Thurston's Marina

What Thurston's Marina does

Thurston's Marina is a full-service marina business located in the Weirs Beach area of Lake Winnipesaukee, in Laconia, New Hampshire. Originally founded in 1972, the property was purchased by the Conrad family in 2021 and rebranded as North Water Marine. The company serves recreational boaters in the New Hampshire lakes region with a complete boat ownership lifecycle: new and pre-owned boat sales across five brand lines (Stingray, Tigé, ATX, Viaggio, and Qwest Pontoons), boat rentals and charters (pontoons and bowriders on Lake Winnipesaukee, with deliveries to nearby lakes), professional boat service and repair, seasonal boat storage with a scheduled pick-up/drop-off calendar, and summer valet services. Financing is offered through a third-party partnership with EliteRFS, and customers can apply existing boat values toward new purchases via a trade-in program.

The business runs on a traditional marina retail model. Revenue comes from two streams: one-time boat sales (new units primarily in the 2026 model year from Stingray, Viaggio, ATX, and pre-owned Qwest) supplemented by professional services income from repair, storage, valet, and rentals. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through a physical showroom and lot on Endicott Street, an inventory-browsing website (northwatermarinenh.com) backed by a CallersIQ inventory feed, email newsletter capture, and event-driven conversion via on-water demo weekends (e.g., the August 2025 ATX 22 Type-S and Tigé Z3/Z1 demo). There is no proprietary technology platform, mobile app, or public API; customer engagement relies on the website, blog, email, and in-person sales staff.

The customer base consists of individual and small-business recreational boaters in the New England market, with no enterprise or institutional accounts identified. The company is privately held, family-owned and operated, with a reported headcount of approximately eight employees and no disclosed revenue, funding, or institutional ownership.

Name

Thurston's Marina

Legal name

North Water Marine

Website

https://thurstonsmarina.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Thurston's Marina (dba North Water Marine) is a family-owned, full-service marina in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, selling Stingray, Tigé, ATX, Viaggio, and Qwest boats and providing rentals, service, valet, and storage on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marina and Boat Dealership Services

NAICS

Boat Dealers (441222), Marinas (713930), Ship Building and Repairing (336611)

SIC

Ship & Boat Building & Repairing (3730)

akta.pro primary industry

Boat & Personal Watercraft (PWC) Retail (CRAMAIAA)

Keywords

• Boat sales
• Marina services
• Boat rentals
• Boat service repair
• Boat storage

Headquarters

HQ city

Laconia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Boat Sales: Sales of new and pre-owned boats including brands Stingray, Tigé, ATX, Viaggio, and Qwest Pontoons. Both direct sales and through financing partnerships.
2. Marina Services: Boat service and repair, storage, valet services, and rentals/charters for pontoons and bowriders on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Thurston's Marina, now operating as North Water Marine, is a full-service, family-oriented marina in the Weirs Beach area of Lake Winnipesaukee (Laconia, NH) that sells new and pre-owned boats across five brand lines (Stingray, Tigé, ATX, Viaggio, Qwest Pontoons) and provides boat rentals and charters, boat service and repair, seasonal and long-term storage, and a summer boat valet program. The business supports the full boat ownership lifecycle from purchase through maintenance, storage, and on-water use. Financing is offered through a third-party partner (EliteRFS) and a trade-in program supports new purchases.

Product overview

Thurston's Marina (now North Water Marine) is a full-service boat dealership and marina on Lake Winnipesaukee. The operation functions as a single unified marina business offering multiple interconnected services: new and pre-owned boat sales across five branded product lines (Stingray, Tigé, ATX, Viaggio, Qwest Pontoons), complemented by boat rentals and charters, full service and repair, summer valet services, and seasonal storage. Financing and trade-in programs support the sales operation. The brand portfolio is organized by boat type—ski and surf boats (Tigé, ATX), sport boats and deck cruisers (Stingray), and pontoon/tritoon boats (Viaggio, Qwest)—serving recreational boaters on Lake Winnipesaukee in the Weirs Beach area of Laconia, New Hampshire.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Stingray Boats Powerboat brand featuring sport boats and deck cruisers including the 192 SC, OSX, 231 DC, and 259 DC; sold as new inventory for recreational boating customers.
• Tigé Boats Surf and tow boat manufacturer offering Z3 and Z1 models known for wakeboarding and watersports performance; sold as new inventory.
• ATX Boats Performance surf and ski boats including the ATX 22 Type-S model; sold as new inventory and featured at the marina's demo weekends.
• Viaggio Boats Pontoon and deck boat brand including models D24S-A-T and V22U; sold as new inventory.
• Qwest Pontoons Tritoon and pontoon boat brand including the SplashPad E22 LTZ model; carried as pre-owned inventory.
• Boat Rentals & Charters Boat rental and charter services offering pontoons and bowriders for customer use on Lake Winnipesaukee, with delivery available to other lakes.
• Boat Service & Repair Full-service maintenance and repair capabilities for boats, providing ongoing service for boat owners.
• Summer Boat Valet Valet service for boats during the summer season, offered as part of the marina's full-service operations.
• Boat Storage Storage services for boats including seasonal and long-term storage with a pick-up/drop-off calendar for scheduling.

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EliteRFSsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFinancing partner providing loan application services for boat buyers. Customers directed to EliteRFS website for financing applications tied to North Water Marine inventory purchases.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• West Marine: Largest specialty retailer of boating supplies, parts, and accessories in North America. While focused on parts/accessories rather than full-line boat sales, West Marine is a major marina-channel incumbent with overlapping customer base and complementary service offerings.
• MarineMax: Largest recreational boat retailer in North America with hundreds of locations across the U.S. Operates a full-service dealership model (new/pre-owned sales, service, storage, financing) comparable to North Water Marine, but at vastly greater scale and geographic breadth.
• OneWater Marine: Public boat retailer with a multi-location dealership network across the eastern and southeastern U.S. Operates the same core business model — new/pre-owned sales, service, storage, and financing — and serves as a direct publicly-traded comparable for a multi-brand boat dealer.

Others

• Stingray Boats: OEM manufacturer of sport boats and deck cruisers carried by North Water Marine. Represents a key supplier relationship and is comparable as a brand-licensing counterpart in the dealer-manufacturer ecosystem.
• BoatUS: Largest boating association in the U.S., offering towing, insurance, financing, and member services. Overlaps with North Water Marine's value proposition around boat ownership support and represents a complementary service ecosystem participant.
• YachtWorld: Global online marketplace for new and used boats, including dealer listings. Competes with North Water Marine's online inventory visibility and represents a key channel and competitive benchmark for lead generation in boat retail.
• Boat Trader: Major online boat marketplace connecting buyers and sellers (including dealers). Competes indirectly by enabling buyers to bypass local dealers and represents both a channel and a competitive threat to small regional dealers like North Water Marine.

Direct peers

• Beacon Marine: Independent full-service boat dealer offering new and pre-owned sales, service, and storage. Operates as a multi-brand family-style dealership in a comparable niche, directly mirroring North Water Marine's regional full-service model.
• Skipper Bud's: Regional full-service boat dealer in the Midwest operating new and pre-owned boat sales, service, storage, and marina services. Highly comparable in business model to North Water Marine, with overlapping OEM brand relationships and similar small-to-mid-scale dealer footprint.

Emerging players

• Freedom Boat Club: Fractional boat membership club that competes with traditional rental and ownership models. Adjacent to North Water Marine's rental/charter business and represents an emerging alternative ownership model that could divert rental revenue and entry-level buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thurston's-marina

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Thurston's Marina