sea ray stop making yachts

• Search Used Yachts For Sale
• Search Boats By Brand
• Search Boats By Type
• Search By Location
• Search By Price
• Search By Length
• What's My Boat Worth?
• Search Boats Just Listed
• Small Yachts
• Custom Sport Fishing Boats
• Finance A Boat
• Amer Yachts
• Aquitalia Yachts
• Cabo Yachts
• Century Boats
• French Yachts
• Gulfstream Yachts
• Hatteras Yachts
• Shelter Island Yachts
• Solaris Yachts
• Sunpower Yachts
• Sunreef Yachts
• Vela Boatworks
• Virtus Yachts
• Why List With United?
• Why Own A Boat Or Yacht?
• Custom Website For Your Yacht
• United Sold Boats
• Buy A Yacht With Crypto
• Find a Yacht Broker Near Me
• Search For Broker By Name
• Meet The United Support Team
• Our History
• Fort Lauderdale Boat Show
• Stuart Boat Show
• Miami Boat Show
• Palm Beach Boat Show
• Other Boat Shows
• Yachting News
• Yacht Closing Services
• River Forest Yachting Centers

Search All Yachts

The Effect Of Brunswick's Decision On The Pre-Owned Sea Ray Market

By Peter Schmidt & Rob Bowman | Posted On Sep 20, 2018 Updated On Feb 25, 2019

Whether you own a Sea Ray or just follow the marine industry, the news that Brunswick Corporation discontinued production of both Sea Ray Yachts and Meridian Yachts was certainly a shock to everyone. Sea Ray has, of course, been a cornerstone of every major boat show for decade and considered the most well-known boat brand in America. In the early Sea Ray days of the 1970's and 80's, the boats  were not particularly well-built compared to the same luxury-level models of similar size and style. But at the price point they were offered, it became a more affordable boating option to middle-class America. Thousands of Sea Rays of all different sizes were sold during this time. Moving to the 1990's, Brunswick's ownership of Sea Ray allowed the brand to flourish and quality improved significantly. Although never really considered a high-quality luxury yacht, Sea Ray re-vamped their styling, design, and overall performance while maintaining a competitive price. With excellent marketing and an aggressive distribution channel, Sea Ray flourished in the mid-to-late 1990's into the early 2000's consistently out-selling competitive brands in their class like Carver , Regal Boats , and others. Then came the Great Recession in 2008 which decimated the marine industry by more than 60%. No one was spared from the struggle during this time, not even Sea Ray or its dealer network, which resulted in layoffs, a re-distribution of talented boat building workers, and little investment in new technology. At last the economy improved, the industry began thriving again, and Sea Ray began producing new models for a few, short years.

During the economic downturn and through the recovery, the direction of Sea Ray's once successful business model suddenly changed. Instead of focusing on particular price points, Sea Rays got bigger and more loaded down with electronics, options, and larger engines. They also got more expensive. Could Sea Ray move their once budget-cautious buyer up in price to the point that they would pay well over $2 million for a 60' yacht? Additionally during this time, it's the opinion of many in the industry that Sea Ray was plagued with quality issues, problems with fit and finish, dated designs, as well as strong competition from other well-run boat builders.

Read Practical Tips When Buying A Used Sea Ray Boat Or Yacht

While all of us outside of the Sea Ray business can only speculate as to everything that happened internally at Brunswick, the new business model did not seemingly go well as Brunswick decided to list Sea Ray as a "fire sale" in 2017. In an article announcing the sale on Trade Only Today , it was said, "Brunswick has been strategically focused on reducing the cyclical nature of its operations since the recession, when it recorded a 70 percent loss and saw its boat group stay in the red for several years. Its strategy has included investments in parts and accessories acquisitions — a low-margin but largely recession-proof part of the business. Freeing up cash with the Sea Ray sale is expected to help the company invest in mergers and acquisitions, as well as close pension gaps." Even though the business was offered publicly with hints of a bargain price, no buyer would come forward. This led to Brunswick's decision to keep the brand and discontinue offering the yacht line.

