Cornelius Nathaniel “Connie” Ray III, founder of Sea Ray Boats, died Nov. 12 after a five-year battle with cancer. He was 84 years old. Ray founded Sea Ray in 1959 in Oxford, Mich., and built it into the world’s largest boat company at the time with 40 models from 17 feet to 60 feet. He sold the company in December 1986 to Brunswick Corp. for $350 million dollars. At the time the company had 4,500 employees and built 28,000 boats a year.
C.N. “Connie” Ray sold Sea Ray Boats to Brunswick in 1986 for $350 million and retired four years later at 65. He always was a man with a plan.
When we first met C.N. Ray we were struck by his quiet charisma, incisive mind and his ability to cut quickly to the chase in nearly any discussion. He was decisive, and always seemed to have a plan. From our perspective the foundation of Sea Ray’s success in the first 25 years of its existence wasn’t its boats so much as it was the force of C.N.’s personality and his understanding of what was truly important in building a leading brand with high unit sales.
A vintage 1961 Sea Ray. The company got off to a fast start. Look carefully and you’ll still see a few of these models around today.
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