Steven Wayne wins 2025 Fabricator Olympics
The Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) ran its annual Fabricator Olympics Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Marine Fabricators Conference in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Steven Wayne from Southern Stitch Canvas & Upholstery LLC, in Gulfport, Miss., won first place. Second through fourth place winners were:
- Mark Peterson, SugarHouse Industries in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Mike Boatman, Boatman Marine Canvas in Oklahoma City, Okla.
- Julie Jacobs, Sail to Trail Upholstery Solutions in North Mankato, Minn.
The Fabricator Olympics launched at the Marine Fabricators Conference in 2020 and have been a source of friendly competition and entertainment every conference year since. Derek Robinson, Fabric Tattoo in Elon, N.C., ran the 2025 Olympic ceremonies and Mike Charlton, Charlton’s Marine Canvas in Yorktown, Va., designed the 3D-printed medals for all four winners.
Round One asked conference attendees to guess the length of a roll of fabric in inches. The 16 closest guessers advanced to Round Two. Those fabricators were:
- Beth Ebnet
- Mirella Smith
- Mark Peterson
- Chandler Clark
- Mike Boatman
- Mike Charlton
- Jim Hanahan
- Stephen Sawyer
- Nicky Bosmans
- Greg Smith
- Vince Innocenzi
- Joey Zabatta
- Steven Wayne
- Yves Struthers
- Julie Jacobs
- Nancy Struthers
Round Two grouped four attendees at a time and asked them to cut a perfect, 8-inch circle. The four best circles advanced to Round Three.
The final round required the fabricators to sew a boxing attachment to the circles they cut, via a regular stitch and top stitch (no vertical stitch required). First through fourth place were awarded based on the fastest completion time.
Wayne completed his attachment in 55 seconds, Peterson completed his in 1 minutes and 42 seconds, Boatman completed his in 2 minutes and Jacobs completed hers in 3 minutes and 15 seconds.
