SOUTHWEST HARBOR – The Hinckley Co. needs 20 more tradespeople to keep up with orders for its jet-powered boats, as the luxury boat builder ramps up for a strong 2003, sales director Philip Bennett said Monday.

“Virtually anyone who has skills, we’re interested in talking to them,” Bennett said.

Despite a soft economy and a gyrating stock market, sales remain strong for the Maine boat company and the firm is poised to build 100 boats next year for customers around the world, Bennett said.

Most of the new demand is for the Hinckley jet-powered boats built in Trenton, Bennett said, including the popular Picnic Boat that starts at about $400,000.

But sales of Hinckley sailboats, which cost $4 million to $5 million, also continue to show strength, he said.

“I can’t call our business robust, but I will say there is real underlying strength in people buying quality things,” Bennett said. “We are finding that even with the soft economy, people’s lives are marching on.”

The Maine boat builder is finding new customers this year in the Great Lakes region of the country, Bennett said, after opening a sales office in Bay Harbor, Mich., last summer.

“People got to see Hinckleys for the first time,” Bennett said, “and we’ve seen an increase there” in orders.

Some of the Maine job gains can also be credited to a move by the company in October to close its Little Harbor Yachts power-boat manufacturing facility in Portsmouth, R.I., and consolidate the work in Maine. The company bought Little Harbor in 2000 and will maintain a sales and service center there, Bennett said.

In addition to Rhode Island and Michigan, Hinckley operates sales and service offices in Florida and Germany. The boat building itself, however, is done in Maine.

People with skills in woodworking, carpentry, deck hardware and fiberglass and other trades are needed immediately, Bennett said. Applications are available at the company’s Southwest Harbor headquarters. Salaries vary depending on skill levels, but the company pays competitively and offers a full benefits package, he said.

Hinckley employs more than 700 people, including 500 in Maine.