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Greg Meyer

Greg Meyer

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It was widely publicized yesterday and today that Genmar, Ranger's parent company, sold to Brunswick, Mercury's parent company, the Lund, Crestline and Lowe boat lines. Thus, selling all of Genmar's aluminum boat lines. This, after Genmar's recently announced plans to replace traditional gelcoat, hand laid fiberglass production with the new VEC technology...in all of their fiberglass lines. No more expensive hand laid hulls and no more gel coat cracks and crazing...



This is as revoltionary to the glass biz as the Tundra/Avalanace are to the tin biz...



Going to be lots of changes at the boat shows in the next couple of years...
 
No glass cracks no gelcoats cracks.. that half the fun of owning glass :)
 
If Genmar makes it, they will stand behind it and it will be top notch quality. They don't focus on "cheap" but rather quality. I'm sure they look at cost effeciency, but are trying more to build a better boat. With all new technologies there is a learning curve. Genmar wouldn't release the process unless it was ready. I am eager to see a bass boat in that finish.
 
The rumor is that he WILL build the Rangers with the VEC formula and process. The website announcement says that the sale proceeds are to be used to convert to VEC production.



Here's the quote:



As previously announced on February 10, 2004, Genmar successfully completed the spin-off of its VEC Technology company (VEC) into a stand-alone company with the new corporate name of VEC Technology LLC (VEC LLC). Jacobs further stated,
http://www.genmar.com/pr/news.cfm?id=272
 
Wow,...sounds cool...can't wait to see it!! I'll ask more about it when I see the factory folks at Beaver Lk. in 3 weeks! I wonder how much of a weight difference it will be anyway......Rangers are a little heavier!!
 
Forrest Wood must be having a real hard time swallowing this. He would be one person that would not want to see moving away from hand laid to 'machine made'.



Tex
 
In another angle to this sale, my dealer told me today that Tracker Marine is not happy about Brunswick buying Lund, Crestliner and Lowe boats. They figure that the three boat companies will be strapping Mercs on the back of their boats. Trackers biggest customer has become their greatest competitor. My dealer thinks Tracker will be packaging Evinrude soon. We'll see.
 
Merc was not Tracker's biggest customer... Tracker was Merc's biggest customer...



If TRacker goes with Bombardiers... GREAT... The new Rudes are awesome motors and as E-tec moves up the HP chain you will be very pleased and surprised at how good it is...
 
I have Triumph (Genmar)19 foot bay. The boat is made out of Roplene. It is by far the the most rugged boat i have ever seen. You can hit it with a hammer and it bounces off. Fender are a thing of the past, you can bounce off docks just for fun. i have a 19 footer weights 1700 without motor. i have a 115 four stroke on it. the hole shots are good and the ride is smooth and dry. Easy to clean hardly anything sticks to it. Never have to wax it, hull stay shinny with light buffing. Power steering, all the extra are top Quality the boat is first class.



Dave
 
Interesting quote below... 45 minutes versus 20 hours to build a boat... Fundamental change is right... lowers the labor cost by $400-600 per boat... and puts how many people out of a job?





The initial cash allows Genmar to pay off existing debt and have $100 million to fund expansion of its revolutionary VEC (virtual engineered composite) manufacturing technology.



"That's a major game-changing technology. We can build a boat in 45 minutes that takes 20 hours today," Jacobs said.



"There's a whole fundamental change that's taking place in our product lines today, and we have to spend the time, money, effort and resources where we need them. This gives us the opportunity to make lots of decisions right now rather than over the next several years."



(Last month Genmar spun off a company named VEC Technology to develop the process for uses other than boats. That new company, with an estimated value of $350 million, is taking on strategic partners such as Interplastic Corp. of St. Paul.)

 
Be careful what we ask for!!! Everybody wants boats that don't crack...look better,..cost less,....go faster,....less maintenance,..yada...yada.....now we're on the verge of seeing the first real "changes" in boat design and construction to meet those demands and everybody's tail feathers are getting ruffled. Change brings changes,..some are good for the consumer...some not so good for the suppliers!! I really doubt this is going to be a huge change all at once...Ranger will introduce it on one or two models (my guess anyway) as a test,..and see what happens with it. Irwin's not an idiot,...and neither are the folks at Ranger or any of his other companies...if it works, then they'll dominate the industry with it via "patent protection"...if it doesn't work....then the consumers will let them know via poor sales. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I sure am glad Henry Ford didn't listen to his skeptics,...I'd rather wipe up an oil spot over a pile of road apples any day!!



Carry on!!
 
Right on. I'll run one! There are always the naysayers. Funny though, once a new idea takes off, all those naysayers are right there claiming, "I always new it would be big." or "I always knew they could do it!" LOL

There was a first 4 stroke too and everyone baulked at that.....

There was the first magnet assisted baitcaster....

There was the first fish Lo K tor and they laughed at that.... now these things are common place. People wouldn't own a boat without them.