As of September, 2018 there are currently over 1,200 pre-owned Sea Ray yachts over 40' available for sale on the MLS. Just under 1,000 of those used Sea Rays are in the United States. So what prediction do we have on what this does for the market? Sea Ray dealers will certainly miss the model lines, although MarineMax is likely well suited to survive with Azimut and Galeon to fall back on somewhat. A boat builder out there may eventually buy the models and the name and take a run at re-launching a similar product. But current Sea Ray owners are likely concerned about the value of their boat with Sea Ray's decision. In the past, boat owners saw the value of their yachts decline when the manufacturer went out of business. Our prediction is that this is probably not the case and most Sea Rays on the market will continue to hold their value. Of course, the new boat depreciation will still apply, but once resale values settle down in a few years, Sea Ray boats should continue to do well on the brokerage market.

As mentioned there are well over a thousand used Sea Rays on the market today, many of them in Florida . Here's a sampling of several used Sea Ray Yachts currently for sale .

2016 Sea Ray L650 Flybridge  - Listed for $1,995,000

This particular Sea Ray L650 has the four-stateroom layout that includes a master suite, VIP stateroom, and two guest rooms with twin beds. This particular used Sea Ray is powered with CAT C-18 engines as well as equipped with twin Seakeeper Gyro stabilizers.

2017 Sea Ray L590  - Listed for $2,250,000

This particular Sea Ray L590 is a smaller model than the one listed above but a year newer and almost $300,000 more expensive. One difference in this particular boat from the previous model is the engine choice. This L590 comes with Cummins Zeus 600 QSC 8.3L engines as well as the Sky-Hook feature, joystick docking, and again, the Seakeeper Gyro Stabilizers.

2016 Sea Ray 540 Sundancer  - Listed for $1,050,000

Moving down an additional 5 feet while also going just one year older, the price drops significantly to just over $1 million for this Sea Ray 540 Sundancer. The Sundancers are also a different model line than the L-Class which appeals to the higher-end buyer at the Sea Ray spectrum. This particular Sea Ray 540 has a 2-stateroom, 2-head layout and is powered by twin Cummins Zeus 600 QSC T3 engines.

2016 Sea Ray 510 Sundancer  - Listed for $939,000

As you can see, even dropping from a 540 to a 510 Sundancer doesn't change the price a considerable amount. While the future of Sea Ray is unknown, there doesn't seem to be much fluctuation in the market value of quality, late-model pre-owned Sea Ray currently on the market. If you'd like to learn more about why you should list your pre-owned Sea Ray yacht for sale with United, please visit our Why List page . There is no larger network of boat buyers and sellers in the industry than at United Yacht Sales.

Interesting Boating Links

Worldwide yacht sales.

• Used Edgewater Boats For Sale
• Used Prestige Yachts For Sale
• Viking Sportfish For Sale
• Sabre 54 For Sale
• Rybovich For Sale
• Used Broward Yachts For Sale
• Yacht For Sale USA

Luxury Boats & Yachts

• 100000 Dollar Boat
• luxury Yachts
• Luxury Used Boats
• Used Trawlers
• 150000 Yacht
• Texas Yacht
• $300000 Yacht
• Used Azimut Yachts

Popular Builders & Models

• Yachts For Sale Under $500K
• Tomcat Power Catamaran
• Luxury Sport Fishing Boats
• Used High Performance Boats For Sale
• Big Boats For Sale
• Used Prowler Boats For Sale
• Corsa Boats
• Used Island Hopper Boats For Sale

Trending Brands & Types

• Tartan 5300
• Jarrett Bay 90 Price
• AJ 28 Downeast
• Sport Fishing Boats
• Used Yellowfin Boats
• Silverton Yachts

SEND UYS A MESSAGE

Recent posts.

