Boston Whaler

Boston Whaler was founded by Richard T. "Dick" Fisher in 1958 as an independent company. In 1969 it was sold to the LMC Group, whose portfolio includes brands such as NordicTrack and the Nature Company.

In 1989, due to financial problems, the CML group sold the Boston Whaler to the Reebok Corporation which, despite some advertising campaigns and projects for new hulls, resold it to Sports Meridian in 1994.

In 1996, after just two years, Brunswick Corporation purchased Boston Whaler for $27.4 million. Together with Sea Ray, he founded what became the Brunswick Boat group, today the largest manufacturer of pleasure boats in the world.

The production of Boston Whalers, which began in Massachusetts, hence the name, is now developed in Edgewater, Florida.

Richard T. "Dick" Fisher, a 1936 graduate of Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, ran an electrical manufacturing company.
He has always been interested in building small balsa wood boats. He designs a rowboat but never completes the construction.

In 1950, "polyurethane foam" was invented, a rigid, light and "ductile" material.

Fisher studies a way to use the new material in the construction of small boats. In 1954 he built a small foam-filled sailing dinghy, with a design similar to that of the Sunfish.

Fisher shows the finished product to his friend, naval architect C. Raymond Hunt who understands the potential of the process but does not consider it suitable for sailing boats. A hull inspired by the "Sea Hickman" catamaran was designed.
Fisher built the polystyrene and epoxy prototype of this new vessel with "two keels, and an "inverted V" between the two hulls.

After various tests and modifications, with Hunt's advice, the prototype was modified with the addition of a deeper central part of the hull.
In 1956, this design became the original Boston Whaler 13, a very stable boat with a large carrying capacity.

In 1958, boats produced by the Fisher-Pierce manufacturing company were marketed for the first time under the Boston Whaler brand.

Until the late 1980s, the most popular models in terms of sales were the classic 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) Whaler and the 16 ft 7 in (5.05 m) Montauk.

Over time the company moved away from these projects, moving towards the production of a more conventional deep-V hull. After 1996 the classic "three-hull boats" are no longer produced.

Recent production:
Boston Whealer models in production range from 3.4 to 13.0 meters in length (11.3 - 42.5 feet). Brunswick is also the owner of Mercury Marine, which is why the new Boston Whalers, like other Brunswick boats, are equipped "from the factory" with Mercury engines.