teak cockpit soles, fish lockers and flybridge helms with excellent views of the cockpit. In time, the sons of Curtis and John took the business over from their fathers.
Picasso, a Whiticar 56 launched in 2001, was a notable example of the company’s builds. The hull with its deep forefoot, modestly raked stem, and high forward freeboard was designed to handle big seas. The bottom was triple-planked with solid mahogany, laminated with epoxy resin and cloth, and vacuum-bagged for strength. Originally powered by a pair of 1,150-hp Detroit Diesel/MTU 12V183 engines, Picasso could attain a top speed of 35 knots and stay on plane down to about 15 knots. In 2012, Picasso received a major refit, including new engines, at the Michael Rybovich & Sons yard and was relaunched with a new name, Never Enough.
Curtis retired in 1986 at age 75. He died in 2017 at 106. Whiticar Boat Works was sold to HMY Yachts in 2022.—John Wooldridge
This article was originally published in the April 2023 issue.
