Wellcraft

Last updated

Wellcraft LLC is a major manufacturer of American powerboats. It was founded in 1955, making wooden runabouts. [1] The company slogan is, "Own the offshore".

Contents

Acquisitions

In 1982, Wellcraft purchased California Yachts from the Marshall Boat Company and in 1987 sold it back to them. [2]

In 2014, Groupe Beneteau acquired Rec Boat Holdings (Wellcraft, Four Winns, Scarab, and Glastron).

Education programs

Wellcraft created the Wellcraft Saltwater Fishing School to teach new Wellcraft owners how to become better fishermen. [3]

It also created Wellcraft's High Performance Boot Camp to teach new Wellcraft owners how to get "maximum thrills" out of their new purchase while operating them safely. [3]

Product line

Its Scarab line of boats, specifically, the Scarab 38 KV was featured on Miami Vice . [4] The Wellcraft Scarab 38 KVs were a 28-hued, twin 440-hp boat that sold for $130,000 in 1986. [4] As a result of the publicity the show gave Wellcraft, the company received "an onslaught of orders", increasing sales by 21 percent in one year. [4]

In appreciation, Wellcraft gave Don Johnson an exact duplicate of the boat featured on the show. [4] Altogether, one hundred copies of the boat (dubbed the "Scarab 38KV Miami Vice Edition") were built by Wellcraft. [5] The Miami Vice graphics and color scheme, which included turquoise, aqua, and orchid, was available by special order on any model Scarab from 20–38 feet. [6]

Don Johnson also designed the Scarab Excel 43 ft, Don Johnson Signature Series (DJSS), and raced a similar one. [7] The Don Johnson Signature Series was powered by twin 650-hp Lamborghini V-12's, which caused some problems to the design of the boat due to their size. [7] Overall the boat cost $300,000 with each engine amounting to between $60–$70,000. [7]

Starwind division

In the 1980s Wellcraft started a sailboat division, called Starwind. The division operated until about 1984, producing a line of small sailboats, including the Starwind 19, Starwind 22, Starwind 223 and Buccaneer 18 centerboard boats. [8] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buccaneer 18</span> Sailboat class

The Buccaneer 18, also called the Buccaneer dinghy and the Gloucester 18, is an American planing sailing dinghy that was designed in 1966 by Rod Macalpine-Downie and Dick Gibbs as a one-design racer and day sailer. The prototype was first shown in 1967 at Yachting's "One of a Kind" Regatta, in which it placed second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter 23</span> Sailboat class

The Hunter 23 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Hunter Marine and first built in 1985.

The Santana 22 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Gary Mull and first built in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearson Ensign</span> Sailboat class

The Pearson Ensign, or Ensign 22, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Carl Alberg as a one-design racer and day sailer and first built in 1962. It is the largest full-keel one-design keelboat class in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarab (boat)</span>

Scarab is a brand of high performance power boats formerly owned by Wellcraft and currently by Rec Boat Holdings, a subsidiary of Groupe Beneteau. Wellcraft still makes a line of fishing boats which are currently known as Scarab Offshore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">US Yachts US 22</span> Sailboat class

The US Yachts US 22 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Gary Mull and first built in 1979.

The Ranger 22 is an American trailerable sailboat designed by Gary Mull as an International Offshore Rule Mini Ton class racer and first built in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzer 22</span> Sailboat class

The Tanzer 22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Johann Tanzer and first built in 1970. The design went out of production in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DS-22</span> Sailboat class

The DS-22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Bruce Kirby and first built in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Precision 23</span> Sailboat class

The Precision 23 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Jim Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starwind 223</span> Sailboat class

The Starwind 223 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Cortland Steck and first built in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberg 22</span> Sailboat class

The Alberg 22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Swedish-American naval architect Carl Alberg and first built in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonsuch 22</span> Sailboat class

The Nonsuch 22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, the smallest of the series of Nonsuch sailboats. It was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edel 665</span> Sailboat class

The Edel 665 is a French sailboat, that was designed by Maurice Edel and first built in 1984. It was marketed as the Edel 660 in France and is sometimes referred to as the Edel 6.

The Hunter 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team and first built in 1981.

The Marlow-Hunter 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Glenn Henderson as daysailer and racer, first built in 2010. It is a development of the 2003 Hunter 216, but with the hull built of fiberglass, instead of thermo-plastic

The Pearson Electra is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Carl Alberg as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) racer and first built in 1960.

The Cape Dory 22 is an American sailboat that was designed by Carl Alberg as a cruiser and first built in 1981.

The Starwind 19, Starwind 190 and Spindrift 19 are a family of American trailerable sailboats that were designed by Jim Taylor Yacht Designs as cruiser-racers and first built in 1982.

The Starwind 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Halsey Herreshoff as a cruiser and first built in 1982.

References

  1. ↑ McKnew, Ed (November 2007). 2008 PowerBoat Guide. American Marine Publishing. p. 469. ISBN   978-0977353941.
  2. ↑ McKnew, Ed (November 2007). 2008 PowerBoat Guide. American Marine Publishing. p. 46. ISBN   978-0977353941.
  3. 1 2 Kovach, Brad (April 2001). Angling Academy. MotorBoating. p. 81. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Davis, Chris (June 1986). "The Boats of Miami Vice". Motor Boating and Sailing. 157 (6): 36–40.
  5. ↑ Benoit, Ellen (1986-04-07). "Just Like On TV". Forbes : 106.
  6. ↑ Cole, Tim (May 1986). "The Machines of Miami Vice: The car, the boats, the guns that make it TV's hottest show". Popular Mechanics . Hearst Corp. 152 (5): 89–91.
  7. 1 2 3 Schryver, Doug (February 1988). "Don Johnson's new Scarab gets all the bells and whistles Wellcraft can muster, plus a few new tricks. You can own one, too – for a price". Starship: 116–119, 202–203.
  8. ↑ Browning, Randy (2018). "Starwind 223 sailboat specifications and details". sailboatdata.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Browning, Randy (2018). "Starwind (USA)". sailboatdata.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  10. ↑ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Buccaneer 18 sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.