Sep 01, 2024

The Hot List - September 2024

Aug 27, 2024

What Is The Best Flybridge Cruiser?

Aug 16, 2024

Your Yacht For Sale Now Featured on SuperYachtTimes.com

Aug 07, 2024

List Your Yacht Before The Fall Boat Show Season

• Jun 14, 2022

Gone But Not Forgotten- The Boat Brands We Loved That Are No More (Part 9)

The motoryacht movement with maxum, meridian, carver & marquis.

In my over forty years in the pleasure boat industry, there have been literally thousands of boat companies and brand names of boats in North America.

Some of these were and are strictly regional brands not known or recognized in the rest of the continent but many were national and even international brands known to most of us diehard boaters.

It is those well known and recognized brands that are no longer with us that I look forward to examining in this series. These brand names may still be corporately held in reserve but are not known to currently be in production.

In 1986, the Boat Group division of Brunswick Corporation , makers of Mercury outboard motors and MerCruiser sterndrive engines, purchased Sea Ray boats. They quickly followed up in the same year with the purchase of Bayliner . Both Sea Ray and Bayliner had been vying back and forth for a few years as to which was the largest pleasure boat manufacturer in the world. Now Brunswick would undoubtedly be number one.

{Big-Box-Banner}

Sea Ray and Bayliner had also been perceived, rightly or wrongly by the boating industry, and more importantly by the boating public, as representing not necessarily the extremes, but relative opposite ends of the pleasure boat market in terms of desirability, price point, and quality. It was akin in those days to the positioning of General Motors and the Buick vs. Chevrolet argument.

Based on this market perception, Brunswick thought there may be room for a boat brand positioned between Sea Ray and Bayliner, just as General Motors had Pontiac and Oldsmobile positioned between its other two brands. Just two years after the acquisition of Sea Ray and Bayliner, in 1988 Brunswick created the Maxum brand for exactly that purpose.

Building out of a Bayliner facility in Pipestone, Minnesota, in 1989 Maxum Marine offered eight models from 16-23 feet. Growth as well as market acceptance of Maxum was slow, as many Maxum hulls were the same as Bayliner hulls but with different decks and inner liners. The public was confused. As Maxum offerings grew in size to include mid-cabin express cruisers and eventually full cruisers, production facilities were added in Salisbury, Maryland.

In 1999, ten years after its formation, Maxum was offering 18 models from 18-46 feet. This was a prelude to a 2000 news conference when Maxum introduced its all new “curvy and sexy-looking” 3500 SCR cruiser, the first Maxum to be designed independently from Bayliner with a distinct brand identity and independence.

In that news conference, Dave Heiss, Maxum’s Manager of Advertising and Marketing, said, "Now we can grow each brand's personality independent of the other." Production was extended to include facilities in Valdosta, Georgia and Miami, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, it seems that maybe the 10 years of public perception and confusion between brands had solidified in the marketplace because Maxum did not perform as anticipated. In 2001, the Valdosta facilities were sold and the Miami, Oklahoma facility closed down as the events of 9/11 resulted in a severe downturn in the pleasure boat industry.

Maxum announced a re-invigoration of its lineup in 2002 but it was too little, too late. By 2009, it had cut back its product offerings to 12 models from 18-37 feet. But damage had also been done by the horrendous financial downturn of 2008 and, after a 20-plus year run, Maxum boats were discontinued in 2009.

The downturn in Maxum sales in 2001 was reflected in almost the entire industry, including almost across the board in the Brunswick Boat Group. Bayliner was building over 50 models in five series of boats and its sales were hit hard. It was also building larger and larger boats up to almost 60 feet and not paying enough attention to the smaller boats in its lineup that had always been its winning formula.

2002 was the final year for Bayliner Motoryachts. In 2003, Brunswick launched its Meridian line of yachts out of Bayliner’s old yacht and former headquarters location in Arlington, Washington. Meridian started with the old Bayliner lineup of seven models of sedans, flybridges, and pilothouse motoryachts from 34-58 feet, with the direction and intention of gradually re-tooling the lineup.

