Ask Correct Craft President/CEO

In appreciation of CorrectCraftFan.com members and their dedication to the Nautique brand, Bill Yeargin -- President and CEO of Correct Craft, Inc. -- would like to give loyal customers the opportunity to personally ask him questions so that they might obtain an inside look into what is happening at Correct Craft, both now and in the future.

This gesture represents unprecedented access to the top executive at Correct Craft, of which I am delighted and honored to facilitate. This opportunity is for you to ask Bill whatever you wish.

Please submit your questions for Bill as a reply to this post. Please include your name, and location (city, state and/or country) with your question. I'll be narrowing down the questions to the ten most representative of the group and will then submit them to Bill on your behalf. I�ll post Bill's responses shortly thereafter. I encourage you ask Bill anything but please be respectful and keep it on-topic. I'll be collecting questions over the next five days -- though this Friday, October 24.

This is your chance, I encourage you all to take full advantage of this truly unique opportunity.

Thank you,
-Keith

I don't think there is a Correct Craft fan out there that does not adore the 196. We love the short bow, classic lines, the great driving position, line of sight, handling, and tracking that only a boat like the 196 can deliver. The wake boats in the CC lineup seem to be undergoing dramatic styling changes but I think we can all agree that we're thankful that the 196's lines have remained generally the same for the past 40+ years.

Mastercraft and Malibu both feature 3-event boats with open bows at most if not all of their tournaments (197 and RLXi, respectively). Do you feel any pressure to ditch the 196 in favor of an open bow tournament boat? I personally think it would be a loss for Correct Craft but what does the market say?

Also, and this may be a separate question, but what are your company's thoughts with regards to the future of 3-event skiing?

Adam Zuzelski, Jacksonville, FL

What is CC doing to get more people, young and old, involved in boating, skiing and wake boarding?

As a Nautique owner and recreational skier, if I am not seeing or hearing anything, odds are neither is the average layperson.

Jon Doh, Metropolis

Corporate sponsorship of the CCFan Reunions has been growing year after year, this support has really helped these events grow, what great things does CC have planned for next summer? Have you penciled in Green Lake on your calender yet?

With the big auto makers bringing back retro cars (mustang, camero, cuda, etc.)has there been any talk of bringing back a retro Correct Craft (other then the CCFan boat)? A lot of retro lovers here!

Thanks,

Greg McFarland
Duluth,GA

When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, Correct Craft had local dealers and there were a lot of Correct Crafts in my area. During the past 20-25 years there have been no local dealers and I've hardly seen any fairly new Correct Crafts on my large lake in Maine, even though ski/wakeboard boats have become very popular and there are many other brands on my lake. Are there plans to improve your distribution system?

Chris Conrad
Cedar Falls, IA

Is there any scenario in which CC would expand into other product lines?

There's been a lot of buzz about SE CC closing and re-opening as a Mastercraft dealer and other organizational/ownership changes within CC corporate and the Meloon family. Some know the whole story, some don't. Could you clarify what happened with this situation and shed some light on what future changes are in store for CC relative to distribution and dealer networks in the US?

John Berry
Lake Wales Florida
6 time Ski Nautique owner.

As with Joel, I would like to hear a little more explaination as to the SECC situation given the historical importance of the Meloon family ownership, both of that dealership and the Company itself as a whole.

Thanks for your time.

My family and I have been with correct craft boats since 1968 and we use to host a CC reunion in Minnesota thanks to help from people like Bruce at Midwest Correct Craft. We stopped so as not to conflict with the Green lake event that has been so successful. Only big concern that I see is that there is a huge lack of older boat parts avaliable for Correct Crafts made before 1996. Most owners of these classics attempt to keep the boat looking as origional as possible, but are not able to get many of the items needed to make the boat look great. When looking for specific parts for the boat or trailer all that is normally avaliable is newer parts that look all together odd which are made for a newer Nautiques. There is no way that dash parts or any other interior item would look good in a classic 1983 Ski Nautique (example)that would come from a newer boat. This site should really tell you that there are plenty of shoppers waiting for the opportunity to replace worn items. The more impressive these older boats look to others, the more someone will be willing to fork out tons of cash on a new one! We are currently struggling to replace items from our old reunion members with years ranging from 1973-1989. I own three correct crafts a 2005 206, a 1999 python 196 and a 1989 Ski nautique. Each boat serves it's own purpose and has been well cared for, but things break or breakdown over time. Maybe one idea would be to survey from this site what is most needed such as glove box, hour meters, speedo pickups, stern lights or stickers and start from there. Maybe creating a wish list of ten items that Correct Craft would be willing to reproduce? Calling multiple dealers looking for this stuff takes time and almost always results in sorry not avaliable you need to buy what is currently avaliable. Most of the time we would rather band aid, duck tape or use super glue!. My wife and I also own a 1967 Ford Mustang (car) that is in origional condition because parts are avliable through Ford or through a connection outlet that they sponsor. A little more about our family. My brother owns a 1995 Super Sport and my dad has his origional 1983 Ski Nautique that is now finally in need of a new interior that had diamond patterns within the vinyl seats that are no longer avaliabe, but were made exclusively for Correct Craft. We are settling for a solid red with pleats. My last note to you is that my family and many of our friends are true Correct craft right down to our boxer shorts. We have never considered another boat since our first in 1968. Lets see what we can do to help all these guys in keeping these boats looking great and on the water.

ps-Any odds of getting a hold of an old roto cast drivers seat (1986-1996) as a left over from the old factory.

Thanks-Scott

Why are we still being treated as second class boat owners? Why has CC not added a little money to help out with some of the expense. CC feeds us a couple of boxes of hats and give Keith a "pat on the head".

Then the pictures come out in their little book, and everyone goes GA GA and says thank you CC. There is no recognition for Keith nor for the site he has hand built. CC is feeding off of Keith's Plate, and they should not do this............Boat dr

Thank you all for asking such great questions.

I have just posted Bill Yeargin's responses in a seperate dicussion.

You will find it here:
Read Bill's Responses

-Keith