MOVERS & SHAKERS FINALISTS
JAMIE DEWAR
Co-CEO, Legend Boats
Jamie Dewar has spent much of his life around the boating industry. His father, Carol Dewar, and partner Victor Duhamel co-founded Duhamel & Dewar nearly 60 years ago, a company that grew from selling tires and lawn equipment to RVs and eventually boats. In the mid-1980s, the pair launched Legend Boats as a private-label brand, creating a foundation that Dewar would one day help propel.
“ I grew up in the business doing odds and ends,” Dewar said.“ I worked in sales and the shop, all different aspects.” That early involvement gave him an understanding of the industry from the ground up.
But before returning to the family business, Dewar charted his own path. At Wilfrid Laurier University, he pursued a double degree in physics and computing alongside business administration.“ I couldn’ t decide which path, so I got the best of both worlds,” he said.
In 2004, Dewar returned to the company full-time. At a time when internet tools were still emerging, his IT background gave Legend a competitive edge. The brand was already established across Canada, but Dewar saw opportunities to improve operations, scalability, and the customer experience.
Dewar credits his father and Duhamel for instilling values that continue to guide his leadership.“ What I learned from both of them is that you have to work with people that are different than you, who have different strengths and weaknesses,” he said.“[ They were ] completely different characters.”
Dewar has also drawn inspiration from titles like“ How to Win Friends and Influence People” and“ The Wizard of Odds.” An“ audio book junkie,” he is constantly listening and learning.
“ I’ m always trying to learn more and stay up to date with whatever is current, whether it’ s through the marketing side, leadership side, organizational structure, product side or innovation side,” he said.“ Being open to change – change quick, iterate, change quick, measure, repeat – I think that’ s a big key to our success.”
When it comes to leadership within Legend, Dewar emphasized empowerment and trust.“ I try to empower the team as much as possible and provide feedback, motivation and ideas,” he said.“ I do make a conscious effort to stand back. I try to listen a lot more than I speak. They’ re the ones who have the better ideas and more experience. They’ re hands on every day. You really have to trust your team.”
He is also an advocate for measurement.“ From a leadership standpoint, I want to give you flexibility, but I want to make sure there’ s clarity around what the goals are, why we’ re doing what we’ re doing, and how we’ re going to measure it.”
His long-term perspective allows him to weather short-term challenges while keeping focus on growth.“ There’ s going to be challenges, so I’ m much more focused on the longterm path and making sure that we’ re putting tools in place,” he said.“ A little short-term pain for long-term gain, I’ m completely fine with.”
Daily habits and consistency are another cornerstone. Dewar encourages his team to break down goals into manageable actions.“ It’ s not the big crazy idea,” he said.“ It’ s really doing the right things daily. Are we calling five customers a day? Are we making sure our warranty list is down to zero by the end of the day? A lot of people get tied up in the results, but the results are the end, not what got you there.”
“ One of the things that’ s important to me is just trying to make [ Legend ] a great place to work,” he continued.“ We’ re not perfect by any means and there’ s always opportunities for improvement, but it is something that I definitely strive for and that we’ re always trying to improve.”
Beyond his role at Legend, Dewar gives back through formal mentorship with the Norcat Innovation Mill organization, helping early-stage companies with marketing, scaling, structure and strategy.
Looking at the broader industry, Dewar acknowledged challenges such as tariffs and an aging buyer. But he also sees opportunity.“ We’ ve got to find more innovative ways to build or to keep the pricing down so more people can get involved on the water,” he said.“ It’ s easy to keep adding and making things bigger and better, but things just escalate and become less affordable. I think there’ s an opportunity to get creative. Whether it’ s with manufacturing techniques, materials or products.”
Recognizing that first-time buyers often face challenges regarding storage, financing and insurance, Dewar has helped spearhead initiatives aimed at simplifying boat ownership. The company now offers Legend-branded insurance and streamlined financing.
“ We were able to bring a lot of these different aspects of boating together and make it much more seamless for customers to get out on the water,” he explained.“ That is the underlying theme that is an opportunity – make it easier for customers. Every bit of friction increases the odds that someone is not going to buy.”
Dewar was also a key driver behind the launch of Vetta Pontoons and the Pulse, a rotomolded utility boat with electric options aimed at helping younger buyers get on the water.
“ We’ ve accomplished a lot in the last year,” he reflected.“ It’ s been multiple years of work in the making. We introduced three new brands of products as well as completely streamlined our Legend Boats lineup."
The company ' s mission is to help customers create memories aboard a boat, and with Dewar at the helm, the Legend team is doing just that.
10 september / october 2025 www. boatingindustry. com