May 1, 2014

Family Affair

If I had to pick up the perfect example in boat building, a brand which is close to perfection, I would say this to be the North American, New Jersey residing Viking.  The Healey family would also do the boating community a favor if they made a book how to manage a boat building brand and facility, and how to emerge from the hard times as stronger. Its not the first time I speak of Viking but this boat builder does deserve a couple of bloggers to its name, more so now that its celebrating fifty years of operation.  
The story of Viking is interesting but is also one of hard work, commitment, and also faith in its work force with some of the important stuff working with the company for long as this has been founded. This is an important detail in Viking's success. Viking is also the opposite of the other American spectrum of boat building, being family owned since its inception in 1964, and never going into financial schemes for growth but always doing it in the old family run style business way of looking within. 
Hard work and commitment comes as a testimony how Viking was in the shadows of Bertram and Hatteras up until the early nineties manage to make a turn around and become the production sportfish yacht of choice in the later part of that same decade.  That decade which in the American boating industry remains one of the darkest times with the introduction of the luxury tax, which stayed put for a couple of years.
The Viking story is an interesting one, and if you ever want to become a boat builder I would start by looking at them as an example to follow. Happy fiftieth birthday Viking.

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