Brunswick selling Sea Ray

[Descant]

Just announced that Brunswick Corp is selling the Sea Ray Division. God article on this, Sea Ray history and the boat markets in general over the last several decades. Brunswick bought Sea Ray and Bayliner in the late 80's.
http://www.boattest.com/view-news/56...mpany-for-sale

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by Descant

Just announced that Brunswick Corp is selling the ea Ray Division. God article on this, Sea Ray history and the boat markets in general over the last several decades. Brunswick bought Sea Ray and Bayliner in the late 80's.
http://www.boattest.com/view-news/56...mpany-for-sale

Interesting. Hope it doesn't change the quality of the product, dealership relations or parts availability

[fatlazyless]

SeaRay has become a very expensive boat. In 2017, the smallest new SeaRay is something like an 18'er and costs about $28,000 which is a heck of a lot of money for an 18' fiberglass boat with an outboard motor.

While almost all SeaRay's have MerCruiser inboard-outboards, their least expensive 18'er comes with an outboard. So, what's better, an outboard or an inboard-outboard? Seems like every boat in Alaska uses an outboard, and none use an inboard-outboard.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by Descant

Just announced that Brunswick Corp is selling the ea Ray Division. God article on this, Sea Ray history and the boat markets in general over the last several decades. Brunswick bought Sea Ray and Bayliner in the late 80's.
http://www.boattest.com/view-news/56...mpany-for-sale

I found it interesting that Bayliner was a pricier acquisition than Sea Ray.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by codeman671

I found it interesting that Bayliner was a pricier acquisition than Sea Ray.

Back in the 1980's we used to kid that you received a frre Bayliner with every condo purchase

[elbie]

I had a 1990 Searay 22' CC. It was the best built boat I ever owned. Had it for 13 years on Long Island Sound.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by elbie

I had a 1990 Searay 22' CC. It was the best built boat I ever owned. Had it for 13 years on Long Island Sound.

I’m on my second Sea Ray and love it. I’ve owned others but these have been the best.


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[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by joey2665

Back in the 1980's we used to kid that you received a frre Bayliner with every condo purchase

When Brunswick bought Bayliner they cheapened the brand, which caused lots of problems and issues. leading the bad reputation.

Bayliner had a loyal following prior to being acquired by Brunswick, which allowed Brunswick to sell them fairly easily especially in the west. Unfortunately the quality problems Brunswick introduced quickly caught up to them.

As a Redmond Wa. company the original Bayliner boats where built well and lasted. My Father bought a 1975 Bayliner quartermaster which we had for 30+ years, and the biggest problem was that a cat decided to ruin the upholstery which we had to replace eventually. When the boat was given to charity, it was still in great condition, and the same era Tower of Power from Mercury Marine was still running strong as well..(in 1975 Brunswick hadn't bought Mercury Marine yet either)

Sea Ray like Bayliner suffered when bought by Brunswick Marine although not as significantly. Unfortuantely as time has marched on Sea Ray and Bayliners have been massed produced and flooded in the market, They both are pretty plain, and pretty introductory level boats.... hopefully Brunswick will be able to sell Sea Ray, so that the brand will continue to live on.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

When Brunswick bought Bayliner they cheapened the brand, which caused lots of problems and issues. leading the bad reputation.

Bayliner had a loyal following prior to being acquired by Brunswick, which allowed Brunswick to sell them fairly easily especially in the west. Unfortunately the quality problems Brunswick introduced quickly caught up to them.

As a Redmond Wa. company the original Bayliner boats where built well and lasted. My Father bought a 1975 Bayliner quartermaster which we had for 30+ years, and the biggest problem was that a cat decided to ruin the upholstery which we had to replace eventually. When the boat was given to charity, it was still in great condition, and the same era Tower of Power from Mercury Marine was still running strong as well..(in 1975 Brunswick hadn't bought Mercury Marine yet either)

Sea Ray like Bayliner suffered when bought by Brunswick Marine although not as significantly. Unfortuantely as time has marched on Sea Ray and Bayliners have been massed produced and flooded in the market, They both are pretty plain, and pretty introductory level boats.... hopefully Brunswick will be able to sell Sea Ray, so that the brand will continue to live on.

