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"Many men go fishing their entire lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.” This quote by Henry David Thoreau comes to mind when I see sport-fishing boats soaring to more than 100 feet in length. How far we’ve come from the early days of the sport, when boats were built simply to chase billfish and tuna. These early designs crafted by Rybovich, Whiticar and Merritt challenge the popular notion that bigger is always better.

“When folks go fishing these days, they don’t want to leave anything behind … the house … the office … the works,” said Mike Rybovich, boatbuilder and son of Emil Rybovich, one of three brothers who were the first family of tournament fish-boat building. There is little argument among those who are fishy that the modern tournament fish boat was invented in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Rybovich & Sons boatyard.

The brothers Rybovich — John, Tommy and Emil — had grown up in their father Pops’ service yard. “Uncle John loved to fish. … A 26-foot boat the yard took in trade for an unpaid bill served as his test bed,” Mike Rybovich said. Most credit John Rybovich with the invention of the modern fighting chair, aluminum outriggers and the tuna door. “Uncle Tommy was a genius in boat design and was always trying to figure out how to make a hull more efficient.” Emil took Tommy’s and John’s ideas and made them work. “Dad was a born troubleshooter and problem solver,” Rybovich explained.

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By the late 1930s, the big game-fishing adventures of Zane Grey and innovations in tackle had inspired anglers to modify the cruisers of the day for deep-sea fishing. This kept the Rybovich yard busy before the war, and it was this experience and a good customer that led to its first build in 1947. The 34-foot Miss Chevy II was designed to fish the Cat Cay Tuna Tournament — she would be a teak and mahogany jewel box. A veteran of the tournament, John Rybovich explained to his brothers what was needed. Tommy came up with the drawings and Emil chose the power.

The Rybovich brothers built 79 boats in the next 28 years — a team effort — sort of. “The notion that we were one big, happy boatbuilding family is not quite accurate,” Rybovich said with a laugh. “My dad and uncles loved each other dearly, but like all siblings there was competition — each wanted to be better than the other.” The most frequent conflict was between Tommy, the visionary designer, and Emil, the practical engineer. “Dad idolized Uncle Tommy but it bugged him that Tommy would never run the boats — Dad did all the sea trials,” Rybovich said. “No boat is perfect, and if Dad suggested a problem or an improvement, it would cause a major stink.”