Conch Boats, From a Guides' Workboat to a Stuart Custom Shop

An unlikely parent in Massachusetts

It is odd that one of Florida's most respected guide boats was conceived by a New England sailboat company. In the late 1980s Edey and Duff of Massachusetts gathered a group of working Key West fishing guides and paired them with a naval architect, with the goal of producing the best possible outboard offshore fishing boat.

The guides knew what they wanted: a hull that stayed steady at rest and sea-kind underway, livewells and fish boxes big enough for a full charter, and a structure tough enough for daily commercial use. The boat that came out of those sessions, the Conch 27, built a following among guides and dedicated private anglers that outlasted its original builder.

R&R Boatworks takes the helm

R&R Boatworks was a Conch 27 owner before it was a Conch builder. In 2005 the Stuart company purchased Edey and Duff's assets, and within a year it had launched the Conch 33. It then reworked the 27 tooling with new decks, consoles, hatches, leaning posts and hardtops, and moved to better materials and construction methods across the board.

Over time R&R also took design work in house, adding CAD, core cutting and mold building to its own shop, which gives the small builder more control over new models and changes.

Growing the family from 18 to 41 feet

Under R&R the range has expanded in both directions. A Conch 30 arrived in 2015, using the 27's bottom with an integrated bracket. The Conch 25 hybrid bay boat began delivering in 2021, and the following year brought both the Conch 18 Pistol skiff and the Conch 41 flagship, which R&R says exceeded 90 mph on quad Mercury 500s during testing at Mercury's Lake X.

The Conch 33 remains the heart of the lineup and the model most people ask about. Our separate review covers its hull, tankage, fishing layout and power choices, and how later hulls differ from early ones.

Buying from the Stuart factory

There is no dealer network. Conch sells directly from its Stuart plant, where demo rides and factory tours are available by appointment, and pricing is not published. Since each hull is built to order, engines, fuel and electronics differ widely between boats.

Anglers in South Florida and the Keys know the brand well, which supports resale there, while buyers farther afield may have to educate an appraiser. The factory also remains the best source of parts and advice for older boats. Many Conchs have been used commercially, so survey accordingly.

• Cracks or corrosion around the bracket, transom and engine mounts.
• Condition of aluminum tanks and the true fuel capacity.
• Every livewell pump, the seachest and bronze valves.
• Wear on decks and hatch gutters from charter work.