Completely agree with your Bayliner assessment but not Sea Ray. In my opinion Sea Ray's are not plain, introductory level boats but are amongst the best in their class. As stated I have owned many boats over my life and the quality of my 2 Sea Ray's have been outstanding

[8gv]

So who is buying Sea Ray?

Are they catching a falling knife?

Are they sufficiently capitalized to weather the current market conditions?

It seems to me that when a company is acquired by a larger entity there are three possible paths:

1) Provide capital and inovations to grow the brand.

2) Cut every corner to make a profit and ruin the brand.

3) Operate the brand in a hands off manner with current leadership in place.

[fatlazyless]

In 2010, Volvo Cars was sold by Ford to a Chinese company, Geely Holdings. So, maybe Geely or some other Chinese group will view Sea Ray to be a boat brand somewhat similar to Volvo Cars, and want to buy Sea Ray for its long history, quality name, dealer network, and all the happy Sea Ray owners out there. Geely thinking it can make some changes, similar to selling Volvo cars, would try to make Sea Ray a better seller than what it is today.

Sea Ray has become a very expensive new boat starting with the 18'er outboard model that sells for about $28,000, outboard motor and trailer included.

For $319, a reduced winter price, at Walmart.com, you can buy a high quality Aqua Marina Fusion 10'10" inflatable stand up paddle board (paddle not included) that will support someone weighing up to 220-lbs, and have more fun with that than with an 18', $28,000 Sea Ray, plus you get a lot more physical paddle exercise.

So, lose the fat, and go paddle a sup!

41-degrees; today's surface water temperature, Lake Winnipesaukee, Dec 8, 2017; just think, if you ordered it today, you would still have about 30-days of open water to be paddling your new sup, before the lake freezes on January 10, 2018. That cold water sure would be a good incentive to NOT fall off your new sup.

For die hard islanders who want to get out to their island after the lake has partially or totally froze, carrying and paddling a 20-lb inflatable sup could maybe get you out to your island. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eZMhN4Q4_U Just try doing this with a Sea Ray?

This inflatable 10'10" Aqua Marina Fusion sup weighs about 20-lbs, is very well made, very strong, very rigid, user friendly, and relatively easy to store at end of season by deflating the air and rolling it up.

[rsmlp]

Too many boat manufacturers. Need for consolidation. Typical.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

When Brunswick bought Bayliner they cheapened the brand, which caused lots of problems and issues. leading the bad reputation.

Bayliner had a loyal following prior to being acquired by Brunswick, which allowed Brunswick to sell them fairly easily especially in the west. Unfortunately the quality problems Brunswick introduced quickly caught up to them.

As a Redmond Wa. company the original Bayliner boats where built well and lasted. My Father bought a 1975 Bayliner quartermaster which we had for 30+ years, and the biggest problem was that a cat decided to ruin the upholstery which we had to replace eventually. When the boat was given to charity, it was still in great condition, and the same era Tower of Power from Mercury Marine was still running strong as well..(in 1975 Brunswick hadn't bought Mercury Marine yet either)

Sea Ray like Bayliner suffered when bought by Brunswick Marine although not as significantly. Unfortuantely as time has marched on Sea Ray and Bayliners have been massed produced and flooded in the market, They both are pretty plain, and pretty introductory level boats.... hopefully Brunswick will be able to sell Sea Ray, so that the brand will continue to live on.

The crappy Bayliners come from the late 80’s and very early nineties. During that time frame a lot of crappy plywood was used in the build, cheap paint which faded quickly and cushions which would rot out in a year or two of use. The Bayliners being built now are of very good quality and far supersede in quality anything built in that previous time frame. No they are not Whalers nor are they priced as such, they are good introductory level boats which are safe, have a decent build, give a decent ride and allow people to get on the water without that huge payment....someone I know called Bayliner the Chevy on the water and I think that is the perfect assessment.

Dan

[garysanfran]

Did Brunswick buy Slickcraft many moons ago and destroy that brand?

