Sea Ray
{{Short description|American motorboat manufacturer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Sea Ray Boats
| logo = Sea Ray logo.svg
| caption =
| type =
| traded_as =
| foundation = Detroit, Michigan (1959)
| defunct =
| founder = C.N. Ray{{cite web|title=Sea Ray Founder Dies at 84|url=http://www.boattest.com/Resources/view_news.aspx?NewsID=3891|website=Boat Test|accessdate=7 July 2015}}
| location_city = Knoxville, Tennessee
| location_country = U.S.
| locations =
| area_served =
| key_people =
| industry = Boat building
| products = Motorboats
| production =
| services =
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| assets =
| equity =
| num_employees = 1500{{cite web|title=Sea Ray to be sold in near future|url=https://floatmagazin.de/boote/sea-ray-steht-kurz-vorm-verkauf/|website=Flagler Live|accessdate=22 October 2018}}
| parent = Brunswick Boat Group
| subsid =
| homepage = {{URL|www.searay.com}}
}}
File:2005 Sea Ray 220 Sundeck.jpg]]
Sea Ray Boats is an American manufacturer that produces recreational motorboats. It currently operates as part of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of Brunswick Corporation.
History
Sea Ray was founded in 1959 by Cornelius Ray as an independent company, Ray Industries, in Detroit, Michigan, with fiberglass boats being made at a factory in Oxford, Michigan. That company was bought in 1986 by Brunswick Corporation for $350 million. At the same time, Brunswick purchased the Bayliner brand, making Brunswick the largest pleasure boat producer in the world.{{cite news|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|agency=Reuters|title=Brunswick to Acquire Ray|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE4DA1F3DF93AA15752C1A960948260&n=Top/News/Business/Companies/Brunswick%20Corporationdate=1986-11-29| date=1986-11-29 | accessdate=2010-05-23}}
Sea Ray opened a plant in 1972 at Merritt Island, Florida. 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 sport yachts weekly, each retailing from $200,000 to $500,000. It largely phased out operations during the Great Recession.{{Cite news | first=Wayne T. | last=Price | title=Sea Ray Boats to resume operations | url=http://www.floridatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/02/09/sea-ray-boats-begins-operations-merritt-island/23124379/| newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida| pages= 1A | date=February 10, 2015 | accessdate=February 11, 2015}}
In 2017, Brunswick Corporation announced that they intended to divest the Sea Ray line. In July 2018, however, Brunswick announced they had reconsidered their decision and have since retracted any intent to sell and that the Sea Ray would their efforts on building the best sport boats and cruisers up to 40 feet. In doing so, Sea Ray will discontinue production of sport yacht and yacht models. {{cite web |url=https://www.marinemax.com/connect/lifestyles/sea-ray/sport-yacht-and-yacht-production-discontinued |title = Sport Yacht and Yacht Production Discontinued FAQs}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/manufacturers/decision-to-discontinue-sea-ray-yachts-was-a-difficult-one|title = Decision to discontinue Sea Ray yachts was "a difficult one"}}
Today
File:Sea Ray, Interboot 2020, Friedrichshafen (IB200251).jpg
Sea Ray designs, manufactures and markets boats ranging from {{convert|17|ft|adj=on}} power boats to over {{convert|65|ft|adj=on}} motor yachts, including the Sundancer brand and, starting in 2014, the "L" Series luxury yachts. Sea Ray is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it operates two factories in Tennessee and two in Florida.{{cite web|title=Sea Ray lays off 5 percent of work force|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/oct/04/sea-ray-lays-5-percent-work-force/|author=Silence, Michael |work=Knoxville News Sentinel}} Sea Ray designs and markets more than 40 models ranging in boats from {{convert|18|to|65|ft}}.
Sea Ray was the first boat manufacturer to use fiberglass in its pleasure boat construction, and it also pioneered the molded-in swim platform when it launched Ski Ray dedicated water skiing tow boats in 1991.{{cite web |title=Innovation Is What Leads Buyers to Sea Ray Boats |url=https://www.popsells.com/boat-article/innovation-is-what-leads-buyers-to-sea-ray-boats-96 |accessdate=2014-05-15 |website=PopSells}} In 1995, it acquired a new subsidiary, Baja. Brunswick subsequently sold the Baja brand to another entity.
= Other Brunswick boats built at Sea Ray plants =
Notes
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book | title=Commanding the Waterways: The Story of Sea Ray | publisher=Write Stuff Enterprise | author=Rodengen, Jeffrey L., edited by Stanimira Stefanova | year=2008 | location=Fort Lauderdale, FL | isbn=978-1-932022-33-9}}
{{Brunswick}}
Category:1959 establishments in Michigan
Category:American boat builders