Bill Yeargin Answers Your Questions

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   The following questions were posed to Bill Yeargin, President and CEO of Correct Craft, Inc., through CorrectCraftFan.com.

Questions appear in red and Bill's responses appear below each question and begin with an identifing [BY]. 

Any thoughts about introducing a Barefoot Specific boat back into the CC Lineup, such as the legendary Barefoot Nautiques? - Chris Quinn, Lake Villa, Illinois 

Why was the Barefoot Nautique discontinued? Please bring it back!  - Ross Smith , Orlando, FL / Charlotte, NC

[BY] - Chris and Ross, great questions and ones I hear from time to time. Actually, the two past Nautique boats I get asked about the most are the Barefoot Nautique and the Fish Nautique. Sorry, footers, but I definitely get more questions about the Fish Nautique.

Those of you who would like to have the �Barefoot Nautique� back will be happy to know that you have a strong ally within Correct Craft. Matt McGinnis, our Director of Quality, is a long time barefooter. Matt actually foots behind my 210 and I always enjoy watching him.

I was not here when the Barefoot Nautique was discontinued but I would guess it was related to the market for the boat.

While we do not have any current plans to develop a specific barefoot boat we do have an incredible option we can offer footers; our Ski Nautique with the new PCM 409 engine. Chris, I heard that you footed behind this boat at the reunion. Some people have referred to this boat as a �rocket� and it has been clocked at top speeds of over 50 MPH. From what I am told it is an awesome barefoot boat. 

Stop by your closest Nautique dealer and learn more about the Ski Nautique with the 409 engine; I think you will like what you see.

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. Your two major competitors both feature 3-event boats with open bows at most if not all of their tournaments. 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? � Joel Hughes, Libertyville, IL also Kristof Erens, Bree, Belgium

[BY] - Joel and Kristof, I totally understand the passion that you and many others feel toward the 196. I also understand your feelings regarding a closed bow boat. 

As I am sure you can appreciate, all of us at Correct Craft have a passion for improving all of our boats, including the ski boats. The key word is �improving�; we don�t want change for change�s sake � we only want to make changes that our loyal customers consider a clear improvement in our product. We call it the best getting better�

To help us determine what the market wants related to our product we rely on a Voice of a Customer (VOC) process. The VOC process includes getting information from many different sources, including the members of CCF. We then use this VOC information to start the product development process; however, we don�t actually offer a new product unless we all believe it is a better boat.

The 196 is not exempt from this product development process. However, I can share a couple thoughts that I hope address your questions:While the market has shifted more towards an open bow ski boat, we understand that there are a lot of our customers who also want a closed bow boat. We want to make those customers happy.

I am not going to approve production on any new boat until I have a clear consensus that the boat is a significant improvement. This will include a clear consensus among our athletes including Andy Mapple and Chris Parrish for ski boats as well as many others who would have the opportunity to ski behind a prototype boat.We are happy to offer the world�s best ski boat today and we are committed to only sell the world�s best ski boats in the future. We are excited about the future and are committed to exceeding the very high expectations of our customers.

What is Correct Craft 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. - Adam Zuzelski, Jacksonville, FL 

This summer one of your competitors sponsored Marcus Brown in the "Face-to-Face" tour to build awareness for slalom skiing and waterskiing in general. What is Correct Craft planning on doing at the grassroots level in order to help grow and build awareness for towed water sports in general? � Joel Hughes - Libertyville, IL

[BY] - Adam and Joel, I agree with you and understand that to help our business in the long run we have to help support our industry. We also believe that we support our industry in a big way and try hard to bring people into our sport.

Some of the things that Correct Craft does to support our industry include:We are the major ski boat supporter of the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF). The IWSF supports the growth of water skiing all over the world and we are happy that almost all of their events are pulled by a Nautique.

We are a co-founder of the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA) and I sit on the board. The WSIA, led by Larry Meddock, previously the VP � Marketing for Correct Craft, is trying to not only support the industry, but also to help people enjoy it in a safe manner.

We are a premium supporter (the highest level) of USA Water Ski. USA Water Ski�s major goal is to promote water skiing in the US.

We are a major sponsor of the INT League program which is an awesome grass roots program to encourage people to get into water skiing and wakeboarding. It also gives them an opportunity to compete.

We sponsor numerous ski and wakeboard schools around the country which are teaching many to enjoy our sport. One of the largest of these schools is Mission Bay in San Diego; this school alone teaches over 6,000 people a year to enjoy watersports, including skiing.

Our promo program provides nearly 100 boats each year all around the country to pull hundreds of local tournaments that promote skiing and wakeboarding.

Our dealers have clinics at their locations to get people interested in skiing and wakeboarding. Many times these dealer events include our Team Nautique athletes as both a draw and an opportunity to give people a chance to receive world class training.