[TiltonBB]

I disagree that Bayliner was ever a quality boat. From my perspective the styling left a lot to be desired too. For many years starting in the 80's there was always a Bayliner $9,995 special at the Boston Boat Show. For that you got a boat of about 17 feet in length, an outboard motor, and a trailer. While it enabled a lot of families to get into boating for short money it also turned a lot of people off on boating. It wouldn't take long for a young family on their first few adventures on Winnipesaukee to get bounced around and scared and decide boating was not for them.

Although I have only owned two of them, Searays have always seemed like a quality well designed boat.

Since most manufacturers of I/O boats primarily offer the engines, controls, and drives from just two manufacturers, and the steering system is made by a subcontractor, the buying decision seems to come down to the fiberglass and upholstery and what size and layout will work for you and your family.

[Woody38]

Bayliner always appeared to me to have too much above the water line. Like a huge balloon blowing in the wind. Never gave much thought when buying my first boat, a Crosby Fish and Ski on Lake Erie. A fun boat. Then I went for quality I said as the next boat was a Boston Whaler followed by an Egg Harbor Sportfisher. Now back to an runabout which is tremendous fun.

[Old Sarge]

I thought Sea Ray must have been making money hand over fist! I love the new SLX 250. What a boat! But you have to be ready lay down $125 large! Every Spring I get "Boat Fever" and start calculating how I can swing it. Then I get out on my boat a few times, have some fun (we only boat during the week and usually during nice weather!) and I get over it. My boat does, in ideal conditions (no heavy chop), everything that other one does, so I am content---until next spring!

Great article, thanks for sharing it!

[fltsimguy]

To me that seems to be exactly the problem, boats are just too expensive now for the utility they offer. We bought a 1998 Sea Ray 280SS new in the late 90's. A 280SLX today costs more than double what we paid for that boat 20 years ago. I understand inflation, and the new boat has a lot of new tech, but it's not that much nicer and it's so hard to justify that price. So we bought a 2008 300SLX instead last summer, for a fraction of the cost of a new boat, and looks brand new to us.

[Descant]

Looks like investors think selling SeaRay is a good deal for Brunswick. The stock (BC) is up 17% over the last three months. The Dow is up a little over 3%. I wonder what will happen when an actual buy/sell is announced?

[noreast]

Originally Posted by fltsimguy

To me that seems to be exactly the problem, boats are just too expensive now for the utility they offer. We bought a 1998 Sea Ray 280SS new in the late 90's. A 280SLX today costs more than double what we paid for that boat 20 years ago. I understand inflation, and the new boat has a lot of new tech, but it's not that much nicer and it's so hard to justify that price. So we bought a 2008 300SLX instead last summer, for a fraction of the cost of a new boat, and looks brand new to us.

I agree 100%. Some small boats will go up a few grand per next size up, Then when you get past 100k the next jump is another 100k. I remember looking at the boat show last year with some friends trying to figure out any other upgrade other than 2 extra feet of boat to justify a doubling of the price. I know there's more to it, but not to that extent.

[ACME on the Broads]

Originally Posted by joey2665

I’m on my second Sea Ray and love it. I’ve owned others but these have been the best.


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Try a Formula!

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by ACME on the Broads

Try a Formula!

I did. When I purchased my 310slx last year. Did not like the ride and how it came out of the whole plus is was 20k more


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[Old Sarge]

By Aaron London
Posted Feb 1, 2018 at 1:52 PM
Updated Feb 1, 2018 at 1:52 PM

Company officials say Sea Ray sale drawing ‘significant interest’
PALM COAST — The decision by Brunswick Corp. executives to sell off the Sea Ray Boats division in December came as the luxury boat builder was on track to post a $5.9-million loss in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to financial results released by the company Thursday.
For all of 2017, Sea Ray Boats posted adjusted operating losses of $17.2 million, the earnings report states.
During a Thursday morning conference call with analysts after the release of fourth quarter and full year earnings, Brunswick Corp. officials said they are pleased with how the sale of Sea Ray Boats is unfolding.
“The sales process is underway,” chairman and CEO Mark Schwabero said during the call. “There has been significant interest in the business and our goal remains to complete the divestiture in the first half of the year. We are encouraged by all the interest we’re seeing on the Sea Ray side.”

[Descant]

Thanks. I must have missed that., Nevertheless, BC has performed well in the lat 90 days.