Luxury line stays afloat

SEAWORTHY: Morgan Huntley, owner of Vanquish Boats, polishes a 2017 model 24-foot Runabout with teak trim. It was scheduled to be shipped to Canada. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
SEAWORTHY: Morgan Huntley, owner of Vanquish Boats, polishes a 2017 model 24-foot Runabout with teak trim. It was scheduled to be shipped to Canada. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Like a lot of people in the marine industry, Morgan C. Huntley found himself out of work during the Great Recession in 2008.

Rather than scrape together work while waiting for an economic rebound, however, Huntley ended up buying a boat mold and launching Vanquish Boats LLC, a Newport-based boat-building company.

“The economy was still in shambles,” Huntley said, remembering back to the launch of his business. “Boats are a luxury product and no one was spending money on luxury products. But I figured, ‘If I could make it then, I could make it whenever.’ ”

A New York native, Huntley originally came to the Ocean State to attend the International Yacht Restoration School. He’d spent his earlier years working various jobs in and around the water, including as a launch operator and captaining. After coming to Rhode Island, he felt the state was the best place for a career in the marine industry.

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“Rhode Island has an extremely rich history of boat building,” he said. “The talent exists here, and it doesn’t in a lot of other places. The state doesn’t do a great job making it a friendly place to do business, but we’re here because the talent is here.”

Starting a business during the depths of the recession, however, meant sales started slowly. Huntley said Vanquish would sell a boat and build two boats, then sell two boats and build three, and so on. But the slow start paid off in the long run, as the company is now growing more quickly. Vanquish models include a 21-foot center console, 21-foot cuddy cabin, 24-foot center console, 24-foot runabout, 26-foot center console and a 26-foot dual console, which will be released at this year’s Newport Boat Festival in the fall.

Most recently, Vanquish acquired Bristol Harbor Boats to add a new 21-foot center console and cubby cabin to its portfolio. First built in 2006, Bristol Harbor Boats models were largely constructed in Mexico and sold in the Northeast, according to the company. But as part of the acquisition, Vanquish is bringing that work home and is building the new Bristol Harbor series in Bristol, on the same production line as its models.

“We are really happy to bring it back to Rhode Island,” he said. “It’s exciting.”

Coming out of the Great Recession, Huntley is thoughtful about his industry’s vulnerability to the ups and downs of the economy; he tries to stay diversified in his output. His fiberglass manufacturing plant lets him do just that, as there’s typically room to work on nonboat mold, fiberglass-cutting projects for consumers outside of the marine industry.

He says the diversification helps make sales more predictable. And while less profitable, the side business gives the company a larger cushion to fall back on should the economy again slide.

When asked how it feels to run his business now, compared with the Great Recession, Huntley quipped, “I’m sleeping at night now.” •

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