In 10 years, VEC will be the norm and those that embraced it will be ahead of the pack. Just my .02
 
VEC is not new technology. It has been tried before with somewhat dismal results. (Although many success start from failure!) Brunswick is going through a MAJOR reorganizational process. Just sit tight. The badge shuffling is not over yet!



P.S. Ask your Ranger dealer how the top caps have been made since shortly after Irwin's influence. It's almost amusing how some of the "other" big guys try to bash our "cheaply made, mass produced hulls." (LOL!) Only time will tell!
 
It's no secret that Ranger uses a chopper gun for some of the glass work...NOT in the hulls though,...those badboys are still hand laid and that's the MOST important part of a boat second only to the transom,..and their patented pultruded" system for transoms is really cool to see,..talk about bullet proof,...holy cow they're strong!! (That was one of Randy Hopper's ideas too,..that guy KNOWS boats!!)

I don't know much about the VEC Technology yet, but I'll find out in a hurry!! In the mean time,..we'll just continue to rip on the tin owners!!! BWWAAHHHAAAAAAAA
 
There you go Mac it will always be fun to rip on tin. LOL



I read an article in Bass and Walleye about the vec process a year or two ago. It looks pretty neat to me, hopefully it does well. The only thing i hope for is they dont do like omc did with the ficht motors and let the customer be the test bed.
 
VEC has been around for a while (along w/ Roplene). I remember seeing prototype boats in the early 90's @ the IMTEC Show in Chicago.



I do not think it will catch on in the bass boat market due to the color limitations. Unless they have enhanced the color options.....



Mini
 
I'll be going down there the end of April....will tour the plant and see the whole process...



no panties.......commando is the way of the warrior!!!



carry on!!
 
My take: I hope VEC works. Building (quality) boats faster and cheaper is good for everyone.



However, I would not be in a rush to own one. Sometimes, new technologies provides unanticipated results that only reveal themselves in the field after prolonged use. When fiberglass took the boat industry by storm in the 1960s, there were notable failures due to manufacturers not knowing how to apply the new materials properly, or trying variations that were never tried before, with the buyer as the (involuntary) product tester.
 
I was wondering when the 'cheaper' wording would be used.



What gives anyone an idea that just because they are saving some money, Irwin will actually pass that on to the consumer. I would not expect that the prices will be less.



Tex
 
I realy like the look of those Triumph Ropolene boats! lighter then glass, heavier then tin, wear well and long lasting! Might have to look at them if they hold up in a few years.
 
If one thing in live is certain ,Nothing gets cheaper!



It is possible however for it to get better.Being from the Twin cities I have met a number of succesful business people who have either met or done business with Irwin Jacob,and they all agree on one thing,He is one of the best salesmen the have ever met bar none! This from people that I have great respect for in the business world.



Mr.Jacob WILL build a better Ranger and make more money doing it without pricing himself out of the market.

Change is not always easy to except but is sometimes necessary to survival in todays economic enviroment.



I do not believe he would be making some of the huge dicesions that he's been making lately unless he was absolutly sure of success.



Any time the bar is raised it is benificial to all.It forces the hand of the competition to participate to keep pace with the changes .



"If you can't run with the Big Dogs stay under the porch!"



Future Ranger owner,

Mark Gross
 
And I just thought that Irwin wanted to own/run the entire fishing industry (at least from a 'boating' perpective). Silly me. . . .



No doubt, he is a very successful businessman. I'm not sure however, that I will ever believe that he can build a better boat than Mr. Wood.



Would I love to own another Ranger (had a really old one that was still very seaworthy, stable) - you bet.



Tex
 
When Forrest sold Ranger to Genmar,..he made it part of the "contract language" that NONE of his employees would be let go or any "major" changes (ala cheapening in quality or construction) would be made to the "Comanche" line. Forrest built a GREAT product and Irwin knew it,....still to this day, there's been very minimal "changes" put forth that are coming from Genmar people......Ranger's management and their employees are top notch folks and they know how to GITER DONE!!...There's been widespread changes made in the processes of some other Genmar owned companies..but for the most part, Ranger's been left alone, and for good reason. Irwin knows a good thing when he sees it,..and that speaks volumns for Ranger's way of doing things...if he disagreed from the start that they weren't the best,..he would've never agreed to that contract language. Forrest was far more interested in protecting what he built from the ground up,..and protecting the people that helped him get there,..than he was the money. That's a man with integrity and a conscience!! Seems to be a rare breed nowadays!
 
I look forward to one day being able to and shake Forrest L. Wood 's hand .I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him and what he has been able to accomplish in his life time.I would then also have to trust his judgement and decision in selling Ranger to Jen-Mar.The legend will live on.

Competition is what drives the market place and brings about the changes that are vital to the survival as well as the growth of are industry i.e.boating/fishing.And it will keep doing both rather we like it or not.

As for me gentlemen I'm go'in to ride the wave!!LOL
 
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