Industry | Boat building |
---|---|
Founded | Detroit, Michigan (1959) |
Founder | C.N. Ray [1] |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Motorboats |
Number of employees | 1500 [2] |
Parent | Brunswick Boat Group |
Website | www |
Sea Ray Boats is an American manufacturer that produces recreational motorboats. It currently operates as part of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of Brunswick Corporation.
Sea Ray was founded in 1959 by Cornelius Ray as an independent company, Ray Industries, in Detroit, Michigan, with fiberglass boats being made at a factory in Oxford, Michigan. That company was bought in 1986 by Brunswick Corporation for $350 million. At the same time, Brunswick purchased the Bayliner brand, making Brunswick the largest pleasure boat producer in the world. [4]
Sea Ray opened a plant in 1972 at Merritt Island, Florida. It eventually grew to three plants at that location. It employed more than 1,500 workers at its peak. At that time, it produced about 20 sport yachts weekly, each retailing from $200,000 to $500,000. It largely phased out operations during the Great Recession. [5]
In 2017, Brunswick Corporation announced that they intended to divest the Sea Ray line. In July 2018, however, Brunswick announced they had reconsidered their decision and have since retracted any intent to sell and that the Sea Ray would their efforts on building the best sport boats and cruisers up to 40 feet. In doing so, Sea Ray will discontinue production of sport yacht and yacht models. [6] [7]
Sea Ray designs, manufactures and markets boats ranging from 17-foot (5.2 m) power boats to over 65-foot (20 m) motor yachts, including the Sundancer brand and, starting in 2014, the "L" Series luxury yachts. Sea Ray is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it operates two factories in Tennessee and two in Florida. [8] Sea Ray designs and markets more than 40 models ranging in boats from 18 to 65 feet (5.5 to 19.8 m).
Sea Ray was the first boat manufacturer to use fiberglass in its pleasure boat construction, and it also pioneered the molded-in swim platform when it launched Ski Ray dedicated water skiing tow boats in 1991. [9] In 1995, it acquired a new subsidiary, Baja. Brunswick subsequently sold the Baja brand to another entity.
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees operating in 24 countries. Brunswick owns major boating brands, including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Mercury Marine, Attwood, Lund, Crestliner, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Harris Pontoons, Freedom Boat Club, Princecraft, Heyday, Lowe, Uttern, Quicksilver and CZone, among many others. In 2021, Brunswick reported sales of US$5.8 billion. Brunswick's global headquarters is in the northern Chicago suburb of Mettawa, Illinois.
Catalina Yachts is a U.S.-based builder of fiberglass monohull sloop-rigged sailboats ranging in sizes from eight to 54 feet in length. It was founded in 1969 in Hollywood, California by Frank Butler . Catalina Yachts is one of the largest boat manufacturers in the world, with over 80,000 boats manufactured to date. Though Catalina produces boats from as small as eight feet under their Capri nameplate, the company is best known for its production of mid-sized cruisers.
This article attempts to give an overview of the design and manufacturing of sailboats and the evolution of this industry. Details should be found and contributed through other/linked pages
The Glasspar boat-building company was started in 1947 when Bill Tritt began building small fiberglass boat hulls in his Costa Mesa, California fiberglass shop.
Bayliner is a manufacturer of recreational boats. Established in 1957 by Orin Edson, Bayliner currently has over 400 dealers in over 60 countries around the world. The company operates as part of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. Bayliner was acquired by Brunswick from Orin Edson in 1986 for $425 million. Bayliner facilities are located in Knoxville, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee and Arlington, Washington, in the United States and in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in Mexico. Bayliner also has a plant in Portugal for the European market and in Brazil for the South American market. Bayliner offers deck boats, center console boats, and bowriders ranging from 16 to 26 feet only.
A sailing yacht, is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applies here to sailing vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use. To be termed a "yacht", as opposed to a "boat", such a vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length and have been judged to have good aesthetic qualities. Sailboats that do not accommodate overnight use or are smaller than 30 feet (9.1 m) are not universally called yachts. Sailing yachts in excess of 130 feet (40 m) are generally considered to be superyachts.
The Brunswick Boat Group is an American pleasure boat manufacturer. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, it is the largest maker of such craft in the world. Net sales were US$1.7 billion in 2008, and US$1.0 billion in 2012.
Chaparral Boats was founded in 1965 by William "Buck" Pegg and Reggie Rose in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The company's bellwether boat at the time was the 15-ft Tri-Hull with a sticker price of $675. Although the tri-hull was discontinued in the early 1980s, many remain in commission today.
Cruisers Yachts is a brand of pleasure boats owned by MarineMax. The company builds boats ranging from 33 feet - 60 feet, and is headquartered in Oconto, Wisconsin. The company was one of the first boat builders to utilize the Volvo Penta IPS propulsion system.
Z1 Boat is a brand of luxury yacht tender manufactured in the United States. Most notably, the 23 foot sportsboat, with a V-hull design made of fiberglass or Carbon / Kevlar laminate schedule, with an inboard motor, foot controls, and side steering console. The speedboats are manufactured by Z1 Boats, Inc.
Huckins Yacht Corporation is one of the oldest boat builders in the United States. The company is located on the Ortega River in Jacksonville, Florida, and is run by its third-generation owners, Cindy and Buddy Purcell. Huckins manufactures custom yachts ranging from 40 to 90 feet that combine classic design and traditional workmanship with modern technology and amenities. It has built a total of 457 yachts during its 80 years of operation, crafting vessels one at a time.
The Thompson Brothers Boat Manufacturing Company of Peshtigo, Wisconsin was a manufacturer of pleasure boats and canoes. Founded by brothers Peter and Christ Thompson in 1904, the company became prominent in the field and built boats for nearly one hundred years. The Thompson Antique & Classic Boat Rally celebrates the company's history with a boat show every other year and in 2013 the Thompson Brothers canoe was celebrated at the Annual Assembly of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association.
Cabo Rico Yachts is a small semi-custom manufacturer of fiberglass sailboats located in Costa Rica and designed by W.I.B. Crealock and Chuck Paine. Sizes range from 34 to 56 feet. In 1965, the company started building boats in the corner of a British Leyland assembly plant in the San José area.
Gulf Craft is a manufacturer of luxury yachts and fiberglass boats based in Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates. Gulf Craft operates from two shipyards in the UAE and one in the Maldives.
Trojan Yachts is (1949–1992) a US manufacturer of motorboats, with offices and production facilities in Lancaster Pennsylvania, Elkton Maryland and Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario Canada.
The US Yachts US 22 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Gary Mull and first built in 1979.
Malibu Boats is an American manufacturer of recreational boats, founded in Merced, California in 1982, and currently headquartered in Loudon, Tennessee with additional production facilities in New South Wales, Australia. Malibu is "the world's largest manufacturer of watersports towboats", used both recreationally and in water skiing and wakeboarding events.
The Buccaneer 240 and Buccaneer 245 are a family of American trailerable sailboats that were both designed as cruisers and first built in 1975.
The Triton 21, also called the Pearson 21, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Scarborough as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1985.