Brunswick's Boston Whaler Ownership

Yes, Brunswick Corporation owns Boston Whaler. Brunswick purchased Boston Whaler from Meridian in 1996 for $27.4 million in cash and debt. Boston Whaler is an American boat manufacturer known for its unsinkable boats. Brunswick Commercial & Government Products (BCGP), a division of the Brunswick Boat Group, has provided vessels for search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental resource management, and various commercial platforms for over 20 years.

Boston Whaler's history and acquisition by Brunswick

Boston Whaler was founded by Richard T. "Dick" Fisher in 1958 as an independent company. Fisher, a Harvard graduate, had always been interested in building small boats out of balsa wood. In 1954, he constructed a small sailing dinghy filled with polyurethane foam, with a design similar to the Sunfish. Fisher showed the finished product to his friend, naval architect C. Raymond Hunt, who recognised the potential of the process. Hunt created a design based on the Hickman Sea Sled, featuring a cathedral hull. The prototype was modified with the addition of a deeper central part of the hull. In 1956, this design became the original Boston Whaler 13, a very stable boat with a large carrying capacity.

In 1958, boats produced by the Fisher-Pierce manufacturing company were marketed for the first time under the Boston Whaler brand. The boat was met with critical acclaim for its exceptional stability and carrying capacity. It was also very lightweight compared to other boats at the time, meaning it could be propelled by lower horsepower engines. The classic 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) Whaler and the 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) Montauk were the most popular models in terms of sales until the late 1980s.

In 1969, Fisher sold the Boston Whaler boat operation of Fisher-Pierce to the CML Group. In 1989, amidst financial problems, the CML Group sold Boston Whaler to the Reebok Corporation. Despite several advertising campaigns and projects for new hulls, Reebok sold the company to Meridian Sports in 1994.

In 1996, Brunswick Corporation purchased Boston Whaler for $27.4 million in cash and debt. Together with Sea Ray, Brunswick founded the Brunswick Boat Group, today the largest manufacturer of pleasure boats in the world. Boston Whalers are now manufactured in Edgewater, Florida.

Brunswick also owns Mercury Marine, so new Boston Whalers, like other Brunswick boats, are equipped with Mercury engines.

The Unsinkable Legend

Boston Whaler is an American boat manufacturer and subsidiary of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. The "Unsinkable Legend" is a trademarked sales line of Boston Whaler boats, referring to their durability and performance.

The unsinkable nature of Boston Whaler boats is due to their foam-core construction, which gives the boats up to 2.5 times the flotation required by the US Coast Guard. This construction method means that even if a boat is sawn in half, it will remain afloat. This was demonstrated by founder Richard "Dick" Fisher in 1961, when he was photographed sitting in a floating 13-foot Whaler with a crosscut saw halfway through the hull.

The first Boston Whaler boat was built in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1958, and gained critical acclaim after its launch at the New York Boat Show. In 1961, LIFE Magazine featured photos of Fisher in the boat as it was being sawn in half, catapulting the brand into the limelight. The boat was praised for its stability and carrying capacity, and its lightweight construction meant it could be propelled by lower horsepower engines.

In 1996, Brunswick Corporation purchased Boston Whaler for $27.4 million in cash and debt. As a result of this acquisition, new Boston Whalers are shipped from the factory already equipped with Mercury engines, as Brunswick also owns Mercury Marine.

The "Unsinkable Legend" has been further reinforced by torture tests, including one in which a 19' Guardian model was shot with 7.62mm rounds from an M60 machine gun and remained afloat despite being riddled with holes. Boston Whaler's unsinkable hull, combined with its brilliant design and advanced technology, has delivered superior operational characteristics and in-service longevity for over 60 years.

Brunswick's anticompetitive behaviour and legal issues

Brunswick Corporation, the parent company of Boston Whaler, has been involved in anticompetitive behaviour and legal issues. In 1995, twenty-four boat builders and a buying cooperative alleged that Brunswick had engaged in illegal activity in violation of antitrust law. The plaintiffs, referred to as the "boat builders", alleged that Brunswick's market share in stern drive sales was achieved through illegal tactics and that its ownership of several boat companies was anti-competitive. They sought damages in the tens of millions, which, if found guilty, would have been trebled by law and could have cost Brunswick over $150 million. Brunswick filed a counter-suit, claiming that the litigants themselves were guilty of antitrust violations by forming a buying cooperative and boycotting MerCruiser engines.

