A Legacy of Excellence in Design

The Cutwater Boats Design and Engineering Teams are led by industry veteran Dave Livingston. Over the past 50 years, Dave has designed, modified or consulted for numerous boat manufacturers including Reinell, Regal, Wellcraft, Larson, Bayliner and many more. Over the course of his career Dave has held many patents and is a recipient of the Northwest Marine Trade Association’s Legend Award in recognition of his achievements in boating design. John Livingston leads Cutwater Boats as the President and CEO, and as a father-son team, Dave and John are building the most innovative boats in the industry

Fun on the Water Begins at the Drafting Table

Dave and his son John Livingston, the President of Cutwater Boats, have led our engineering team to design fun into every facet of our boats.

Maybe it’s an evening cruise along the shoreline while the sun dips below the horizon, appetizers in the cockpit while moored in your favorite destination, or towing the kids/grandkids on a tube. We know that boating is about fun on the water, adventure, exploration, and when you have the right design, it makes all of that possible.

Carefree Boating - The Result of Decades of Experience

A hull needs to be rock-solid, seaworthy, efficient, safe, handle well at speed and in close quarters and easily cut through rough water. It’s through a lifetime of designing boats that Dave Livingston and our engineering team have developed our designs to blend all of these attributes. Because of specific innovations like our Laminar Flow Interrupters (see below), reverse chine and variable deadrise, to name a few, our hulls are designed to perform in all aspects.

Smart design, quality materials and American craftsmanship, these are the key ingredients to produce a boat that will last for a lifetime of fun. That’s what care-free boating is all about. 

Materials and Components 

A dependable build begins with quality materials and components. As a proud member of the American Boatbuilding Association, we have access to the highest quality materials in the industry. 

To talk about the build process, the story of a fiberglass boat is told from the outside-inward. The first layer starts with a high-quality HD gelcoat featuring best in-class UV resistance, combined with a vinyl ester barrier coat to provide enhanced longevity and peace of mind. To add to that, we use woven roving, a material well-known in the boating industry for providing rock-solid strength. The continuous woven fibers make our running surface extremely rigid and durable. To create a hull that is strong yet lightweight we use custom fabricated gimbaled hull molds, which allow the resin to be precisely distributed.

Once the hull is formed, it is bonded with our fiberglass stringer system that becomes the rigid backbone of the boat. Foam is then injected to key areas of the stringer system to reduce noise while underway.

With the stringer bonded to the hull, the cabin can be built upon this foundation. Throughout the interior, every Cutwater features high quality marine-grade materials such as Sunbrella fabrics and premium wood finishes.

Our design philosophy begins with the question: What do our customers love to do? The process of meeting those needs begins. From day cruising, extended stays, entertaining, to watersports, we set out to build versatile, feature packed cruisers without compromise.

Often, we hear that our boats feel like a much larger boat for the size, this comes down to usability. If there’s a way to include more functionality per foot, our engineers will find it. You’ll find examples throughout every Cutwater, like the C-30’s opening bulkhead seating which flips to become a double dinette seat, the C-24 DC’s pop-up ski pylon, and the C-32's expanding gunwale seating. We also build-in features because you’ll find them to be very convenient over time. Just a small selection of this list includes powered engine hatches in our diesel inboard boats, opening overhead hatches and portlights to let the breeze in on a warm day, ample storage and cabinetry with flush stainless knobs, drink holders, well placed grab rails, LED accent lighting, and USB charging outlets to name a few.

The end goal of building the most versatile, usable boats is so that you can have the best ownership experience possible and spend your time having fun on the water.

An industry first, our patented Outboard Dinghy Lift allows a full-size RIB dinghy to be easily launched, retrieved and stowed. An integrated winch in the cockpit allows for one-person operation.

Building a 32-foot boat with a command bridge that is also trailerable is no simple task. To make this possible, our engineers created a retractable bridge that easily folds down for safe trailerablity.

The C-30 features our Sunset Seat which can face aft when sightseeing, or reverse to face the cockpit for additional conversational seating.

Our outboard powered models all feature our Laminar Flow Interrupters (LFI's), which provide smooth, positive cornering.

Our Expanding Gunwale Seating on the C-30 and C-32 greatly increases available space in the cockpit, while creating a perfect conversational layout.

The side walkways featured across our model line provide stable, safe access to the bow with our exclusive Secure-Path extrusion, which provides positive traction and additional surface area.