This would include not only new and more aggressive designs but also new materials and hardware to bring the Meridian brand closer to Sea Ray and its perception quality. All Meridian models were equipped with Brunswick’s new Docking on Command™ system of utilizing bow and stern thrusters under a single control.

Sales rebounded under the new direction but the financial downturn of 2008 caused more rationalization of Brunswick’s facilities, including the closing of the Arlington plant and all Meridian production moving to Florida. In 2011, it was claimed that Meridian had the best selling sedan and flybridge cruisers in the United States for the past five years.

It was not enough, though, and by 2018 Brunswick Corp. announced the end of not only Meridian Yachts but also the yacht and sport yacht models of Sea Ray. It must be noted here that both Bayliner and Sea Ray continue to this day both as major manufacturers of pleasure boats.

As a post-script, while we are dealing with Bayliner and its many changes in product lines over the years, there are a couple of series (at least) that have come and gone over the years – series that many boaters will remember with fondness.

One series is the Avanti series of more upscale mid-cabin express cruisers and flybridge boats from 29-40 feet from the years 1987 to 1999. The second series is a personal favourite of mine and one that has attracted almost a cult-like following from long-range cruisers. That series is the Pilothouse Motoryacht models 4588, 4788, 5288, and 5788 built in various of those lengths between 1985 and 2002, and of course continued under Meridian in 2003 and until model changes were made.

It is difficult for me to believe that Carver Yachts , one of the most popular and recognizable motor yacht brands found almost everywhere for decades might no longer be with us. It was said to have closed its doors permanently in mid-2021. Its huge production facilities in Pulaski, Wisconsin, which it shared with Marquis Yachts, was almost simultaneously purchased by KCS International, parent company of Cruisers Yachts of nearby Oconto, Wisconsin.

Charlie Carter and George Verhagen put the three first letters of each of their last names together to create the “Carver” name in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1954. Their first designs were mahogany planked runabouts. As sales grew, in 1956 they moved operations to Pulaski, a short distance northwest of Green Bay.

In the 1960’s, Carver recognized the growing consumer demand for “family-sized” overnighters and built roomy boats to satisfy that market. It recognized the growing demand for flybridge models as well. By 1971, Carver was offering seven models from 21-31 feet, all of which were built from wood.

By the mid-70's, Carver introduced fiberglass hulls but still with wooden superstructures. It first introduced its Mariner series at this time, one of the roomiest boats on the market with loads of indoor living space all on one level. It also came with a huge flybridge which had the only helm control station. The Carver 33-Mariner of the 1970’s satisfied both consumer boating needs and was a huge sales success. The Mariner series expanded over the years while keeping its original successful design philosophies.

By the 1980’s, Carver had grown worldwide into a major builder of what became referred to as motor yachts. The 32 and 36 flybridge aft cabin motor yachts became synonymous with Carver as boat owners enjoyed the privacy of an aft cabin stateroom with a private head compartment, while guests slept at the extreme other end of the boat in the bow.

In 1985, Carver was purchased by Miramar Marine Corp which soon added another production facility in North Carolina. Carver then started building Miramar’s new acquisition of Californian Yachts and offering them through its vast worldwide dealer network. In 1990, Carver offered a substantial lineup of 30 models from 22-55 feet including six Californian models. Sales topped out over $200 million.

The federal luxury tax of early 1991 along with an economic turndown almost crippled Carver. Buyout specialist Irwin Jacobs worked his magic and by the end of the year had assembled Miramar along with Carver into his Genmar Industries. A few years later, this became Genmar Holdings, Inc. which evolved into one of the world’s largest pleasure boat manufacturers.

In 1992, Genmar purchased Trojan Yachts of Pennsylvania and moved the tooling and molds to Pulaski to build the yachts there. Trojan’s lineup ranged from 30-46 foot express and sport cruisers, but unfortunately it did not last long. California Yachts was sold. Meanwhile, Carver started to rebound under new management and with the repeal of the luxury tax a year later.

The late-90's saw consumer demand wanting luxurious interior accommodations and Carver was happy to oblige. By the end of the 1990’s it introduced its ultra-luxurious 53 and 57 Voyager Pilothouse motor yachts with their ”skylounge” helm station with powered Captain’s chair, huge flybridge, solid finished cherrywood cabinetry throughout, leatherette furniture, and plush carpeting.

Following this success, Carver saw the need for even more luxury and better sales in European and offshore markets. In 2002, it started working with the Italian design team of Nuvolari & Lenard. This resulted in Carver building new upscale European designed Nuvari yachts from a new facility in Fano, Italy. With this background, in 2004, Carver created Marquis Yachts as an even more upscale line with European influences built in the Pulaski facilities. Originally, Marquis offered two models, the 59-foot and 65-foot motor yachts, and their success led to a full line from 42-72 feet.

In the same year, 2004, the Genmar Holdings, Inc. portfolio included 18 boat brands, but the financial crisis of 2008 had a devastating cumulative effect resulting in its bankruptcy. At the subsequent auction in 2010, Platinum Equity Group purchased the bulk of the brands, while Irwin Jacobs and a partner purchased Carver and Marquis Yachts. Shortly thereafter they added the Larson group to form the Marquis-Larson Boat Group consisting of six brands: Marquis, Carver, Larson, Larson FX, Larson Escape, and Striper.

After all of these changes, Carver tried to revitalize itself with some striking new designs which didn’t catch on with the market. In 2019, Larson, FX, Escape, and Striper were sold to the Polaris Group. For 2021, Carver was offering only six models from 34-52 feet, none of which had any resemblance to the Carver models which had excelled in the marketplace in the past.

Carver and Marquis were closed in summer of 2021. The extensive Pulaski manufacturing facilities were purchased by KCS International of nearby Oconto, the parent company of Cruisers Yachts, builders of 16 models from 33-60 feet. This company was then almost immediately purchased by MarineMax , the largest recreational boat dealership company with a hundred locations worldwide. Cruisers Yachts continues to excel.

Don't forget to check out:

Part 1- The Story of OMC

Part 2- Chrysler Boats, the Chris Craft Stinger, the Sea Ray Pachanga, and the Houseboat Craze of the 1970's

Part 3- A Retrospective Look at the Peak of Doral, Thundercraft, Magnum, Cadorette, Sunray, & Peterborough

Part 4- Connecting the Heydeys of Silverline, Striper, Owens, Penn Yan, Rinker, and Winner

Part 5- The West Coast Influence of Fiberform, Sun Runner, Apollo, Uniflite, Tollycraft, & Prowler

Part 6- The 'Sleek & Sexy' Era of Sidewinder, HydroStream, Switzer Craft, Challenger, and Lone Star

Part 7- The Web of Connections Between Thompson Boats, Cruisers Yachts, Slickcraft, Grew, Tiara, Pursuit, and Chris Craft

Part 8- The Incredibly Short but Influential Eras of Mariah, Lyman, Celebrity, and MFG

#culture #gonebutnotforgotten #cruisersyachts #marinemax

Recent Posts

Electric Water Taxis Coming to Miami to Ease Urban Congestion

Forget The Drive Thru, "Boat Thru" Ice Cream Shack Now in Operation

Riding the Run-Off: River Kayaking in BC with Water Ways TV

1 ความคิดเห็น

Great article. Though slightly depressing, it is kind of fun to read about all these well known brands and what happened to them.

