Written By Chuck Husick

Just mention the name "Chris Craft" to a boat owner of a certain age and fanciful images of a bygone era come to mind. But that lingering image of old is also part of the challenge to the new owners of Chris Craft as they set about creating a company for the 21st century worthy of the legendary history of the name.

Intrigued by the concept of an independent Chris Craft unburdened by a corporate owner, Boat U.S. Magazine decided to visit their plant in Sarasota, FL to meet top company officials and see firsthand what was planned and what was already underway.

Chris Craft can trace its roots back to the late 1870s and for nearly 50 years following World War I, its name was nearly synonymous with motor boating, much as other outstandingly successful brand names such as Kodak, Kleenex, Thermos and Xerox were in their fields. The company earned the respect of the boating community and enjoyed great success in all its markets, extending from small runabouts to 60-foot and longer yachts. They even built a series of well-regarded sailboats.

Unfortunately, by the late 1960s Chris Craft had become part of a conglomerate, one of those ill-fated attempts by so-called "professional" managers to apply their supposed skills at running one business to all others, regardless of their knowledge or experience in the field.

Although things went fairly well for a while, Chris Craft was eventually spun off by the parent company and was operated by a succession of owners who licensed the use of the Chris Craft name but who, on occasion, failed to honor the name with the boats they produced.

By 1987, Chris Craft was in bad shape and was cited by the Boat U.S. Consumer Protection Bureau for building a number of defective models with significant hull problems. After declaring bankruptcy in late 1988, the company was sold to Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC), which in the ensuing years, underwent two major changes in management and eventual bankruptcy itself. During the past year the company and all of the other OMC boat companies were purchased by Genmar, who, in turn, sold Chris Craft to its new owners, Stephen Julius and Stephen Heese.

Given the turbulent and recent lackluster record of Chris Craft it is reasonable to ask why anyone would purchase the company, especially at a time when the recreational powerboat industry in particular and the U.S. economy are in the doldrums.

Our interest in investigating and reporting on the company was spurred by two factors: respect for the Chris Craft heritage and the reputation of the new owners. Julius and Heese have been successful in recent years in restoring the Italian boat company, Riva, to its once honored position as a producer of some of the most highly valued sport boats in the European market.

Having sold Riva to Ferretti, they were free to undertake the challenge of building a new Chris Craft. One important difference between their ownership of the company is their purchase of all rights to the name "Chris Craft." Unlike previous owners, they insisted on owning the name, refusing to build boats merely under a license to use the name. This is the first time in 30 years that the company that builds the boats also owns the name.

Before discussing our factory visit, it should be noted that I served as chainnan and president of Chris Craft during 1988 and that due to the massive mismanagement of the previous owner, I placed the company in voluntary bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in December 1988. I oversaw the sale of the company to Outboard Marine Corporation in February 1989 and remained as president until the fall of that year.

Consequently, I bring an insider's perspective to the task of reporting on what the new owners are doing and plan to do. I also tested and wrote about some of the boats Chris Craft introduced during the late summer of 2000, just prior to OMC's bankruptcy. I had been on each of the new 22- 25- and 28- foot launches in August 2000 when they were first shown to the public. I also extensively tested the 40-foot Roamer in Fort Myers, FL, in early September of that year and wrote two articles which appeared in the September 2000 issue of Southern Boating and the January 2001 issue of Yachting.

I met company President Stephen Heese at the plant in Sarasota. Heese is both a very successful businessman and an accomplished sailor, having circumnavigated Australia and participated in more than one Sydney-to-Hobart race.

Heese believes that the company must simultaneously honor the heritage of Chris Craft's century-plus in the recreational boating business while creating a new position in today's highly competitive and crowded market.

His approach appears to parallel that of the best known consumer products companies: concentrate on specific market opportunities and offer the highest overall product in each niche in which they choose to compete. Their plan is to concentrate on being Chris Craft and not just another boat company building models in every market segment.

Article Source: Boat/US Magazine - March 2002 - FindArticles.com