We sponsor international events such as the Masters and national events such as the Big Dawg which we hope peaks people�s interest in skiing. On the wake side, on a national basis we sponsor the Wake Games and the National Championships each year which we hope keeps people interested in wakeboarding.

We try to assist with owners reunions such as the CC Fan events.
Adam, if you are not hearing about what we are doing it sounds like we need to do a better job communicating. In an effort to communicate better this past year we have started doing a few things:Nautique Insider � this is a Blog I write that was the industry�s first CEO Blog. The purpose of this Blog is to communicate to our loyal owners about many of the things we are doing. You can view it at http://www.nautiques.com/blog/. If you are interested in being notified as to when a new Blog is posted you can sign up on the Blog page.

We have started a Nautique Nation monthly newsletter that can be viewed at http://www.nautiques.com/nautiquenation. You can sign up for this too

Team Nautique Blog � this is a Blog our Team Manager, Kevin Durham, writes about things that are happening with our athletes. You can view it at http://blog.teamnautique.com/.Finally, keep an eye on our new award-winning website which has an events section. We will soon be updating this events section of our website for next season�s events.

What are Correct Craft�s thoughts with regards to the future of 3-event skiing? � Joel Hughes - Libertyville, IL

[BY] - Joel, Correct Craft was the first company to build a 3 event boat and we are very committed to 3 event skiing. 

We are also encouraged as we see so many families now enjoying 3 event skiing together. At a recent major event we had one of our customers with 3 generations present, all enjoying our sport.

We sponsor the premier 3 event tournament in the world, the Masters. We sponsor the IWSF worldwide 3 event tournaments as the exclusive towboat which is a big investment on our part. 

Correct Craft also sponsors the world�s top male and female 3 event athletes, including Team Nautique athletes Jaret Llewellyn and Clementine Lucine. For 2 years in a row Jaret and Clementine have both been awarded the industry�s highest award as male and female athletes of the year. By the way, as an aside, Jaret and Clementine are both awesome people both on and off the water.

Correct Craft built the industry�s first 3 event boat, we currently have the industry�s best 3 event boat, we have the world�s best 3 event athletes and we have no inclination to back off our support for 3 event skiing.

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 calendar yet? - Chris Quinn, Lake Villa, Illinois

[BY] - Thanks Chris for the question. If you don�t mind I think this is a good opportunity for me to tell you and others how much we appreciate everyone on CCF. We appreciate your loyalty and we will continue to provide support for your events.

Last year I had scheduling conflicts when both of the CCF reunions were held but I heard they were awesome. As you know Correct Craft was represented by Ken Meloon, our Board Chairman, and Dave Hendricks from our Customer Service department who you guys call The Godfather. Both Ken and Dave enjoyed attending and I am certain they would like to be back next year.

As far as penciling in something on my calendar, I have not yet heard specific dates related to next year�s events. Once I get the dates I will do my best to arrange my schedule so I can attend at least one of the CCF events.

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! - Greg McFarland, Duluth,GA

[BY] - Greg, actually we have talked about retro boats, including some discussions just recently. 

Whether we do it or not really comes down to priorities and the VOC process I mentioned previously. Our Product Development team has an aggressive 5 year product plan that has them pretty busy for years to come. However, we also try to be opportunistic so if we feel like there is a market for a retro boat we would definitely try to fit it in our schedule.

Also, we are trying some new stuff including the CCF boat which we did for the CCF reunion and our new Byerly Icon Edition 210 which has received an incredibly positive response.

I've heard that a Correct Craft dealer has exclusive territory and they should not sell to a buyer if their address is out of their territory. Is this accurate? If a customer knows they want a Correct Craft, would the customer be restricted in their ability to negotiate price between Correct Craft dealers and not be able to chose a dealer based on other preferences (like how/if they support CCF.Com, professionalism, service, etc.)? 

Also, if a customer was not yet sold on Correct Craft, why would you limit a customer to choose between a single Correct Craft dealer (one that happens to be close to them) who may not have the right inventory or service reputation when compared to the Malibu, Mastercraft, Supra, Tige, etc. dealers in their particular area.   - Steve Evans, Milwaukee, WI

[BY] - Steve, we do give each of our dealers an important area of responsibility and we highly encourage them to focus on that area. We believe the Nautique customer is better served when Nautique dealers focus on their specific areas of responsibility. 

Our goal at Correct Craft is to maintain the highest possible level of customer service and we have seen time after time that the best service comes when the boat owner has a relationship with a local dealer. We have won a slew of customer service awards over the years and we also believe that much of the credit for these awards is a direct result of the relationships our dealers have with their customers.

We want to sell boats today but we also understand that in order to sell boats for decades to come it takes an investment in relationships. We want people to have a great buying experience but even more importantly we want our customers to have a great lifetime of experiences with their Nautique boats.