Meet the Man Doing The Great Loop on a $300 PWC

Yamaha Reveals Four New JetBlaster Waverunners for 2025

12 Country Songs to Add to Your Summer Boating Playlist

Man Sets 'Great Loop' Record at 19 Days, 19 Hours, 50 Minutes in Quest to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

The 'Breezy Sea' - How A Refitted Lobster Boat from New Brunswick is Changing Lives on a Small Island in Haiti

Is This the New Tesla of Ski Boats?

Michael Jordan Adds Another 'Catch-23' to His Fishing Fleet

This site has features that require javascript. Follow these simple instructions to enable JavaScript in your web browser .

• Open Search

BREAKING NEWS: Brunswick to keep Sea Ray, discontinue yachts

The company says it will revitalize the Sea Ray brand by capitalizing on growth opportunities in its sport boat and cruiser product categories.

“Over the last several months, we have engaged in a thorough sale process for the Sea Ray business, which we believed would generate the highest value for our shareholders,” Brunswick Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Schwabero explained.  “Although there was interest in the business, the offers we received did not reflect an appropriate value for this premium brand, and did not meet our expectations. The lower value was largely due to the persistently weak financial performance of the yacht product category, which complicated and obscured the value of the remainder of Sea Ray.

“As the sale process neared conclusion, we started to evaluate other strategic options beyond our original plan to sell the Sea Ray business in its entirety," Schwabero continued. "Based on that re-assessment, we have concluded that our best opportunity to maximize value is to retain the Sea Ray brand and refocus the business on the sport boat and cruiser product portfolio. As part of the transformation of Sea Ray, we will discontinue sport yacht and yacht models and begin an orderly wind down of yacht production.

“These combined actions will create a revitalized Sea Ray that will benefit from continuing synergy with our broader marine portfolio -- and with targeted ongoing investment - we believe will offer increasingly attractive profitability and cash flow returns.  We believe that this is the best solution to generate value for our dealers and shareholders now and in the future,” Schwabero said.

“Sea Ray remains one of the most aspirational and premium recreational boat brands, and our sport boats and cruisers set the industry standard,” said David Foulkes, president - Marine Consumer Solutions.  “We will focus our resources on advancing our position in these segments, with an emphasis on the growing and evolving 24 - 40-foot categories.  Moving forward, Sea Ray will continue to offer new products, features and services that leverage our technology and innovation initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality of the consumer boating experience.”

Sea Ray will begin to wind down sport yacht and yacht production in the third quarter at its Sykes Creek and  Palm Coast ,  Fla. , facilities, involving the elimination of as many as 825 positions. Palm Coast is targeted for closure as soon as practical in 2018, while a portion of Sykes Creek will continue to operate for the foreseeable future to support customer service and warranty obligations, along with other operational requirements.

“We will maintain the capability to provide outstanding service and support to our dealers and installed base of all Sea Ray customers, consistent with the Sea Ray brand promise and history,” Schwabero said.  “We appreciate the dedication and commitment our employees and the communities that support our operations and will help them through this transition.”

The expected impact on 2018 performance and long-term planning targets will be addressed as part of the Company's conference call today as well as the second quarter earnings call.

Going forward,  Brunswick  will report results of Sea Ray on a GAAP basis in continuing operations, rather than the previous classification as discontinued operations in recent financial reports.  Sea Ray Sport Yacht and Yacht financial results will be excluded from the Company's as adjusted, non-GAAP results of continued operations to offer a clearer comparison to go-forward operations. In addition, the Company's as adjusted financial information will include the results of the Sea Ray Sport Boat and Cruiser business.

Like what you read?

Want to know when we have important news, updates or interviews?

Join our newsletter today!

You Might Also Be Interested In...

Apostle Islands Marina, Bayfield, Wisconsin

Absolute 48 Coupé: The Absolute Horizon

Luxury Tender Colors Inspired by Leading Yacht Décor

Never Give Up

This BENETEAU is Far From Typical

Three Dogs, An Express Cruiser And A Yacht Club

Send to your friends!

Already a subscriber? Please check your email for the latest full issue link.