ROY MERRITT

• The Merritt family has been building boats since 1955, and Roy has been hands-on at the yard ever since he started working there as a young boy. After the death of his uncle, Buddy, he led the building charge from design to launch. He morphed the construction techniques from frame to cold-molded boats and then the use of advanced composites more than 40 years ago. Under his leadership, Merritt’s Boat & Engine Works has grown from a mom-and-pop boatyard to the mecca it is today. His first build was the 42-foot ; since then, the Merritt boat has evolved from the giant tuna-chasing 37 and 42-/43-footers to the overbuilt, globe-traveling sport-fishermen built today. Its latest is