We know that a good relationship with a local dealer goes a long way toward ensuring the lifetime of great experiences we hope people will enjoy with their Nautique.

When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, Correct Craft had local dealers to my area and you would see a lot of Correct Crafts on the water. For the past 20-25 years there have been no local dealers and I've hardly seen any newer 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 and dealer network in the Northeast? � Bruce Hart, Sebago Lake, ME

[BY] - Bruce, your comment has been noted and I have already asked our Sales Department what we can do to better serve your area in Maine. Thanks for the info!

More generally, we do have an aggressive dealer development program at Correct Craft and we are working hard to make sure we have great dealers all over the country. We have added many new dealers over the last 18 months.

As you can appreciate we are very picky and want to make sure we only bring on the best dealers. That may slow down the timing of getting dealers everywhere we want but I assure you it does not temper our determination to have an awesome Nautique dealer everywhere one is needed.

Steve, or anyone else, if you have specific thoughts on your area please feel free to email our National Sales Manager, Mike Yauch, at myauch@correctcraft.com.

Is there any scenario in which CC would expand into other product lines? - Chris Conrad, Cedar Falls, IA 

[BY] - Sure Chris � we might. However, we are very protective of our Nautique brand and would not do anything to devalue our brand or the investment you have in your Nautique.

Can you provide more insight into the SECC situation given the historical importance of the Meloon family ownership, both of that dealership and the Company itself as a whole. - John Berry, Lake Wales Florida (6 time Ski Nautique owner)

[BY] - Sure John, I am happy to give a little more perspective on some of the changes you have mentioned. But first, thanks for owning 6 Ski Nautique boats!

First of all, I think it is important to note that the Meloon family is still VERY much involved with Correct Craft. 

Ralph Meloon, son of our founder turns 91 this week and still shows up for work EVERY day encouraging everyone at the plant. Recently our new local dealer, Nautiques of Orlando, had a big Grand Opening celebration and Ralph was there greeting people and making them all feel welcome. Ralph is an incredible person who everyone loves.

Our Board Chairman is Ken Meloon and our VP-Product Development is Greg Meloon. We have many other Meloon family members working at the company and they are all great contributors to what we are doing. 

We have a tremendous amount of respect for the Meloon family and their heritage. We are happy to have so many Meloons still involved with our company; they play important roles and have significant influence on our direction.

Related to our Orlando dealer (which was previously owned by a Meloon who is no longer affiliated with Correct Craft), we did make a change here and I know there are a few people who were disappointed in the change. However, we have an obligation to do what is best in the long run for Correct Craft and our customers and we believe we did the right thing.

After we made our change in Orlando the previous CC dealer took on a competitive towboat line. The way we view it, we expect competition and competition only makes us better. So while it may be a little strange for a Meloon family member to be selling a competitive brand we are focused on the future with the many Meloons who still work with us and still support us. While on a business basis we will have to compete, on a personal basis we truly wish our new competitor the best.

John, I heard that you were at the recent Nautiques of Orlando Grand Opening (I hope you enjoyed it!) but for those of you who don�t know, our new Orlando dealer is Nautiques of Orlando and you can learn more about them at http://orlandonautiques.com/ . Effective January 1 Nautiques of Orlando will be our exclusive warranty and parts provider in the Orlando area so stop in and say hi to Jeff Husby and his team. 

I live in Orlando and, as you can imagine, I run into people all the time who either own a Nautique or are a Nautique loyalist. Almost without exception those people are excited about our changes in the Orlando area. We are too�

How far back (in years) do dealers/distribution normally stock parts for CC boats? Has their been any testing of an adjustable trim tab for adjustable boat attitude vs. loading the boat with weight? - Ross Smith , Orlando,FL / Charlotte,NC

[BY] - Ross, we typically carry about 7-10 years worth of parts for Nautique boats. If we don�t have the part you want many times we can direct you to the right place. I see you live in Orlando so give the guys at Nautiques of Orlando a call (407-425-2628) and I know they would be happy to help you.

Regarding a trim tab, I am not sure what year your boat is but as you may know for several years we have offered the Hydro-Gate which helps with some of the items you are questioning.

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 available for Correct Crafts made before 1996. � I own three correct crafts a 2005 206, a 1999 python 196 and a 1989 Ski Nautique. Each boat serves its own purpose and has been well cared for, but things break or breakdown over time. � 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. Let�s see what we can do to help all these guys in keeping these boats looking great and on the water.  Scott � Minnesota

[BY] - Scott, first of all let me say WOW! Thanks so much for your loyalty. We really appreciate you and your family and I sincerely hope we get the chance to meet some day.

Scott, let me make a few comments about your questions/comments:Many of the parts CC put on boats over the years were made by others. Sometimes those parts are no longer available to even us.
The first source of parts should be your Nautique dealer as you have mentioned. 