The case focused on the market for stern drive propulsion, in which Brunswick's MerCruiser line had a dominant market share of up to 78%. The evidence showed that Brunswick offered market share discounts to customers who used MerCruiser stern drives on a certain minimum percentage of the boats they built or sold. These incentives were offered from 1985 to 1997 and were structured in a way that benefited customers who sourced a higher percentage of their engines from MerCruiser. During this period, Brunswick also acquired two of the largest American boat makers, U.S. Marine (Bayliner) and Ray Industries (Sea Ray), to become vertically integrated.

The plaintiffs' case was built on the testimony of an expert witness, Dr. Robert Hall, who argued that Brunswick had monopoly power in the stern drive market and used its market share discounts to impose a "tax" on builders and buyers who chose other manufacturers. He stated that this discount program, combined with the ownership of captive builders Bayliner and Sea-Ray, enabled Brunswick to gain 78% of the stern drive engine market, preventing other manufacturers from entering.

Brunswick presented two expert witnesses to refute Dr. Hall's testimony. Dr. Frederick Warren-Boulton, former chief economist for the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, testified that the market share discounts served the market's goal of efficiency and encouraged competition in the boat-building industry. Dr. Richard Rapp, an economist and president of the Nation Economic Research Associates, stated that there was no rational basis for Dr. Hall's model and that his analysis reduced to a single independent variable of market share.

After a lengthy trial, the jury found Brunswick guilty of illegal monopoly and restraint of trade, awarding the boat builders $44 million in damages. Brunswick was also found guilty per se of a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act for the boat builders' boycott of MerCruiser engines, but the damages were only $1 as there was a failure of proof. The boat builders' request to force Brunswick to divest itself of Bayliner and Sea-Ray was denied by the court. The final judgement against Brunswick, including trebled damages, attorney fees, and costs, totaled $142,165,931.12.

Brunswick appealed the decision, stating that they believed "the decision and the damage award are in error" and that they would "vigorously pursue all available avenues of appeal." Despite this, Brunswick's shares slid, driven downward by news of lower-than-anticipated earnings and the unfavorable trial outcome.

In addition to this case, Brunswick has also been involved in other legal disputes. One notable example is Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, Inc., a 1977 case in which Brunswick was accused of violating various provisions of the antitrust laws through its acquisitions of competing bowling centers. The respondents sought treble damages and equitable relief, including a divestiture order and an injunction against future acquisitions. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the respondents, awarding damages of $2,358,030, which was trebled by the District Court. However, the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings due to instructional errors to the jury. The case ultimately resulted in a new trial being granted to Brunswick, and the respondents remained free to seek equitable relief on remand.

Boston Whaler's manufacturing and design

Boston Whaler is an American boat manufacturer and subsidiary of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. The company was founded in 1958 by Richard "Dick" Fisher, a Harvard graduate who ran a company building small, lightweight boats out of balsa wood.

The first Boston Whaler boat was built in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1958, and gained critical acclaim after its launch at the New York Boat Show. The 13' Whaler was sold under the brand name Boston Whaler and built by the Fisher-Pierce manufacturing company. The boat was met with critical acclaim for its exceptional stability and carrying capacity.

The original Boston Whaler featured a foam-injected hull process, which ensured the durability of the boats through a series of shear braces laid into the hull's outer shell that worked in tandem with a precise ratio of foams. This Unibond construction gives the boat its unsinkability – up to 2.5 times the flotation required by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Over the years, Boston Whaler has continued to innovate and expand its product line, adding new models and features. In 1970, the 21-Outrage was introduced, followed by the 19-Outrage in 1972 and the 21-Revenge in 1973. The company has also expanded its manufacturing facilities, including a 33,000-square-foot facility in Norwell, Massachusetts, and a 225,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Flagler County, Florida.

Today, Boston Whaler offers a range of recreational and commercial boats, including the Unsinkable Legend™ series, which features unsinkable hulls and advanced technology. The company's current production models range in length from 11.3 to 42.5 feet and are distributed worldwide.

Brunswick's other brands

Brunswick Corporation is a global leader in marine recreation, with a broad portfolio of products, technologies and services. The company has a culture of openness and collaboration, and its ability to drive synergies across the boating ecosystem makes it a partner of choice for many.

Brunswick Boat Group is a division of the Brunswick Corporation, and its brands include Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Sea Ray, Maxum, Baja, and Robalo. The Brunswick Corporation also owns Mercury Marine, so new Boston Whalers are shipped with Mercury engines.

Brunswick Commercial & Government Products (BCGP) is a division of the Brunswick Boat Group that has provided vessels for search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental resource management, and various commercial platforms for over 20 years.

Brunswick is committed to transforming experiences on the water and beyond through sustained investment in consumer-focused technology and bold innovation. The company's ACES Innovation Strategy focuses on Autonomy/Assistance, Connectivity, Electrification, and Shared Access to elevate and simplify boating across proficiency levels.

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