Edited by
Nick Burnham
The key boating stories you need to read Email: [email protected]LATESTNEWS
Brunswick to sell Sea Ray
Brunswick Corporation has said
it intends to sell Sea Ray, one
of the 15 brands that comprise
the Brunswick Boat Group. The
company, which is based in Illinois,
also owns Boston Whaler, Bayliner,
Quicksilver and several other
boatbuilders. It announced its plans
regarding Sea Ray in early December.
“Our marine strategy is focused
on developing, manufacturing and
distributing market-leading products
to recreational and commercial
marine consumers through our
portfolio of engine, boat and parts
and accessories businesses,” MarkSchwabero, Brunswick’s chairman
and CEO said.
Brunswick bought the Tennessee-
based Sea Ray in 1986 for $
million from its founder Connie Ray
(after whom the company is named).
Ray, a wartime pilot, launched the
company in 1959 and was one of the
first manufacturers to use glassfibre.
He built Sea Ray into one of the largest
boat companies in the USA. When
Brunswick bought the business, it
employed 4,500 people and built
28,000 boats a year. Along with
its Bayliner brand, that made the
Brunswick Corporation the largestpleasure boat builder in the world.
The group also owns Mercury, which
supplies most of the brands’ engines.
Sea Ray is best known in the UK
for its popular range of sportsboats
but also builds sportscruisers and
flybridges up to 65ft. Its reputation
stems from the success of boats like
the 180 Bowrider and 215 Express,
which along with its sister brand
Bayliner, dominated the European
sportsboat market during the 1990s
and early 2000s. In recent years,
however, currency fluctuations and
the rise of mass-market European
builders has dented export sales,while the global downturn of 2008
affected domestic sales.
This isn't the first time Brunswick
has bought and sold a well known
boatyard. It purchased British brand
Sealine in 2001 before selling it to
the Oxford Investment Group in 2011.
Oxford put Sealine into administration
two years later, though it is now
flourishing once again under its
new owners, the Hanse group.
Brunswick will continue to manage
Sea Ray and support its dealers and
customers through the sale process,
which is expected to be completed
within the first half of 2018.Renowned American boat manufacturer placed on the market
Who will be the new
owners of the Sea
Ray brand and its
wide range of boats?Thames-based boats
will have to pay an
extra 5.7% in 2018The Environment Agency has
confirmed that boat registration
charges for the waterways it
manages will increase in 2018/
19 by up to 10% in some areas. It
said the rises are essential to help
deliver a good navigation service.
The highest increases are reserved
for motor boats kept or used on the
Upper Medway (10%) and Anglian
waterways (7.5%). Thames-based
boats will be hit by a 5.7% increase.
Charges for unpowered boats (nothouseboats) and those registered
with British Rowing or British
Canoeing will increase by 7.7%.
The Gold Licence, which allows
boat owners to cruise on waterways
managed by both the Canal and River
Trust as well as the Environment
Agency, will increase by 3.8%.
The new charges will apply
from January 1, 2018 on the
Thames and from April 1, 2018
for all other waterways. They are
the first increases since 2015/16.Boat registration charges rise
Environment Agency confi rms increase of up to 10%
10