For other uses, see Mastercraft.

MasterCraft, which is headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee, is a United States manufacturer of recreational boats, founded in 1968. MasterCraft boats are popular for use in water skiing and wakeboarding.

History

MasterCraft was founded when the owners decided to start making their own. The owners took a Ski Nautique manufactured by Correct Craft and hung it from a tree and cut the back of the hull off in order to modify the hull 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 the first year of operation, MasterCraft only built 12 boats using the modified Ski Nautique 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 produces 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 inboard marine engines built on the General Motors 5.7, 6.0, and 8.1 litre 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.

Saltwater Series

With a large movement towards costal waters MasterCraft introduced the saltwater series(ss) line of boats. All of the SS engines are fresh-water cooled, protected with premium multi-coat non-corrosive paint and come with composite motor mounts. In addition to changes to the engines MasterCraft spent hundreds of hours offshore in Florida testing components like stainless steel gas shocks, hydraulic steering, fully sealed wiring, sacrificial anodes, raw water strainers and the engines in the roughest conditions. MasterCraft is currently the only performance towboat manufacturer to produce saltwater specific models.

Current Production Models (2008)

Prostar 190

Prostar 197

Prostar 214

X-1

X-2(ss)

X-7

X-14

X-15(ss)

X-STAR(ss)

X-30(ss)

X-35(ss) X-45(ss)

X-80(ss)

CSX 220(ss)

CSC 265(ss)

MariStar 200(ss)

MariStar 215(ss)

MariStar 230(ss)

MariStar 235(ss)

MariStar 245(ss)

MariStar 280(ss)

(ss)-Denotes a saltwater series boat is available

References

External links

• Official site