The building process begins with a fiberglass mold like this one…

Mixing the color pigment into the gelcoat…

Spraying the gelcoat into a mold…

All bauer boats are hand-made in our facility in St. Augustine, Florida. On a good week, we’ll put together three boats or so.

Every step of our small-scale manufacturing process is overseen by Christof Bauer, who designed all of our boats.

Christof went to school for graphics design. He met his wife shortly after college, and the couple spent six years cruising in a sailboat. During their adventures, Christof realized the need for a dinghy specifically designed for the world cruiser. He designed the first bauer with three goals in mind:

• High freeboard
• High loading capacity
• Excellent sailing abilities

The manufacturing process begins with a fiberglass mold. Unlike many larger manufacturers, Bauteck carefully waxes the interior of the molds every time they are used. This ensures a smooth finish on the completed product.

The gelcoat protects the fiberglass and gives the boat’s hull its shiny color. It can be thought of as the boat’s paint. Like paint, there are many colors of gelcoat available. Bauteck has made blue, green, black, brown, orange, purple, yellow boats. There’s virtually no limit to the color possibilities!

It may be surprising for you to learn that the gelcoat is the first thing applied during the manufacturing process (imagine building a house by painting it first!).