When we decided to buy our new Outback Yachts 50, the hull and superstructure had been completed, and the engines were installed. Aside from that, it was pretty much an empty shell. The boat is built in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Kaohsiung is a big yacht-building city where brands like Ocean Alexander, Horizon Yachts, Jade Yachts, Hulas Yachts, Fleming, Kadey-Krogen, Monte Fino, Offshore Yachts, and Outback are built! Yachts from 50 feet (like ours) to super yachts 170 feet and larger.
Outback Yachts are built by Kha Shing Enterprise in the same shipyard as Offshore, Monte Fino, and Horizon Yachts. After we placed our order, Outback introduced us to Jeff McDowell, our build engineer. Jeff splits his time between Outback’s office at Olson Yacht Group in California and the shipyard in Taiwan. He was our primary contact during the build. Jeff was great to work with. He communicated with us every few days with progress reports and photos, answering our questions, and making suggestions for customizations. We wanted to convert one of the berths (bedrooms) into an office. Jeff drew up plans and managed the buildout.
Boats like our Beneteau Swift Trawler are “production” boats, meaning that every one is the same and the fittings are mass-produced. The Outback is a custom-built boat, and each one is hand-built by carpenters. Our Outback 50 is hull number 6 and has many new features compared to the model (hull number 4) we saw last February. We’ve learned that two more Outbacks have sold since we purchased ours, and are in the construction and planning phases.
Below is a gallery of the photos we received during the build process. These photos show the boat’s construction from when we signed the contract in August 2025 through completion in January 2026. We were amazed at how much effort goes into the build, and how many people are involved.
You can click on the photos to enlarge them and see a description.
(Click gallery images to enlarge. Touch/Mouse over for captions.)
Launching
On January 19th, the boat was pretty much complete! They moved it from the boatyard, which is about 3 miles inland, to the dock for its sea trial. Apparently, they can only haul boats on the streets at night so it was a dark ride. The boat was lifted into the water, and it floated!
(Click gallery images to enlarge. Touch/Mouse over for captions.)
The next day, they took the boat out for its first run. Apparently, everything went swimmingly! The Ship Shipping Ship is on its way to pick it up with a scheduled departure date of January 30th. From Taiwan, the ship will stop in Japan, then cross the Pacific to Ensenada, Mexico, and La Paz, Mexico, before transiting the Panama Canal, with an ETA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 9th! Once it arrives, there will be two weeks of commissioning, including installing electronics, wrapping the hull in blue protective film, and a few other tasks, before we move it to Palm Beach for the Palm Beach Boat Show at the end of March.
Thanks For Visiting! – Tom & Brenda
