MasterCraft
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| File:MasterCraft Brand Shield.jpg
MasterCraft Boat Company brand shield logo
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| Private | |
| Industry | Vessels, vessel parts, and supplies |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Headquarters | Vonore, Tennessee, US |
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Key people
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Terry McNew - President & CEO, Tim Oxley - CFO, David Kirkland - CIO, Shane Chittum - COO, Jay Povlin - VP of Sales & Marketing, Jason Boertje - Director of Marketing, Phil Walker eBusiness Director |
| Products | XSeries, ProStar and NXT boat brands |
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Number of employees
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500 (2014) |
| Website | mastercraft |
MasterCraft is a United States-based manufacturer of luxury high-performance boats that was founded in 1968 and is currently headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee.[1] MasterCraft boats are the most popular and recognized brand for use in waterskiing, wakeboarding and wakesurfing, though the company has also produced several boats that are not focused on water sports.
History
MasterCraft was founded when the owners decided to start making their own boats. The owners took a Ski Nautique manufactured by Correct Craft, hung it from a tree, and cut off the back of the hull in order to modify it to their preferences. The company's first ski boat was built in 1968 in a two-horse barn on a farm in Maryville, Tennessee.
During its first year of operation, MasterCraft only built 12 boats using the modified hull design. MasterCraft eventually became recognized as a force in the tournament ski boat industry. The operating facility was moved to Vonore, Tennessee and now employs 591 "MasterCraftsmen." As of 2006, MasterCraft produced over 3,000 boats per year, sold in 25 different countries by over 100 domestic and international dealers, making it by far the largest producer of inboard ski, wakeboard, and luxury performance powerboats in the world.
Some of its most popular boats today are the Prostar series of direct drive ski boats, and the X-Series Wakeboard boats, many of which share hulls with the Prostar series, but come equipped with wakeboard-specific features such as ballast tanks and a wakeboard tower. All MasterCraft Models use Ilmor inboard marine engines built on the General Motors 5.7, 6.0, 6.2, and 7.4-liter V8 engine blocks.
In 2007, the company was acquired by two private equity firms: Charlesbank Capital Partners and Transportation Resource Partners (affiliated with Roger Penske). In 2010, the company was recapitalized by Wayzata Investment Partners.[2]
In 2010, MasterCraft announced it was partnering exclusively with one of the world's best high performance engineering companies, Ilmor Marine engines, for its power train needs.
In 2011, MasterCraft and Ilmor Marine unveiled all new Ilmor 7.4L engine, a naturally aspirated engine that is more powerful, more efficient and more dependable than any other offering on the inboard market, including supercharged engines.
In May 2015, MasterCraft filed for an IPO to raise $100M.[3]
On July 17, 2015, Nasdaq announced that trading of MCBC Holdings Inc., operator of MasterCraft Boat Company, commenced on The Nasdaq Stock Market trading as (Nasdaq:MCFT).[4]
