Todays inspection was at Broadland Boat Centre in Brundall on the South Broads. This Bayliner 2655 American Sports Cruiser is a very popular model on the Broads due to its spacious cockpit, converting interior layout and great value. It offers the first time boater an affordable way to get out on the water, and has everything you will need for a day out or a weekend stay.
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The power plant.... 260HP V8 petrol |
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Humble beginnings |
The story of Bayliner Boats began in the 1950s with Orin Edson, an impassioned boat racer and a born entrepreneur. Edson got his start selling his own racing boats from a parking lot in Seattle, Washington under the dealership name Advanced Outboard Marine (AOM). In 1957, AOM sold its first Bayliner, a wooden boat manufactured down the street in Tacoma, Washington, by Al Koffel and his brother. By 1958, Edson’s business had grown so much, he had opened a showroom. What started out as a used-boat lot, soon turned into a dealership for several brands of new powerboats and wooden boats. Alongside the boats, Edson sold outboard engines, eventually becoming an official dealer for Mercury Marine.
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Ambitious growth
When selling boats got too competitive to be profitable, Edson got into boat building. He purchased the Bayliner name for $100 from his long-time supplier and friend, Al Koffel, and by 1966 had started Puget Plastics (doing business as “Bayliner”) with four other stockholders to start building the first fiberglass Bayliner boats. Production began in a barn at the Liefer Berry Farm in Marysville, Washington. Soon after, in 1968, Bayliner expanded production into a rented World War II hangar belonging to the city of Arlington, Washington. By this time, Bayliner had nearly a hundred dealers across the United States and Canada. A year later, in 1969, the first Bayliner assembly plant was built on land purchased by Puget Plastics in Arlington. This land would become Bayliner’s manufacturing base for nearly 40 years.
Innovation in production and design
The economic circumstances of the late 1970s were hard on the boating industry. Like many other companies, Bayliner had to consider cuts in its operations. A Minnesota factory was to be shut down, when the Bayliner leadership team had come up with an innovative approach yet again. Instead of laying off a highly skilled workforce, they created a plan that optimized the boat building process. To work, the plan required not only the most efficient use of quality materials, but also the trust of the company's dealers and complete dedication from the employees. In return, workers kept their jobs and shared in the savings gained by this new approach. The incentive program was such a success, that over the next three years, Bayliner opened four more factories, all employing the same winning method. Bayliner's commitment to quality and innovation continued. In 1982, the company introduced the Bayliner Total Package, the industry's first fully integrated boat, motor and trailer package, all from one manufacturer at one affordable price. That same year,
Powerboat magazine named Bayliner Capri The Boat of the Year, calling it “a major breakthrough in boat manufacturing.”
Affordable quality
In 1985,
Powerboat magazine named the 1600 Cuddy “Best Value in America under $10,000” and in 1994 the 1700 Capri LS “Outstanding Compact Value.” The Capri continued to win the
Powerboat Award for Product Excellence for nine years in a row, along with the Best Buy Award from
Consumers Digest magazine in 1997. In 1998, the 2050 Capri LS got the
Powerboat Award for Outstanding Runabout Value. Reaffirming the company's vision to build a high quality boat every family could afford, one in four cruisers sold between 1991 and 1995 was a Bayliner.
The Brunswick family of brands
In 1986, Bayliner joined the Brunswick Corporation and has become part of the world's largest marine company, with distributors and dealers in more than fifty countries around the globe.
