About Bayliss

“John Bayliss is a detail freak! No detail, no matter how small, escapes his attention. He tweaks all design features — structural, mechanical, electrical and cosmetic — as close to perfection as possible.” Marlin, July 2008

There is no textbook on how to build a great fishing yacht. There’s only one school: a lifetime on the water, and that’s where John Bayliss got his education. For the past 25 years, John has spent more than 200 days a year on the water, in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

He began his career in 1975 as a mate in Hatteras Village, North Carolina, and within five years became a captain running charter trips on his own boat out of Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks. In 1997, Hatteras Yachts enlisted Bayliss as captain of the company’s demo boat, the Hatterascal.

“That introduced me to an entirely different world of boatbuilding,” Bayliss told Marlin magazine in 2007. “Part of my job was to look around and give them ideas to use on their next projects, so I took note of a lot of good ideas along the way.”

During his 25 years on the water, John compiled considerable winnings on the tournament circuit, learning to appreciate the strengths and recognize the weaknesses of both production and custom yachts.

His next step was to take these hard-earned lessons to the drawing board and begin to craft his own.

John opened Bayliss Boatworks in April 2002, in Wanchese, North Carolina, and has quickly made a name as one of the most creative and competitive builders of custom sportfishing yachts in the country.

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