Secondly you have already mentioned the CC parts guru, Bruce. Bruce has a wealth of knowledge and is always ready to help. Bruce can help you find anything that can be found. Please feel free to call him at (260) 833-2226
It is a little hard to compare boat parts to automobiles because of the size of the industries. There are millions of more cars built every year than boats so there is more of an economic incentive for people to continue making the parts. However, as I said above, if they can be found, Bruce can find them.
Regarding the upholstery please call Bruce at Correct Craft East for this too; they have a source who works on the upholstery for older boats. Additionally, we have another company that we work with who has done a good job. They are based in Orlando and called Christine�s; they can be reached at (407) 859-8559Scott, I am going to pass your comments on to Ron Nace who runs our Customer Service department and see if he can research the specifics of your issues more. Please feel free to contact Ron at rnace@correctcraft.com.

Why are we (CorrectCraftFan.com Members) treated as second class boat owners? Why has CC not helped out with some of the site expenses? A couple of boxes of hats and a "pat on the head" for Keith is not enough. Correct Craft uses the CCF Reunion pictures in their brochure but there is no recognition for Keith nor for the site he has hand built. It seems that CC is feeding off of Keith's Plate, and that�s not right. � Billy Sutton, Monterey, LA

[BY] - Billy, while I respect your question I have to disagree with your assumption. We value CCF members a lot and want to do everything we can to help you and others enjoy the Nautique life.

Keith has done an awesome job with CCF but he has chosen to do that; it is not a company site. As you probably know there are many sites in our industry that give people an opportunity to socially network on an electronic basis and we definitely appreciate those sites that are friendly to us, but we do not control them.

I have met Keith and he is an incredible guy, as you know. And, while we certainly appreciate the benefit Keith is offering to you, Nautique owners, we also see the benefit in not having the site controlled by Correct Craft. It provides additional credibility for the site to be independent.

We will continue to do everything we can to support CCF and its events and we definitely appreciate Keith!

Finally, let me say one more time how much we appreciate all of the CCF members. We take your loyalty very seriously and do not want to do anything to let you down. 

The future of Correct Craft is very bright � we are looking forward to the days ahead!

A very special thank you to all who posted questions for Bill, and for Bill taking the time to give such thoughtful responses.

Please feel free to Reply to this post with your comments.

