John Dorton’s expertise and experience in building brands has earned him the reputation as one of the top executives in the boating industry. As CEO of Warbird Marine Holdings, he oversees Yellowfin; bringing segment-leading build quality, customer experience, investment capital and business professionalism.

Under his leadership as CEO of MasterCraft Boats from 1999-2012, the company became the dominant brand in waterski and wakeboard boats. Dorton’s vision to embrace athlete sponsorships in the action sports era made MasterCraft a household name with anyone tuning into the X Games, including aspiring wakeboarders. Evolving with the progression of the sport, Dorton played a pivotal role in launching the brand’s famous “X-Star” model in 1996.

Dorton has also served on multiple Boards of Directors for Icon Aircraft, the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) vice chairman of the Boat Manufacturer Division (BMD) and as director for both the Water Sports Industry Association and World Wakeboard Association. Away from the factory, Dorton is a renaissance outdoorsman who can be found either on horseback, fishing for bass, or chasing sailfish offshore.

As President, Thomas Wieners is responsible for Yellowfin’s operations and the implementation and execution of its tactical and strategic plan to drive growth. He has decades of leadership and manufacturing expertise across various industries.

Throughout his career, Thomas has built and transformed organizations, creating long-term value by focusing on operational excellence. His knowledge, along with his inclusive approach to leading and building high performance teams enables him to take our brand to the next level. In 2021, Thomas took over as Yellowfin’s COO to lead the company’s operations and initiate its manufacturing strategy.

Prior to joining Yellowfin, Thomas spent five years as President and COO at ICON Aircraft, taking the ICON A5 (a recreational light-sport aircraft) from vision and prototype into serial manufacturing. Before that, he worked eight years for BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) setting up and overseeing a new manufacturing facility for Sea Doo watercraft and Rotax engines in Queretaro, Mexico.

As a native of Germany, Thomas started his professional career in the automotive industry. He held different manufacturing and leadership roles while working for Mercedes-Benz for five years.

Thomas shares his passion for sports and the outdoors with his wife and three daughters. Boating and fishing have risen to the top of the activity list for the Wieners family.

Jeff Needles handles all financial and administration activities of the company, including financial reporting, treasury, tax, legal, audit, banking, and insurance.

Jeff has extensive powersports and marine experience. His career began at Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s (NYSE: HOG) Vehicle and Powertrain Operations in Kansas City, Missouri and Harley’s corporate headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2004. From 2009 to 2013, Jeff was Director of Financial Planning & Analysis at MasterCraft Boat Company (NASDAQ: MCFT) where he oversaw the acquisition and financial integration of Hydra-Sports Boats (now called HCB Yachts) from Genmar.

Prior to joining Yellowfin in 2021, Needles served as CFO of United Enertech, a private equity owned company, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. From 2013 to 2017, Jeff was the CFO at Schnellecke Logistics USA, a German based automotive 3PL that provides sequencing, module & welding assemblies, transport, supply, warehousing and packaging logistics. While at Schnellecke, Jeff oversaw their U.S.-based operations for both Mercedes in Vance, Alabama and Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

With a passion for building boats and ever-expanding his industry knowledge, Jonathan Lipworth is an integral part of the Yellowfin team. As our Chief of Staff, his roles are wide-ranging, from facilitating executive staff governance to order management and pricing lead, a department he built. Jonathan also built and leads Yellowfin’s IT department, while also assisting in devising company strategy and advising C-level.

When he’s not at work, Jonathan enjoys socializing with friends on and off the water, reading books and learning new topics, and building computers and servers. He even maintains his own home server! Needless to say, he is an asset at Yellowfin and will continue to drive our brand into a successful future.

