23/07/2026
Alright...
Let's be honest for a second.
Every fisherman in South Africa thinks he's a boat designer.
You know exactly who I'm talking about.
The oke climbs onto your boat...
"Ja bru... I'd move this hatch over there."
"Console's in the wrong place."
"Needs another rod holder."
"Needs another fish hatch."
"Needs a bigger livewell."
"Needs another cup holder."
"Actually... I'd just build the whole thing differently."
By lunchtime he's redesigned your entire boat...
and the closest he's ever come to building one is assembling an Builders Warehouse cupboard.
Most of us stop there.
We complain around the braai.
Destroy manufacturers on Facebook.
Argue with strangers we've never met.
Then wake up the next morning...
and carry on fishing.
Davey White wasn't wired like that.
Back in ๐ญ๐ต๐ด๐ด, Davey White and Mark De Charmois were already proper fishermen.
Not Instagram fishermen.
Not "I caught one kob in 2017 and now I sell fishing advice" fishermen.
Proper fishermen.
The kind that know exactly where every rod should sit.
Exactly where every hatch belongs.
Exactly how a boat should land after punching through surf.
Exactly what works...
and exactly what makes you swear loud enough for dolphins to hear.
Eventually they got so gatvol of looking at everyone else's ideas...
they decided to build their own.
That first boat was called ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฎ.
Nineteen feet of...
"๐ฆ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ ๐ถ๐... ๐๐ฒ'๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ๐."
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Building one good boat is difficult.
Building boats that people still talk about ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐-๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ?
Now you're playing a completely different game.
Because here's the problem with boats...
They expose rubbish.
You can fool someone with shiny gelcoat.
Fancy upholstery.
A lekker website.
A salesman wearing a golf shirt with the company logo.
You cannot fool the ocean.
The sea has the shortest warranty department on earth.
It doesn't care what your brochure says.
It doesn't care how many followers you've got.
It definitely doesn't care that your salesman called it "premium."
If your boat's rubbish...
The ocean usually lets you know within about fifteen minutes.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐จ๐บ๐ต๐น๐ฎ๐น๐ถ...
The very first TOMCAT launched through ๐จ๐บ๐ต๐น๐ฎ๐น๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐น๐๐ฏ.
Now if you've never launched through KZN surf...
Congratulations.
Your blood pressure is probably lower than the rest of ours.
Launching there is basically organised chaos.
One oke's screaming.
One oke forgot the b**g.
Someone lets go of the rope.
Someone else is praying.
And there's always one oke standing safely on the beach explaining afterwards what everyone should've done differently.
When Davey's boat launched...
People noticed.
Not because it looked flashy.
Not because there was a marketing campaign.
Not because influencers were filming TikToks in matching golf shirts.
People noticed because...
The bloody thing worked.
It handled properly.
It rode properly.
It felt stable.
And in boating...
Good news travels ridiculously fast.
One fisherman tells another.
Who tells his cousin.
Who tells his fishing club.
Who tells every oke standing around the slipway.
Before long everyone was asking the same question...
"Who's building that boat?"
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ ๐ง๐ผ ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐ข๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ'๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
By 1993, demand had grown enough that Davey officially started TOMCAT Boats.
No corporate investors.
No flashy launch event.
No PowerPoint presentation explaining "our vision."
Just a fisherman building boats for other fishermen.
Six years later TOMCAT moved into its current premises in ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐น, where they're still building boats today.
That's something I actually respect.
South Africa has seen more boat builders disappear than Eskom has had load shedding schedules.
Every couple of years another new name pops up.
Big promises.
Big page.
Fancy videos.
Three years later...
Gone.
The moulds get sold.
The phones stop ringing.
page disappears.
Everyone pretends it never happened.
Meanwhile...
TOMCAT just kept building boats.
Quietly.
For over three decades.
That might be the biggest flex of all.
๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ... ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ
Buying a TOMCAT isn't like buying a Hilux.
You don't walk into a showroom.
Point at the blue one.
Sign a few papers.
Drive home.
These boats are built to order.
Centre console?
