- Century Boat Company
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The Century Boat Company (CEBC) was a leading 20th century American builder of racing boats.
The company was founded in 1926 at 333 Blecher Street in Milwaukee, WI by two brothers James and William Welch who had a knack for building wooden plank hulls that were designed for speed.
In 1928 the company was moved to Manistee, Michigan where it operated for the next sixty years. In 1930 its Century Hurricane held the world speedboat record of 50.93 miles per hour. By 1937 the company offered 28 models of boats to choose from. The 1940s brought about World War II and the firm received a contract and delivered 3,600 vessels receiving the Army-Navy E Award for excellence in production material. The company had 343 authorized dealers by 1950 and used the slogan "The Thoroughbred of Boats".
In the 1960s Century introduced 45' motor yachts and jet-powered boats; in 1967 the last wooden boat rolled out of the Manastee Facility in favor of fiberglass. 1970 proved to be the greatest decade for the company; it even had a fleet of white tractor trailers that moved them from Manistee across the country to its dealerships. In 1983 it opened a production facility in Panama City, FL.
In 1987 the company became part of the Glasstream Group, the owner of many other boat brands. Glasstream encountered hard times due to a new Federal tax on the boating industry, but did achieve one racing success. A. L. Kirland in 1988 would race # A-16 "The Turn of The Century" for Glasstream winning the American Power Boat Association Division Championship in Key West. In October 1989, Glasstream Boats filed for bankruptcy protection and on March 30, 1990 Century became part of GAC Partners (General Marine) under company turnaround expert Richard GenthGeneral Marine was looking for investment partners for Century and agreed to let foreign-owned Yamaha hang outboards on its sterns. In 1995 Century was purchased by Yamaha which had purchased Cobia Boats a few months earlier; the new company was called C&C Boats.
In March 2005 Yamaha sold Cobia and stated it would concentrate on "one brand, one vision" concept. In 2007 alone Century sold 1,000 boats and employees thought that things were on a upswing. But on December 1, 2009 Yamaha without warning and just a few weeks before Christmas announced it was dropping its Century line. Century had at this point had 45 dealers in 18 states. In July Yamaha stated Century's assets were up for sale.On April 1 ,2011 Century Customer Service and Warranty functions were moved to Yamaha Headquarters in Kennesaw, GA. while decommissioning and sale of assets of Century Boat in Panama City, FL. continued.
==References==
Speedboat Classics
Categories:- American boat builders
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