Buddy Davis is celebrating a quarter of a century of designing and crafting those distinctive sportfishermen that are practically synonymous with his name. You know, those Carolina battle wagons with their sharp bows and flared foredecks designed to keep you high and dry as you plow through the 10-foot breakers at the mouth of the Oregon Inlet and head out to the canyons off the Outer Banks.

Buddy Davis knows those conditions well. Carolina born and raised, he started out working charter boats at the age of 13. In 1974, he launched his first boat, a juniper-planked sportfisherman, for the Oregon Inlet charter fleet. What began as a way to keep charter boat captains busy through the long off-season, 25 years and 250 boats later, is now a multi-million dollar international concern that's about to shih into high gear.

The new 50 Express Sportfisherman is a prime example of the reason why Buddy Davis is so famous and why his company is doing so well.

"We actually built our first express models back in the early 80s for tuna fishermen up in Providence, Rhode Island, back when people weren't building express models," Buddy recalls. He speaks on a
cell phone while driving from his factory in Wanchese, North Carolina, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, where he'll meet with his design team. In 1994, Buddy's company started pulling itself out of the morass caused by the ill-fated luxury tax.

"We were building customized fiberglass boats when we started building this 50-foot model," he explains. Has we evolved back into the production mode, we developed the 50 into a good production boat. Now we're building a new deck plug. It's not going to be much different; the styling is exactly the same, but there will be a few detail improvements: more storage, better seating, a new electronics console."

While there may be some argument for modifying the layout, there's not much to fault about the plan as it is. There are two basic layouts available for the current Buddy Davis 50 Express. They share a large, open cockpit and a spacious lounge just ah of the command bridge. Below decks in the long, sleek bow, there's a salon with an L-shaped settee and a U-shaped galley, plus a guest cabin with a double bed. The galley features under-the-counter refrigerator and freezer, convection microwave oven, water filtration system, teak-and-holly flooring, teak veneer with solid teak trim, plus lots of counter space and storage.

In the basic plan, the master stateroom I features a double berth to port with an upper I single bunk to starboard. The modified plan | features a center island double bed. Both layouts boast a cedar-lined hanging locker, I vanity and drawers, deck hatch, and a built-in 13" color television with VCR and | remote control. The master head in both | plans features a separate fiberglass shower I stall with a door. In the basic plan, there's | also a second head on the port side aft that doubles as a shower stall.

But the greatest feature of the express design is the topside. From the cockpit to the lounge on the command bridge, there's plenty of room for fishing and socializing whether at the dock or underway. The expansive cockpit features a large walk-through tuna door, transom fishbox, big scuppers, a shower, fresh and saltwater washdown system, freezer, tackle cabinet with recessed sink, bait center and tackle drawers, and a hatchway down to the engine room.

The adjacent command bridgedeck features wraparound seating with vinyl cushions and storage underneath. At the helm station, you'll find a convenient refrigerator and icemaker, stereo system with CD player, along with full instrumentation well laid out on the central console. The centerline placement of the helm lends great visibility all around. There's a second seat to the right of the helm seat.

"Personally, l like having everyone together, "Buddy Davis says of the express layout. "I fish with my three boys and our guests. Unlike a flybridge model, we're together all day. There are some compromises: it's five or six feet closer to the water, but other than that, there's no disadvantage."

But if it's a flybridge you really must have, then you can choose the Buddy Davis 50 Flybridge Sportfisherman. The base price for the express is about $897,000 with twin' Caterpillar 3406E 800BHP diesels. You can upgrade to DDC-MTU 8V200 900BHP's for an additional $56,000, or MAN 2840LE403 1050BHP's for $63,000 more.

By comparison, the base price for the flybridge model is about $992,000 with standard Cat 800BHP twin diesels.

Performance figures provided by Buddy Davis Yachts show the 50 Express, equipped with standard twin Caterpillar 3406E 800BHP diesels, doing 33 knots at 2300 RPM, using 80 gallons per hour for a range of 309 nautical miles with its 750-gallon fuel tank. Compare that to 15.5 knots at 1200 RPM, and the fuel consumption is 25 gallons per hour, yielding a range of 465 nautical miles.

Like the great sea captions in the days of yore who ran away to sea as young boys, Carson R. "Buddy" Davis, Jr., started working on charter fishing boats out of the Oregon Inlet when he was barley 13. " In the early 60s, we had a single-screw wooden charterboat, "he recalls.

"I worked as a charter captain to earn my way though college, and after that, I went into charter fishing full time. Our season in the early 70s was short, starting upabout May and winding down about September. Some of us captions started building charter boats in the off-season. We'd build one boat a season in a small shop. There were several groups doing that."

As his experience grew so did his reputation for building high quality custom fishing boats worthy of the treacherous seas off the Carolina coast. A decade later, he was building more for private owners than for charter operations. In 1983, he had 85 workers at his yard in Wanchese, building boats ranging in size from 40 to 73 feet long.

The boats evolved, too, from wood to fiberglass with juniper planking as reinforced; to cold-molded plywood and epoxies; t6o all composite one-off construction of PVC foam core fiberglass hulls reinforced with Kevlar. It was in this period that Buddy developed the "Carolina Flare" that distinguishes his boats. The deep-entry, sharply pointed bow flares up to the deck, allowing the boats to slice though rough waters, while the exaggerated flare of the foredeck deflects spray away from the boat. The result is a smoother, dryer ride even in the roughest conditions.

"The most enjoyable part of my job is the research and development of new products," Buddy admits. "But I also enjoy having a lot of family in the business. My oldest son, Wade, is plant superintendent. E worked his way up through the ranks and he's a good hands-on boatbuilder at 29. Tres, my stepson, is 24, and working in the metal fabrication shop, getting ready to move up to the boatbuilding. My other stepson, Matthew, is graduating from the University of Richmond with his MBA and he wants to come on."

That family tradition will continue on far into the next century. "For our 25th anniversary, we're embarking on a very aggressive expansion project," Buddy says. "We're putting up 50,000 square feet of buildings, and by the end of 2000 we'll be on an annual production of 32 to 36 boats per year. Some new designs on the horizon are a 45-foot express, plus 58-and 68-foot sportfishing yachts.

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