Builder Cruisers Yachts

History of the company

The company was founded in the early 50's when the second generation of the Thompson family started manufacturing 14 and 16-foot wooden pleasure boats in Wisconsin. Initially the boats were sold to their father's company, which had been in existence since 1904. The first 19-foot cockpit cruiser was produced a year later. The production was delivered on a wide foot, up to 60 hulls were produced in a week. On a wave of success, in three years the staff was expanded from 20 to 100 people. And in 1961 already 300 specialists worked at the shipyard, producing 12 models from 14 to 20 feet long. Producing 3,000 boats in the best years, the company began to break through to the leaders of its segment. However, the 60's brought not only increased demand, but also a new fashion for fiberglass boats. The brothers strongly resisted this, believing that a good wooden boat would be a priori more productive and durable. But they could not resist the market, and in 1966 the production line of wooden boats was closed. The shipyards had to hurriedly adapt to the new realities. Now GRP cruisers, 24-30 feet long, began to descend from the slipways. And since 1971, a succession of owner changes followed, which ended in 1993 with the purchase of the yard by KCS International Corporation. At the same time the shipyard was finally fixed to its present name. Soon, when the economic downturn was left behind, the company was able to expand its product range, offering customers also high-speed cruisers and flybridge yachts.

Production

In addition to the Cruisers Yachts products itself, the shipyard's facilities (which include four production sites in Okonto, Wisconsin and 450 employees) also produce boats of two other brands. KCS International also produces two other brands: Rampage Yachts (sport fishing boats) and Azure Sport Boats (sport boats). For the latter brand, in 2012, the management decided to rename its series of boats into Cruisers Sport Series. Thus, they passed under the «jurisdiction» of Cruisers Yachts, thereby expanding its range.

Model range

The two main series of Cruisers Yachts are 7-10 meters long bowriders (Azure Sport Boats heritage) and hardtop cruisers in the range of 11 to 18 meters. The two senior models in the range come in two versions, with and without flybridge.

Features

The company is one of the pioneers in the use of a propulsion system from Volvo Penta.