My Life in Boats: Randy Ringhaver on falling in love with sportsfishers and finding the perfect mothership

Fishing may come first, but this angler tells Kate Lardy that adding a yacht only makes boating better.

My family came to Florida in 1946 and took over a boatyard that built wooden shrimp trawlers. I worked at the yard, and in my spare time handcrafted a little 14-footer (4.3 metre) to fish on the Intracoastal. That was my introduction to boating. 

Since then, my only stretch without a boat was when I was in the military. As soon as I got out, I bought my first sportfisher, an 28-foot (8.5-metre) Bertram. I took delivery of my latest one in March, a Merritt 88, Bree.

When I got married, my wife, Paula, and I built a 50-footer (15.2 metre) at Huckins together, one of their first real sportfishers. It was a fun project. We were living in Jacksonville at the time so we were able to check on it once a week. We took it all the way to Venezuela and stayed there for close to nine months with our daughter. Some of the best memories I have are island hopping down the West Indies, catching so many fish. We thought it was a big boat back then.

We fished it about 17 years before we moved into a 58-foot (17.7-metre) Merritt. We put it through some rough conditions off the Carolina coast, and I found it to be such a durable piece of equipment. Roy Merritt takes good care of his customers, the service turnaround time is remarkable and the boats hold up well in resale. So I stuck with Merritts and found that they met our needs from both the sportfisher and yacht side of things.

We went from the 58 to a 72, 76 and an 86. I never thought I’d get another Merritt after the 86, but when a client pulled out of an 88, Roy Merritt asked if I wanted to get a head start on one. 

We got the opportunity to put in the bigger 2,400-horsepower Cat engines versus the 1,950 and update the technology. She rides a little bit better due to the length, and she has a lot more cockpit room.

For a number of years, I didn’t think you could fish big boats and be competitive. But that’s not the case. We fish for any billfish that wants to bite, but primarily marlin and sailfish. We fish probably 10 or 11 tournaments a year and the rest is personal fishing, down in Crooked or wherever we find a place to have a good time.

We also have a 150-foot (45.4-metre) Newcastle, Carson, that we use as a mothership. Most of our excursions are tied to where Bree’s going, although we did take it to the Med one summer, and we’re planning on taking it to Norway. 

It has all the conveniences of home, and the crew accommodations are probably a little better than even some 250-foot (76.2-metre) boats. I never was a big yachter but being able to do both makes it fun. You can have more guests than on a sportfisher. We anchor out a lot, and socialising for several days in the middle of nowhere is a lot of fun.

Carson stays in Bermuda when we’re there, which is a highlight of our season. We honeymooned in Bermuda, and at the time I never thought I’d go back.  It was a pretty place and everything but I didn’t have a boat. Boating opened up a different world — diving, reefs, billfishing, great people and super golf courses.

From St Lucia to the Out Islands, boating has allowed me to experience things I would not have otherwise. It also gives me peace of mind. 

Sportfishing is one of the few things that can take me away from work, where I’m isolated from everything and I just concentrate on what I’m doing. It puts you in another world.

First published in the September 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.