Thank you,

-Keith

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Keith Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Admin Group Owner / Operator of CorrectCraftFan.com Joined: October-20-2003 Location: Pepperell, MA Status: Offline Points: 1917	Post Options Post Reply Quote Keith Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Bill Yeargin Answers Your Questions Posted: November-18-2008 at 2:16pm
	The following questions were posed to Bill Yeargin, President and CEO of Correct Craft, Inc., through CorrectCraftFan.com. Questions appear in red and Bill's responses appear below each question and begin with an identifing [BY]. Any thoughts about introducing a Barefoot Specific boat back into the CC Lineup, such as the legendary Barefoot Nautiques? - Chris Quinn, Lake Villa, Illinois Why was the Barefoot Nautique discontinued? Please bring it back! - Ross Smith , Orlando, FL / Charlotte, NC [BY] - Chris and Ross, great questions and ones I hear from time to time. Actually, the two past Nautique boats I get asked about the most are the Barefoot Nautique and the Fish Nautique. Sorry, footers, but I definitely get more questions about the Fish Nautique. Those of you who would like to have the �Barefoot Nautique� back will be happy to know that you have a strong ally within Correct Craft. Matt McGinnis, our Director of Quality, is a long time barefooter. Matt actually foots behind my 210 and I always enjoy watching him. I was not here when the Barefoot Nautique was discontinued but I would guess it was related to the market for the boat. While we do not have any current plans to develop a specific barefoot boat we do have an incredible option we can offer footers; our Ski Nautique with the new PCM 409 engine. Chris, I heard that you footed behind this boat at the reunion. Some people have referred to this boat as a �rocket� and it has been clocked at top speeds of over 50 MPH. From what I am told it is an awesome barefoot boat. Stop by your closest Nautique dealer and learn more about the Ski Nautique with the 409 engine; I think you will like what you see. 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. Your two major competitors both feature 3-event boats with open bows at most if not all of their tournaments. 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? � Joel Hughes, Libertyville, IL also Kristof Erens, Bree, Belgium [BY] - Joel and Kristof, I totally understand the passion that you and many others feel toward the 196. I also understand your feelings regarding a closed bow boat. As I am sure you can appreciate, all of us at Correct Craft have a passion for improving all of our boats, including the ski boats. The key word is �improving�; we don�t want change for change�s sake � we only want to make changes that our loyal customers consider a clear improvement in our product. We call it the best getting better� To help us determine what the market wants related to our product we rely on a Voice of a Customer (VOC) process. The VOC process includes getting information from many different sources, including the members of CCF. We then use this VOC information to start the product development process; however, we don�t actually offer a new product unless we all believe it is a better boat. The 196 is not exempt from this product development process. However, I can share a couple thoughts that I hope address your questions: While the market has shifted more towards an open bow ski boat, we understand that there are a lot of our customers who also want a closed bow boat. We want to make those customers happy. I am not going to approve production on any new boat until I have a clear consensus that the boat is a significant improvement. This will include a clear consensus among our athletes including Andy Mapple and Chris Parrish for ski boats as well as many others who would have the opportunity to ski behind a prototype boat. We are happy to offer the world�s best ski boat today and we are committed to only sell the world�s best ski boats in the future. We are excited about the future and are committed to exceeding the very high expectations of our customers. What is Correct Craft 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. - Adam Zuzelski, Jacksonville, FL This summer one of your competitors sponsored Marcus Brown in the "Face-to-Face" tour to build awareness for slalom skiing and waterskiing in general. What is Correct Craft planning on doing at the grassroots level in order to help grow and build awareness for towed water sports in general? � Joel Hughes - Libertyville, IL [BY] - Adam and Joel, I agree with you and understand that to help our business in the long run we have to help support our industry. We also believe that we support our industry in a big way and try hard to bring people into our sport. Some of the things that Correct Craft does to support our industry include: We are the major ski boat supporter of the International Water Ski Federation (IWSF). The IWSF supports the growth of water skiing all over the world and we are happy that almost all of their events are pulled by a Nautique. We are a co-founder of the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA) and I sit on the board. The WSIA, led by Larry Meddock, previously the VP � Marketing for Correct Craft, is trying to not only support the industry, but also to help people enjoy it in a safe manner. We are a premium supporter (the highest level) of USA Water Ski. USA Water Ski�s major goal is to promote water skiing in the US. We are a major sponsor of the INT League program which is an awesome grass roots program to encourage people to get into water skiing and wakeboarding. It also gives them an opportunity to compete. We sponsor numerous ski and wakeboard schools around the country which are teaching many to enjoy our sport. One of the largest of these schools is Mission Bay in San Diego; this school alone teaches over 6,000 people a year to enjoy watersports, including skiing. Our promo program provides nearly 100 boats each year all around the country to pull hundreds of local tournaments that promote skiing and wakeboarding. Our dealers have clinics at their locations to get people interested in skiing and wakeboarding. Many times these dealer events include our Team Nautique athletes as both a draw and an opportunity to give people a chance to receive world class training. We sponsor international events such as the Masters and national events such as the Big Dawg which we hope peaks people�s interest in skiing. On the wake side, on a national basis we sponsor the Wake Games and the National Championships each year which we hope keeps people interested in wakeboarding. We try to assist with owners reunions such as the CC Fan events. Adam, if you are not hearing about what we are doing it sounds like we need to do a better job communicating. In an effort to communicate better this past year we have started doing a few things: Nautique Insider � this is a Blog I write that was the industry�s first CEO Blog. The purpose of this Blog is to communicate to our loyal owners about many of the