Bill Zinser - Master/Project Manager

Bill officially began his professional yachting career in 1971, although one might say he's been boating all of his life. Growing up on the Connecticut shore, both of Bill's grandfathers were involved in the boating industry: one was a builder of classic custom wooden sailboats and the other owned a small marina and shipyard. As a teen, Bill spent his summers working as a dock boy in Essex, sailing along the shore and Long Island Sound.

From 1971 to 1978 he was First Mate on several boats, and also spent six months in England supervising a new build, which he and the captain delivered to Fort Lauderdale in 1978. After that, Bill's career as a captain was launched and he spent several years as a captain on various sized motor yachts.

In the mid-80s he worked briefly for a yacht brokerage firm and then, in 1987, opened his own marine repair and yacht delivery business. During that time he logged thousands of miles between the United States and the Mediterranean, and in 1990 accepted a position on a busy charter yacht. In 1995, he joined the previous Cakewalk and supervised her through a highly successful, award-winning, 18-month refit, then spent two years cruising the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Construction of the new Cakewalk began in March 1998 and was completed in the summer of 2000. He was proud to be at her helm, maintaining a busy schedule traveling extensively throughout the waters of Europe, New England and the Caribbean Islands while logging over 100 000 nautical miles.

In 2004 the Cakewalk sold, at which time the planning began for the next Cakewalk: Cakewalk V!

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