Boat Building Industry News Page
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Recreational Boat Building Industry
Industry News Page |
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We will post breaking industry news or links to it here. We intend to cover major corporate developments, legal developments, regulatory changes, and big industry events. We will not be covering normal new product releases, personnel changes, and other items that are better covered by the industry trade magazines. If you hear anything you'd like to have posted please e-mail us at
polsong@virtualpet.com or give us a call at (800) 443-6543.
Also, this seems like a good place for us to Editorialize a bit and try to put our own spin and ideas out there for some exposure. We are doing that on the accompanying Editorial Page.
Links to archives of this news page are at the bottom of the page.
INDUSTRY NEWS
For events on or after 17 August 1998 please see our Latest Updates Page. It provides similar information and prevents duplication of effort.
8 Dec 1998
Bentz's Pursuit of the Ideal Boat Irks Ex-Employer; His Triton Is a Fluke Wall Street Journal. 8 Dec. 1999.
2 July 1998
John Russell Named President of US Marine. Details are on our Brunswick page.
Mercury Marine inks 6 year deal with Orbital Engines. Details are on our Brunswick page
21 June 1998
Brunswick loses $133 million monopoly lawsuit to Independent Boat Builders on Friday June 19.
4 June 1998
MarineMax NYSE listing is back on.
3 June 1998
MarineMax New York Stock exchange listing on hold.
2 June 1998
MarineMax (group of SeaRay Dealers) to offer stock on New York Stock exchange.
29 May 1998
Bowen Bill is defeated in California.
11May 1998
California is considering the ban of certain two-stroke outboards from use on
lakes and reservoirs used to supply drinking water (MTBE problem) and the ban
of the sale of two stroke outboards in the state.
1 May 1998
Independents vs. Brunswick trial went to jury April 13th. We have posted the current trial docket.
10 March 1998
On 5 March 1998 Jeff Napier resigned as NMMA president. We have the press release and some comments.
6 Feb. 1998
Brunswick continues to diversify with the acquisition of Parabody Fitness Equipment Feb. 2nd. Details are on our Brunswick Page.
15 January 1998
Bayou Boating Accident kills 6 yesterday when 28 foot hunting boat strikes 110 foot crew boat in Louisiana.
OMC added a new 3 year $150 million line of revolving credit.
The Supreme Court ruled "Ex- Employees Can Testify" Does this mean David Jones may testify in litigation against Brunswick?
8 Jan 1998
Toyota announced in December that Maritec (Gambler Bass Boats) would be building its new ski boat. Details are our Toyota Page.
10 December 1997
Toyota begins selling its new Prius car (hybrid propulsion system) in Japan today.
8 December 1997
Brunswick announced an FTC Probe into possible antitrust violations of Brunswick (MerCruiser) stern drive sale practices.
26 November 1997
November 21 NBC Dateline aired a story about the 6 April 1997 boat accident in Ft. Lauderdale Florida. NOTE! this accident occurred about 7 months ago and is not the Ft. Lauderdale accident that occurred a few days ago (24 Nov accident). We have full coverage of the earlier (6 April) accident, plus just added the recboats newsgroup discussion of the NBC Dateline broadcast.
25 November 1997
Late last night a major recreational boating accident occurred in the Intracoastal Waterway at Ft. Lauderdale FL. A speed boat ran over a cabin cruiser killing all 6 on board the cruiser. We have details of the accident in our Accident Folder.
Genmar announced that Genmar Holdings moved up 31 places on the Forbes Magazine list of the 500 largest private companies in the US. The December 1 issue of Forbes ranks Genmar at number 340 (up from 371 last year). The company's 1996 revenues were $618 million.
22 November 1997
Egg Harbor Yachts folds.
19 November 1997
Genmar issued a press release on their resignation from the NMMA due to NMMA support of PWCs.
11 Oct 1997
We posted extensive coverage of the many events of IMTEC97
30 Sept 1997
David Jones Named President and CEO of OMC at IMTEC 25 September 1997
15 Sept. 1997
Greenway Wins Bidding War for OMC. After several months of industry confusion, Greenway wins the bid for OMC.
5 Sept. 1997
Brunswick Pulls Plug on Mercury Marine PWC Project
19 August 1997
Brunswick named George W. Buckley president of Mercury Marine effective immediately. He is from Emerson Electric. We have full details on our Brunswick Taps New Mercury Marine President page.
Greenway Group Makes Counter Offer for OMC
12 August 1997
Greenway Group has made a counter offer to Detroit Diesel's offer for OMC. We have a Greenway Page covering this development.
Yamaha-Motor Announces North American Web Site
1 August 1997
Yamaha-Motor has created a major North American (english) web site with extensive coverage of their marine products. The outboards, stern drives, jet boats and PWC's are shown. The site has a lot of nice frills such and tips on fishing and boating safety. It even tells you how to cook fish.
Yamaha-Motor North America www.yamaha-motor.com
Additionally, they have opened a similar site for Europe
Yamaha-Motor Europe www.yamaha-motor-europe.com
Both these sites are in addition to their long established Japanese site.
Yamaha-Motor Japan www.yamaha-motor.co.jp
Coast Guard Seeks Input on Boating Regs
28 July 1997
The Coast Guard has posted a request looking for input for consideration during a review of the recreational boating regs later this year. We have a copy of the request on our Regulations Desk.
Detroit Diesel Makes Offer for OMC
9 July 1997
Detroit Diesel offered about $323 million in cash and stock ($500 million offer less $180 Million in debt assumed) for OMC. We have established a Detroit Diesel / OMC Page to follow this very significant event in the industry.
Archived News August 1996 through June 1997
