![]() ![]() Ski Centurion created the first AWSA Barefoot Nationals outboard towboat and in 1983 it still built raceboats such as its XH-1drag hydro, which was the first enclosed cockpit model and dominated the sport for years. This boat brought the high-performance styling of the California speed boats to the water ski market. He built the first Ski Centurion, and it was the first significant direct-drive ski boat produced on the West Coast. In 1979, he built a 2.5-acre factory in Merced, California, and turned the company’s high-performance, high-tech boat- building skills toward making ski boats. I got interested in them because I discovered that PCM had sold 1,500 motors in ’78 or ’79.’ Lee investigated how they could be selling so many engines and consequently discovered the significance of the tournament boat market. They were ugly, so no one wanted to know what they were. ‘Back then, nobody knew what an inboard was west of Tennessee. He grew the company building high-performance ski boats. He began building high-performance jet boats, day cruisers and race boats and in 1976 he acquired the trade name Centurion from a Salt Lake City company with a heritage dating back to 1964. He started selling boats and after a couple of years went out on a limb and opened a boat company. Naturally, he found his way into the boat business. teacher, but someone told him he should follow what he loved to do. He went on to set a world record, win a national championship and put himself through college racing speed boats. He and his father built his first, an eight-footer with a 10-hp outboard, in 1959, when he was 9 years old. CENTURION MANUFACTURER PROFILE HISTORY Rick Lee has been building boats about as long as he can remember. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |