Meet the Anglers Who Create Cobia Boats

We specifically design Cobia Boats to meet the needs of both anglers and families equally. This philosophy ensures that every Cobia buyer gets to Have it All on their boat, without having to accept compromises for the sake of either their passion for fishing or their family’s comfort on board.

Today, we introduce you to some of the team responsible for bringing each Cobia model to life and ensuring that when we say you can Have It All, we actually mean it.

Meet Thomas Baxter – Cobia’s Director of Operations and Jonathan King, our Director of Engineering or in other words, the technical brains behind every boat.

Cobia Boats: Designed by Industry Veterans

Jonathan and Thomas are part of a team of key individuals behind the design, engineering, testing, and marketing of the Cobia Boats model lineup. They have decades of experience between them and they bring all of that together to ensure that every Cobia boat meets all of its customers’ needs and exceeds their expectations.

That process begins in the engineering department, which Jonathan heads up

Introducing Jonathan King

Jonathan hails from the UK. Growing up on the Bristol channel in England’s south west, Jonathan developed a passion for outdoor living and spending time both on and around the water. While attending university in Portsmouth, he became interested in deep sea fishing.

In the early 2000s, he emigrated to the US, settling down in Florida. In addition to doing lots more fishing, Jonathan now also enjoys scuba diving. “My youngest daughter, May, is my dive buddy,” he revealed. “We learned to scuba dive just before Covid and have since been diving in the Middle East and Mexico. We are now doing our nitrox training. We have been able to regularly personally test the ability of Cobia boats to support the many water sports we love.”

Meet Thomas Baxter

Thomas is a manufacturing industry veteran, having spent over twenty years in various manufacturing roles. “I grew up on the water. My parents had a lake cabin in South Dakota so we were there at the cabin every weekend in the summer. We had a little fishing boat and a pontoon boat, and later a wakeboard boat.”

“My weekends are spent offshore putting our Cobia boats through their paces. With over 500 hours on our latest models and experience fishing multiple tournaments, I push our prototypes to ensure they meet our standards. I love running them and my friends enjoy their days on the water. It’s great to come back after a weekend offshore, give real-world feedback, and see those insights shape the next generation of Cobia boats.”

2005: Reimagining, Redesigning & Rebuilding Cobia Boats

In 2005, the Maverick boat group bought Cobia Boats from Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA with a vision of building a range of modern, comfortable family boats packed with fishing smarts and built to the highest engineering and design standards. It was a very unique concept at the time. “We saw a gap in the market because there were lots of well-known brands offering serious offshore fishing boats, and others that were family boats, with none in the middle that did both. So we went after that opportunity, under the Maverick Boat Group’s reputation for build quality and fishing smarts, and managed to find a very unique place in the competitive landscape.”

A Challenging Journey

But getting there would not be easy. “As soon as we brought Cobia on board, we knew that it was a major undertaking. The original models were outdated and they had a poor reputation for quality. They were ‘plain jane’, utilitarian boats with a lot of wood in them. So from day one, we knew we were going to aggressively redesign the whole line up and build them differently.”

Meanwhile, the team had to develop a new reputation in the market, for Cobia boats. “We were focused on developing a strong reputation for quality and about what this boat can do for you.”

20 Years of Evolution

2025 saw the introduction of four new Cobia models. The new boats – the 265 CC, 265 Open, 285 CC and the 285 Open – are perfect representations of how the Cobia Boats brand has evolved in the last 20 years. “We’re continually modernizing our model lineup while utilizing the highest-quality materials and hardware from the industry’s best vendors. These packages come together as a strong, high-quality boat that our customers can be very proud of,” said Jonathan.

Testing Fishing Performance at Sea

Cobia’s engineering teams regularly and routinely put Cobia’s new models to the test, taking them fishing in all kinds of sea conditions both in the Intracoastal Waterway and in the Gulf Stream. “All of our boats are extensively tested; the engineers go out frequently to put the boats through their paces to ensure that we are building a quality product that will withstand the sea and be a great fishing and family boat,” Thomas said. “When we commission a new prototype, we go out and test it and fish on them; we check things like the placement of rod holders and fish boxes and how these things operate in actual fishing conditions.”

Hundreds of Hours of Testing

In testing, Jonathan’s extensive experience in the automotive industry became key. “I have been able to bring an automotive durability mindset into the engineering process,” he explained. “We have to build it and test it, and we have to make it easy to build.”

“We test the boats in difficult predicaments at sea, like slapping them hard into waves at high speeds, and then listening for rattles or noises afterwards. Our focus during these tests is also on reviewing what makes sense and what doesn’t, and in general, making the boat extremely functional and family-friendly,” he continued. “By the time the final product reaches the customer, with all of the small engineering touches we constantly put in, we can guarantee that it’s a great boat that is head and shoulders above the competition.”

Professional Fishing Feedback

The engineering team also routinely enlists the help of various fishing experts to get their feedback on the boats and their fishability. “We engage local fishing guides to operate and use the boats whenever we create a prototype, so we get that hardcore fishing-focused feedback from those environments. We also have a dealer council of about half a dozen Cobia dealers and avid fishermen who give us feedback from our customers, which we channel into our designs,” said Jonathan.

“A lot of our competitors aren’t considering the things that we are thinking about because they are not fishermen so they don’t know any better.”

Looking ahead, the team was excited about what is coming next for Cobia. “More innovation, more of the comfort, and more of what the customer really needs and wants on a boat. I know what’s coming next and I really love it!” said Thomas.

Schedule A Factory Tour & See Cobia’s Engineering For Yourself

We invite you to meet the Cobia team and experience Cobia’s engineering quality for yourself with a VIP factory tour.

Simply click here to request a factory tour. Tours are conducted on Thursday afternoons by appointment only. We look forward to welcoming you in person!