Sea Ray
 | |
| Founded | Detroit, Michigan (1959) [1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | C.N. Ray [1] |
| Headquarters | Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Products | Recreational boats |
Number of employees | 650 [2] |
| Parent | Brunswick Boat Group |
| Website |
www |
Sea Ray is a company who produces a same-named brand of pleasure boats. The company currently operates as part of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation.
History
It was founded as an independent company, Ray Industries, in 1959 in Detroit, MI, United States by C.N. Ray. That company was bought by Brunswick for $350 million in 1986. At the same time Brunswick purchased the Bayliner brand, making Brunswick Corporation the largest pleasure boat producer in the world.[4]
Sea Ray opened a plant at Merritt Island, Florida in 1972. 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 sports yachts weekly, each retailing from $200,000 to $500,000. It largely phased down operations during the Great Recession.[5]
Overview
Sea Ray designs, manufactures and markets boats ranging from 17 feet (5.2 m) power cruisers to over 65 feet (20 m) yachts, including the Sundancer brand and, new for 2014, the "L" Series luxury yachts. Sea Ray is based in Knoxville, Tennessee and operates two factories in Tennessee and two in Florida.[6] 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 also pioneered the molded-in swim platform when it launched Ski Ray ski boats in 1991.[7] In 1995 Ray Industries' acquired a new subsidiary, Baja, the world's largest manufacturer of performance boats. Brunswick has since sold the Baja brand to another entity.
Other Brunswick boats built at Sea Ray plants
Notes
- 1 2 "Sea Ray Founder Dies at 84". Boat Test. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ↑ "At Sea Ray Boats, a $10,000 Gift Marks Millions of Working Hours Without an Accident". Flagler Live. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
- ↑ 2005 Sea Ray 220 Sundeck Brochure, dated 2004/2005, last accessed 3 November 2015
- ↑ Reuters (1986-11-29). "Brunswick to Acquire Ray". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ↑ Price, Wayne T. (February 10, 2015). "Sea Ray Boats to resume operations". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. pp. 1A. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
- ↑ Silence, Michael. "Sea Ray lays off 5 percent of work force". Knoxville News Sentinel.
- ↑ "Innovation Is What Leads Buyers to Sea Ray Boats". Retrieved 2014-05-15.
- ↑ "Sport Boats : Sport Cruisers : Sport Yachts : Yachts : Sea Ray Boats". Sea Ray Boats. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
External links
- Rodengen, Jeffrey L., edited by Stanimira Stefanova (2008). Commanding the waterways : the story of Sea Ray. Fort Lauderdale, FL: Write Stuff Enterprise. ISBN 978-1-932022-33-9.