About Winder Boats
Winder Boats was founded in 1976 by Guy Winder in his garage at home.
Guy had learned his trade in an unusual way, having worked as a production engineer in the aerospace industry, working on a variety of planes, including the Mosquito. This background ensured that he came into boatbuilding with an attention to detail and a level of accuracy that was second to none in the marine industry.
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Guy’s sailing ability and knowledge of dynamics meant that it wasn’t long before he started building to his own designs, along with building designs from established designers, for many sailors across the world. The Merlin-Rocket was the main class that his innovative designs were brought to the fore, with many top boats coming out of his yard.
The Merlin-Rocket, Stiletto (3208), gave Guy a pretty unique position in sailing history, given it was a boat he designed, built and won a National Championship race, a feat that isn’t easy to repeat in any class.
Guy didn’t just build Merlin-Rockets, he was commissioned to build other classes, which went on to being successful, with the Fireball being one of the longest standing boats that Winder Boats still build.
It was not just the Dinghy Scene that Guy was involved in, having built Tank Test hulls for 12 metre Americas Cup campaigns, along with other parts for campaign boats.
With the move away from Wood as the main material used in the construction of the hulls in many classes, Guy took on the challenge, along with his son David, producing boats that were as accurately built as the wooden boats. The Composite boats that came from the Winder Boats proved to be very stiff and long lasting, meaning that 20+ year old boats are still at the front of the fleets across the world to this day.
David Winder joined the business straight out of school in 1986. David has also become a top sailor, with strong showings in the Fireball and Merlin Fleets at the top levels. David inherited the ethos of Accuracy and Attention to detail that Guy had instilled in everyone involved in Winder Boats, along with an eye for innovative solutions. David was a key component of the switch from Wood to Composite construction when they introduced the Composite Fireball in 1989. He naturally stepped into the leadership role of the business, as Guy gradually stepped back from the business leadership sure about the future of the company he had built from the ground up.
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David’s wife Sarah is key to the business, running the office functions and the first line of contact, thus allowing David to concentrate on producing the quality boats that we all love to sail. She can occasionally be seen on the water, when the mood takes her.
Taking Winder Boats into the next generation is Joseph Winder who has recently joined the business prior to it’s 50th year of operation.
Winder Boats have built many classes over the years, the most notable ones being:
- Merlin-Rocket – Wood from 1976, Composite from 1998
- Fireball – Wood originally, composite from 1989
- National 12 – Composite from 1997
- National Solo – Composite from 2000
- International Mirror – Composite from 2007
- International GP14 – Composite from 2010
- National Scorpion – 2022 (For P&B)
- Hadron H2 – 2023 (For Hadron Dinghies)
Winder boats have employed notable sailors over the years, the current representatives that can be seen on the water are :
- Steve Dennison
- Harry Fox
