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Ken Fickett Becky Fickett Travis Fickett Jessica Fickett
Ken Fickett Becky Fickett Travis Fickett Jessica Fickett
A Lifetime of Experience
Ken Fickett started his boat building career as a pre-teen working after school, summers and weekends for one of Miami's most famous commercial boat builders.
Sweeping up, caring for tools and acting as a gofer, he learned boat building from one of the best, Raleigh Stapleton. Ken worked for Raleigh until he went to college. On his return, he went back to work for Stapleton until opening his own business in 1971. It was a time when the industry was shifting to fiberglass, and Ken exhibited a spacial knack for fabricating molded components.
"I've always had a high degree of what they call spatial aptitude," Ken explains. "In school I scored high in figuring what a two-dimensional pattern would look like in 3-D. I could envision what the other side of a mold would look like, and how things would fit together in three dimensions."
Five decades later, Ken's still at it. Mirage Manufacturing, in Gainesville, Florida is located at the same spot on N.E. 20th Way where it all began. Same address. Same phone number. During this time, Ken's built some of the most competitive MORC racing sailboats, a line of popular, fast, offshore sportfishing boats and, of course, the Great Harbour Trawlers which have become known as America's Go-Anywhere Liveaboards.
When he was in his 20s Ken learned to fly. His interest in flying and his knowledge of high-strength, ultralight fabrication led him to develop several high performance airplane projects. Ken brought the Aero Mirage TC2, Team Tango and Foxtrot aircrafts to market. Although Ken sold his interest in his aviation company to focus on the development of the Great Harbour Trawlers, he still maintains a Cessna 205 for family and business use.
When Ken is not busy designing and building Great Harbours, you'll find him at boat shows and owner's rendezvous talking with current and prospective owners about the benefits of his designs, and listening to their suggestions and feedback. To spread the word that Great Harbour Trawlers are the right choice for so many avid cruisers, Ken has become an award-winning writer for the boating industry. You'll discover that Ken Fickett doesn't follow the crowd when it comes to boat design and construction. He knows there are too many "me-too" trawlers on the market. Instead, he sets his own path, designing and building boats that fit the needs of avid cruisers who simply want to enjoy the liveaboard lifestyle without having to spend millions of dollars on boats that are too expensive, too complex and require too much maintenance.
After more than 50 years in the boatbuilding industry, Ken has no plans to retire or sell his business. As he says, "I'm having too much fun doing what I love to do." But like many of us, he dreams one day of slowing down and spending more time cruising. It's Ken's dream to fit out a Great Harbour Trawler of his own and to use it as a mothership for bonefishing throughout the Out Islands of the Bahamas. Boats are in Ken's blood, and it's reassuring to know that he'd like to spend the next chapter of his life on one of his own boats.
Sweeping up, caring for tools and acting as a gofer, he learned boat building from one of the best, Raleigh Stapleton. Ken worked for Raleigh until he went to college. On his return, he went back to work for Stapleton until opening his own business in 1971. It was a time when the industry was shifting to fiberglass, and Ken exhibited a spacial knack for fabricating molded components.
"I've always had a high degree of what they call spatial aptitude," Ken explains. "In school I scored high in figuring what a two-dimensional pattern would look like in 3-D. I could envision what the other side of a mold would look like, and how things would fit together in three dimensions."
Five decades later, Ken's still at it. Mirage Manufacturing, in Gainesville, Florida is located at the same spot on N.E. 20th Way where it all began. Same address. Same phone number. During this time, Ken's built some of the most competitive MORC racing sailboats, a line of popular, fast, offshore sportfishing boats and, of course, the Great Harbour Trawlers which have become known as America's Go-Anywhere Liveaboards.
When he was in his 20s Ken learned to fly. His interest in flying and his knowledge of high-strength, ultralight fabrication led him to develop several high performance airplane projects. Ken brought the Aero Mirage TC2, Team Tango and Foxtrot aircrafts to market. Although Ken sold his interest in his aviation company to focus on the development of the Great Harbour Trawlers, he still maintains a Cessna 205 for family and business use.
When Ken is not busy designing and building Great Harbours, you'll find him at boat shows and owner's rendezvous talking with current and prospective owners about the benefits of his designs, and listening to their suggestions and feedback. To spread the word that Great Harbour Trawlers are the right choice for so many avid cruisers, Ken has become an award-winning writer for the boating industry. You'll discover that Ken Fickett doesn't follow the crowd when it comes to boat design and construction. He knows there are too many "me-too" trawlers on the market. Instead, he sets his own path, designing and building boats that fit the needs of avid cruisers who simply want to enjoy the liveaboard lifestyle without having to spend millions of dollars on boats that are too expensive, too complex and require too much maintenance.
After more than 50 years in the boatbuilding industry, Ken has no plans to retire or sell his business. As he says, "I'm having too much fun doing what I love to do." But like many of us, he dreams one day of slowing down and spending more time cruising. It's Ken's dream to fit out a Great Harbour Trawler of his own and to use it as a mothership for bonefishing throughout the Out Islands of the Bahamas. Boats are in Ken's blood, and it's reassuring to know that he'd like to spend the next chapter of his life on one of his own boats.