things we are doing. You can view it at http://www.nautiques.com/blog/. If you are interested in being notified as to when a new Blog is posted you can sign up on the Blog page. We have started a Nautique Nation monthly newsletter that can be viewed at http://www.nautiques.com/nautiquenation. You can sign up for this too Team Nautique Blog � this is a Blog our Team Manager, Kevin Durham, writes about things that are happening with our athletes. You can view it at http://blog.teamnautique.com/. Finally, keep an eye on our new award-winning website which has an events section. We will soon be updating this events section of our website for next season�s events. What are Correct Craft�s thoughts with regards to the future of 3-event skiing? � Joel Hughes - Libertyville, IL [BY] - Joel, Correct Craft was the first company to build a 3 event boat and we are very committed to 3 event skiing. We are also encouraged as we see so many families now enjoying 3 event skiing together. At a recent major event we had one of our customers with 3 generations present, all enjoying our sport. We sponsor the premier 3 event tournament in the world, the Masters. We sponsor the IWSF worldwide 3 event tournaments as the exclusive towboat which is a big investment on our part. Correct Craft also sponsors the world�s top male and female 3 event athletes, including Team Nautique athletes Jaret Llewellyn and Clementine Lucine. For 2 years in a row Jaret and Clementine have both been awarded the industry�s highest award as male and female athletes of the year. By the way, as an aside, Jaret and Clementine are both awesome people both on and off the water. Correct Craft built the industry�s first 3 event boat, we currently have the industry�s best 3 event boat, we have the world�s best 3 event athletes and we have no inclination to back off our support for 3 event skiing. 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 calendar yet? - Chris Quinn, Lake Villa, Illinois [BY] - Thanks Chris for the question. If you don�t mind I think this is a good opportunity for me to tell you and others how much we appreciate everyone on CCF. We appreciate your loyalty and we will continue to provide support for your events. Last year I had scheduling conflicts when both of the CCF reunions were held but I heard they were awesome. As you know Correct Craft was represented by Ken Meloon, our Board Chairman, and Dave Hendricks from our Customer Service department who you guys call The Godfather. Both Ken and Dave enjoyed attending and I am certain they would like to be back next year. As far as penciling in something on my calendar, I have not yet heard specific dates related to next year�s events. Once I get the dates I will do my best to arrange my schedule so I can attend at least one of the CCF events. 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! - Greg McFarland, Duluth,GA [BY] - Greg, actually we have talked about retro boats, including some discussions just recently. Whether we do it or not really comes down to priorities and the VOC process I mentioned previously. Our Product Development team has an aggressive 5 year product plan that has them pretty busy for years to come. However, we also try to be opportunistic so if we feel like there is a market for a retro boat we would definitely try to fit it in our schedule. Also, we are trying some new stuff including the CCF boat which we did for the CCF reunion and our new Byerly Icon Edition 210 which has received an incredibly positive response. I've heard that a Correct Craft dealer has exclusive territory and they should not sell to a buyer if their address is out of their territory. Is this accurate? If a customer knows they want a Correct Craft, would the customer be restricted in their ability to negotiate price between Correct Craft dealers and not be able to chose a dealer based on other preferences (like how/if they support CCF.Com, professionalism, service, etc.)? Also, if a customer was not yet sold on Correct Craft, why would you limit a customer to choose between a single Correct Craft dealer (one that happens to be close to them) who may not have the right inventory or service reputation when compared to the Malibu, Mastercraft, Supra, Tige, etc. dealers in their particular area. - Steve Evans, Milwaukee, WI [BY] - Steve, we do give each of our dealers an important area of responsibility and we highly encourage them to focus on that area. We believe the Nautique customer is better served when Nautique dealers focus on their specific areas of responsibility. Our goal at Correct Craft is to maintain the highest possible level of customer service and we have seen time after time that the best service comes when the boat owner has a relationship with a local dealer. We have won a slew of customer service awards over the years and we also believe that much of the credit for these awards is a direct result of the relationships our dealers have with their customers. We want to sell boats today but we also understand that in order to sell boats for decades to come it takes an investment in relationships. We want people to have a great buying experience but even more importantly we want our customers to have a great lifetime of experiences with their Nautique boats. We know that a good relationship with a local dealer goes a long way toward ensuring the lifetime of great experiences we hope people will enjoy with their Nautique. When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's, Correct Craft had local dealers to my area and you would see a lot of Correct Crafts on the water. For the past 20-25 years there have been no local dealers and I've hardly seen any newer 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 and dealer network in the Northeast? � Bruce Hart, Sebago Lake, ME [BY] - Bruce, your comment has been noted and I have already asked our Sales Department what we can do to better serve your area in Maine. Thanks for the info! More generally, we do have an aggressive dealer development program at Correct Craft and we are working hard to make sure we have great dealers all over the country. We have added many new dealers over the last 18 months. As you can appreciate we are very picky and want to make sure we only bring on the best dealers. That may slow down the timing of getting dealers everywhere we want but I assure you it does not temper our determination to have an awesome Nautique dealer everywhere one is needed. Steve, or anyone else, if you have specific thoughts on your area please feel free to email our National Sales Manager, Mike Yauch, at myauch@correctcraft.com. Is there any scenario in which CC would expand into other product lines? - Chris Conrad, Cedar Falls, IA [BY] - Sure Chris � we might. However, we are very protective of our Nautique brand and would not do anything to devalue our brand or the investment you have in your Nautique. Can you provide more insight into the SECC situation given the historical importance of the Meloon family ownership, both of that dealership and the Company itself as a whole. - John Berry, Lake Wales Florida (6 time Ski Nautique owner) [BY] - Sure John, I am happy to give a little more perspective on some of the changes you have mentioned. But first, thanks for owning 6 Ski Nautique boats! First of all, I think it is important to note that the Meloon family is still VERY much involved with Correct Craft. Ralph Meloon, son of our founder turns 91 this week and still shows up for work EVERY day encouraging everyone at the plant. Recently our new local dealer, Nautiques of Orlando, had a big Grand Opening celebration and Ralph was there greeting people and making them all feel welcome. Ralph is an incredible person who everyone loves. Our Board Chairman is Ken Meloon and our VP-Product Development is Greg Meloon. We have many other Meloon family members working at the company and they are all great contributors to what we are doing. We have a tremendous amount of respect for the Meloon family and their heritage. We are happy to have so many Meloons still involved with our company; they play important roles and have significant influence on our direction. Related to our Orlando dealer (which was previously owned by a Meloon who is no longer affiliated with Correct Craft), we did make a change here and I know there are a few people who were disappointed in the change. However, we have an obligation to do what is best in the long run for Correct Craft and our customers and we believe we did the right thing. After we made our change in Orlando the previous CC dealer took on a competitive towboat line. The way we view it, we expect competition and competition only makes us better. So while it may be a little strange for a Meloon family member to be selling a competitive brand we are focused on the future with the many Meloons who still work with us and still support us. While on a business basis we will have to compete, on a personal basis we truly wish our new competitor the best. John, I heard that you were at the recent Nautiques of Orlando Grand Opening (I hope you enjoyed it!) but for those of you who don�t know, our new Orlando dealer is Nautiques of Orlando and you can learn more about them at http://orlandonautiques.com/ . Effective January 1 Nautiques of Orlando will be our exclusive warranty and parts provider in the Orlando area so stop in and say hi to Jeff Husby and his team. I live in Orlando and, as you can imagine, I run into people all the time who either own a Nautique or are a Nautique loyalist. Almost without exception those people are excited about our changes in the Orlando area. We are too� How far back (in years) do dealers/distribution normally stock parts for CC boats? Has their been any testing of an adjustable trim tab for adjustable boat attitude vs. loading the boat with weight? - Ross Smith , Orlando,FL / Charlotte,NC [BY] - Ross, we typically carry about 7-10 years worth of parts for Nautique boats. If we don�t have the part you want many times we can direct you to the right place. I see you live in Orlando so give the guys at Nautiques of Orlando a call (407-425-2628) and I know they would be happy to help you. Regarding a trim tab, I am not sure what year your boat is but as you may know for several years we have offered the Hydro-Gate which helps with some of the items you are questioning. 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 available for Correct Crafts made before 1996. � I own three correct crafts a 2005 206, a 1999 python 196 and a 1989 Ski Nautique. Each boat serves its own purpose and has been well cared for, but things break or breakdown over time. � 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. Let�s see what we can do to help all these guys in keeping these boats looking great and on the water. Scott � Minnesota [BY] - Scott, first of all let me say WOW! Thanks so much for your loyalty. We really appreciate you and your family and I sincerely hope we get the chance to meet some day. Scott, let me make a few comments about your questions/comments: Many of the parts CC put on boats over the years were made by others. Sometimes those parts are no longer available to even us. The first source of parts should be your Nautique dealer as you have mentioned. Secondly you have already mentioned the CC parts guru, Bruce. Bruce has a wealth of knowledge and is always ready to help. Bruce can help you find anything that can be found. Please feel free to call him at (260) 833-2226 It is a little hard to compare boat parts to automobiles because of the size of the industries. There are millions of more cars built every year than boats so there is more of an economic incentive for people to continue making the parts. However, as I said above, if they can be found, Bruce can find them. Regarding the upholstery please call Bruce at Correct Craft East for this too; they have a source who works on the upholstery for older boats. Additionally, we have another company that we work with who has done a good job. They are based in Orlando and called Christine�s; they can be reached at (407) 859-8559 Scott, I am going to pass your comments on to Ron Nace who runs our Customer Service department and see if he can research the specifics of your issues more. Please feel free to contact Ron at rnace@correctcraft.com. Why are we (CorrectCraftFan.com Members) treated as second class boat owners? Why has CC not helped out with some of the site expenses? A couple of boxes of hats and a "pat on the head" for Keith is not enough. Correct Craft uses the CCF Reunion pictures in their brochure but there is no recognition for Keith nor for the site he has hand built. It seems that CC is feeding off of Keith's Plate, and that�s not right. � Billy Sutton, Monterey, LA [BY] - Billy, while I respect your question I have to disagree with your assumption. We value CCF members a lot and want to do everything we can to help you and others enjoy the Nautique life. Keith has done an awesome job with CCF but he has chosen to do that; it is not a company site. As you probably know there are many sites in our industry that give people an opportunity to socially network on an electronic basis and we definitely appreciate those sites that are friendly to us, but we do not control them. I have met Keith and he is an incredible guy, as you know. And, while we certainly appreciate the benefit Keith is offering to you, Nautique owners, we also see the benefit in not having the site controlled by Correct Craft. It provides additional credibility for the site to be independent. We will continue to do everything we can to support CCF and its events and we definitely appreciate Keith! Finally, let me say one more time how much we appreciate all of the CCF members. We take your loyalty very seriously and do not want to do anything to let you down. The future of Correct Craft is very bright � we are looking forward to the days ahead! A very special thank you to all who posted questions for Bill, and for Bill taking the time to give such thoughtful responses. Please feel free to Reply to this post with your comments. Thank you, -Keith
	Former: 97 Sport Nautique 1994 Ski Nautique 86 Silver Nautique 79 Mustang