Done.
Forward console?
Done.
Walk-around?
Easy.
Different hatch layout?
No problem.
Need more fuel storage?
Sorted.
Want something different?
Let's build it.
That's something we've slowly lost these days.
Most companies tell you what options you're allowed to choose.
Davey seems to ask...
"What do you want?"
That's why so many TOMCAT owners become repeat customers.
They're not buying Boat Number 437 off a production line.
They're building their boat.
๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ'๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐... ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ
Now let's talk about the quickest way to start a civil war on South African boating Facebook.
Mention timber.
Honestly...
Go try it.
You'll have 200 comments before your kettle boils.
One oke says marine ply is stronger.
Another says composites are lighter.
Someone posts blurry photos of rotten wood from 1999.
Somebody who doesn't even own a boat starts explaining moisture absorption.
Absolute mayhem.
Meanwhile Davey just quietly built TOMCATs using...
ZERO TIMBER.
Full composite construction.
That became one of TOMCAT's biggest selling points long before composites became fashionable.
Seats use high-density foam so they don't become giant wet sponges.
Closed-cell flotation foam provides more than 150% buoyancy.
Every plumbing system gets bonded, fibreglass bandaged and pressure tested.
Fuel storage?
Customisable.
Fish hatch?
Built with a post-box lid so filling it is easier.
Everything about the boat feels like it was designed by someone who's actually spent time fishing...
Instead of someone who's spent time making brochures.
๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป... ๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐
That's probably my favourite thing about TOMCAT.
They're not trying to build floating apartments.
They're not trying to impress people walking around a boat show eating free biltong.
They're building fishing boats.
Proper fishing boats.
Everything has a purpose.
The rod holders.
The hatches.
The fuel layout.
The storage.
The livewell.
The seating.
It all exists because somebody actually fishes.
That's probably why commercial guys...
Divers...
Spearos...
Offshore anglers...
have kept coming back.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐'๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Two years ago another chapter started.
Davey brought his niece Jen, her husband Gordon, and their son Angus into the business.
Now here's why that's actually important.
Starting a company is difficult.
Keeping it alive for over thirty years is harder.
Handing over your life's work...
That's terrifying.
Because you're not handing someone a business.
You're handing them your reputation.
Every hull.
Every customer.
Every story.
Every fisherman who's trusted your name.
Nobody wants to be remembered as...
"๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ง."
Thankfully it looks like the next generation understands exactly what's sitting in front of them.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐?
Here's what impressed me most during all my digging.
If you phone TOMCAT...
There's a decent chance you're speaking to the people actually building your boat.
Imagine phoning Toyota...
and the oke who welded your Hilux answers the phone.
Exactly.
That doesn't happen anymore.
Today we've got...
Customer Success.
Customer Happiness.
Customer Experience.
Customer Care.
Customer Journey Specialists.
Half of them couldn't tell you where the drain plug is.
Meanwhile Davey's probably answering the phone with fibreglass dust still on his shirt.
There's something incredibly refreshing about that.
๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐
The thing I love most about TOMCAT actually isn't the boats.
It's the story.
Two fishermen got tired of complaining.
Built themselves a better boat.
People noticed.
Orders started coming in.
Thirty-three years later...
The same family is still building them.
No overnight success.
No billionaire backing.
No magic formula.
Just decades of showing up every morning...
and building boats.
One hull at a time.
In a country where businesses come and go faster than a cold front across Cape Point...
I think that's worth respecting.
Whether you're a TOMCAT oke...
A Butt Cat oke...
A V-Cat oke...
Or you still reckon your grandfather's old dinghy is the greatest vessel ever built...
One thing's certain.
South African boating wouldn't be what it is without stubborn builders like Davey White deciding back in 1988...
"Stuff it... we'll build it ourselves."
๐ก๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ง๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ข๐ธ๐ฒ๐...
Right...
Enough of me talking.
Now it's your turn.
Do you own a TOMCAT?
Have you fished off one?
Would you buy one?
Drop it in the comments.
Let's hear the real stories.
Tomcat Boats