When it comes to multi-faceted experience in knowledge in this industry, Fritz Harrington’s acumen is unparalleled. A lifelong boater and avid fisherman, he has a propensity for long-range snapper and grouper missions beyond the horizon at famed, remote destinations like Pulley Ridge and the Dry Tortugas. When Fritz isn’t out fishing, his passions bleed through within the Yellowfin walls, where he fulfills a significant role in just about everything we do. He began his career in the industry with Seven Marine, where he was pivotal in the ground-breaking introduction of the 600-horspower outboard to the market, contributing by way of key integration and sales roles. From there, Fritz took his talents to Nor-Tech, where he held the title “Head of Customer Experience and Operations.” He then went to Bertram, serving in the same capacity, before joining Yellowfin. Presently, Fritz is an integral part of the team, as he proudly serves as Yellowfin’s VP of Operations. A long-time Yellowfin user, Fritz knows these boats inside and out, from bow to stern and beyond like no other. Needless to say, we’re glad he’s on OUR team!

Verónica has a background of a leader specialized in creating value through the development of organizations, systems and culture. Throughout her 20 years of professional experience, she has led high-performance and multidisciplinary teams internationally within manufacturing environments across industries, including green field and start up projects in aerospace and powersports. She graduated from International Business and holds an MBA from La Trobe University in Australia and Laurentian University in Canada.

At Yellowfin, she leads Global Supply Chain and has been tasked with applying modern efficiencies and best practices to the marine industry.

Verónica appreciates the simple joys in life. She is passionate about experiencing new cultures, staying active and devoting time to family and friends. Being a foodie and dog lover, she is enjoying embarking on the exciting world of boating and fishing.

A dual-degree engineer with a passion for fishing, boats, and the outdoors, Dan Freer has over 18 years of product development and manufacturing experience. Dan started his boat building career in his late teens when he built his first poling skiff using fiberglass, epoxy, and a pile of marine plywood. Since then, he earned a business and mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University, and he has held many high-level positions at innovative businesses such as Brunswick Corporation, Exosent Engineering, and Nyati Automation.

Dan’s career path has made him a very well-rounded engineer and leader. He’s experienced in automation, steel fabrication, composites, and of course, boat building. Dan’s 10+ years in the marine industry are highlighted by his ability to drive innovation and lead teams to engineering and manufacturing success. In fact, he’s been awarded three U.S. patents for his work in product development. Under Dan’s leadership, the product development and engineering teams at Yellowfin are on pace to become the most formidable engineering groups in the marine industry.

When he’s not building boats, Dan can be found fishing or prepping for his next fishing trip. He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to fishing styles. You can find him deep dropping, pond hopping, trolling, slow pitching, bombing the beach, or stalking the flats on his hand-built carbon/Kevlar skiff. While he doesn’t compete anymore, Dan did compile several inshore tournament victories in his early 20s. When he’s not working or fishing, he is spending time with his wife, family, and friends (probably talking about boats or fishing).

With more than a decade of experience in leading manufacturing facilities, leading both strategic and tactical roles in manufacturing engineering, production, materials and logistics. Emilio graduated as Industrial Engineer from ITESM CEM following an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and most recently from LEAD at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Having a strong industrial background and experience in multiple fast-paced and specialized environments such as automotive and aerospace, Emilio has held key leadership positions throughout his career including as chief of staff and plant manager in the U.S. and Mexico. Part of that experience involved testing the products themselves, with his first time out fishing with Invincible being reminiscent of training colleagues to pilot PWC’s.

Emilio is a passionate and active ultimate frisbee player who has qualified for the world championships twice so far. When not working, you can find him happily throwing the disc or mahi fishing with the team.

Kristy Nevitt brings a wealth of Human Resources experience to Yellowfin, 20 years in the world of manufacturing to be exact, and our world-class team of boat builders wouldn’t be what it is today without her extensive contributions. Prior to joining Yellowfin as our Human Resources Manager, she worked in the same capacity at Arconic, a leading aluminum supplier to the automotive industry, where she excelled in labor relations, contract negotiations, and policy development. Presently, at Yellowfin, Kristy’s wide-ranging roles perfectly align with her professional strengths, which include employee engagement and retention, compliance and regulatory expertise, HR strategy, conflict resolution, precision, and goal achievement. Fitting with her role at Yellowfin, Kristy is a fanatic of the outdoors and enjoys boating and fishing with her husband and her three children.