rosconole Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Gold Member Joined: May-10-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 758	Post Options Post Reply Quote rosconole Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-18-2008 at 7:00pm
	Thanks, free beverages from my cooler anytime. Something I thought of while reading through maybe a retro Holman Moody co-branded boat...
	1989 ski nautique ,1991 barefoot nautique, 1993 Mustang Cobra 1998 5.0 Magazine shootout invitee

shawnmc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: March-17-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 282	Post Options Post Reply Quote shawnmc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-18-2008 at 8:23pm
	good job keith. thank you for this section.

SNobsessed Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102	Post Options Post Reply Quote SNobsessed Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-18-2008 at 9:29pm
	Keith - Make sure Bill knows I appreciate his forthright answers - he is a class act.
	“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Ben Franklin

Riley Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: January-19-2004 Location: Portland, ME Status: Offline Points: 7946	Post Options Post Reply Quote Riley Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-18-2008 at 11:30pm
	Bill, I'll gladly offer up a mooring and garage space for a demo if your looking to get exposure on Sebago Lake. I know 2 young guys that could promote the heck out of Nautiques every day all summer.

RainDog Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Platinum Member Joined: February-21-2007 Location: Mke/Grn Lake WI Status: Offline Points: 1387	Post Options Post Reply Quote RainDog Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-18-2008 at 11:43pm
	Thanks Keith and Bill for the opportunity for this dialog. There were some pointed questions and I thought Bill addressed them directly, with eloquence. And Keith, get Bill those GL 09 dates ASAP!
	62 Classic 2002 Super Air

jbear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: January-21-2005 Location: Lake Wales FL. Status: Offline Points: 8193	Post Options Post Reply Quote jbear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-19-2008 at 3:18am
	Thanks Keith...cool idea. Yes Bill....Patti and I were at the new Dealer. Met the whole crew plus Andy Mapple. Got to see our friend, the Godfather and catch up with a very special friend from our Ohio boat show days, Ralph Meloon. Was a great time. Thanks you as well for the personal answer to my question. And as to owning 6 C/C's...believe me...the pleasure was all mine. My brother has also had 6...bet there isn't to many brothers that have had 12 between them. We love 'em. john
	"Loud pipes save lives" AdamT sez "I'm Canadian and a beaver lover myself"...

eric lavine Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: August-13-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13413	Post Options Post Reply Quote eric lavine Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-19-2008 at 8:07pm
	would a bare hull ever be offered to the public as to where we could supply our own power and drive train?
	"the things you own will start to own you"

NautiqueJeff Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: October-24-2003 Location: Lake Norman Status: Offline Points: 233	Post Options Post Reply Quote NautiqueJeff Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-20-2008 at 11:13am
	Great job with the questions, guys. I think these interviews are great. There are not many industries where the key players would take time to answer questions like that. Yeargin's openness and willingness to participate in these interviews shows that he and Correct Craft are really committed to the fans of their boats. Thanks to Keith and Bill (and the CCF members who asked the questions) for a great interview!
	Current Boats: 1998 Ski Nautique, 2000 Sport Nautique, 1985 Sea Nautique 2700 (twin-engine), 1981 Fish Nautique (twin-engine), 1980 Fish Nautique (twin-engine)

Kristof Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: October-08-2007 Location: Bree, Belgium Status: Offline Points: 3391	Post Options Post Reply Quote Kristof Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-20-2008 at 5:17pm
	Bill, Keith and all others that contributed to this great topic: thanks for the inyresting reading and thanks for the involvment in keeping this great site and great boats great! PS: NautiqueJeff... your contribution to the Nautique brand is also very considerable! Even if I'm more of a lurker on your site, I always enjoy surfing to it
	- Gun control means: using BOTH hands! - Money doesn't make one happy, but when it rains cats and dogs, it's still better to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle...

searider Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: June-28-2006 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 92	Post Options Post Reply Quote searider Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-21-2008 at 7:10am
	Thanks Keith and Bill and all those those who asked some great questions.
	Marc 84 Southwind

Nautique2001 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Grand Poobah Joined: June-14-2004 Location: Massachusetts Status: Offline Points: 2832	Post Options Post Reply Quote Nautique2001 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: November-21-2008 at 7:03pm
	Keith, When you first created your site, CorrectCraftFan.com, did you ever think?: You know the President and CEO of Correct Craft. Meet so many new friends and characters. You draw all types of folks together across the US and other countries. Pull together popular and successful reunions. Have Correct Craft Inc. make a boat celebrating CorrectCraftFan.com site/members. Make thousands of people happy with buying and selling boats, parts and other equipment. Free troubleshooting saving thousands of dollars in labor. Know somebody like Quinner/Hollywood. Be recognized by professional water skiers. Support communities that you host reunions. And the list goes on and on and on.... Congratulations on what you've accomplished, Keith!!!! When Bill retires someday, maybe you can send C.C. Inc your resume? Ken
	Nautique 2001

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