Provisions: Boston Whaler

Boston Whaler

Category: Boats
Founder: Dick Fisher
Founded: 1958
Location: Edgewater, Florida
Representative products: “Unsinkable” boats like the 150 Montauk, 130 Super Sport, and the 220 Dauntless.

At a glance:

• Offers fishing boats, cruising boats, and tender boats, as well as runabouts, cruisers, and center console boats.
• Trusted by navies around the world, including Navy SEALs and the U.S. Coast Guard.
• Has been building boats for more than 60 years.
• After graduating from Harvard, founder Dick Fisher revolutionized the hull-making process by using polyurethane foam injection.
• Boats range in size from 13 feet to 42 feet.
• Purchased by marine manufacturing giant Brunswick Corporation in 1996.
• Two Boston Whaler Conquest models won Innovation Awards at the 2024 Miami International Boat Show.
• Has also won best in Fiberglass Outboard Boats category at the NMMA Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Awards for 16 years in a row.

In their own words: Ron Berman, VP of Product Development and Engineering

We are very focused on what is important to the customer. There is a lot of information you learn from surveys, but you learn by actually spending time with boat owners. When you do, you find your answers. People want to feel like they are in something big and roomy. Maximize comfort. Every seat should have a good view and be comfortable. And you should feel secure. They want a boat that has very predictable performance and handling. They want a boat that allows you to maintain visibility, meaning when you get on plane you don’t lose visibility. They want a boat that doesn’t do anything erratic in rough water.

Making people feel safer and more comfortable in their boats is something we’ve done through technology. Take, for instance, our Dynamic Running Surface — an automatic trim adjustment system that makes boating more predicable. Also, we have Quiet Ride, which does a great job of keeping noise down on the boat. And with any type of twin-engine boat, you can get joystick control — inboards, outboards, I/Os, you name it. We also just introduced something called the Command View camera system on our yachts, which gives you a view all around the boat so people feel more confident docking because they can see the side and stern in one image. These are all aimed at making people feel safer and more confident in their boats.

I love to reinvent things. A new boat should not be a warmed-over version of the last boat you had. I like being able to take an idea and create something that has never been done or take an existing boat and find a way to reinvent it so it’s new and fresh and gets people really excited. I like to figure out what the boater wants and come up with a way to create it and use it on the boat.