Chaparral Boats

Chaparral Boats (originally Fiberglass Fabricators) was founded in 1965 by William “Buck” Pegg in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida The company’s bellwether boat at the time was the 15’ Tri-Hull with a sticker price of $675.[1] Although the tri-hull was discontinued in the early 80’s many remain in commission today. In 1967 fire destroyed Chaparral’s Ft. Lauderdale facility. The company re-built in Ft. Lauderdale. In 1976 Chaparral Boats had outgrown it’s Ft. Lauderdale production facility and was looking to expand. That year the Larsen boat manufacturing facility in Nashville, GA became available due to Larsen Boats filing for bankruptcy. In 1976 Chaparral Boats purchased the facility and moved its headquarters to Nashville, Ga and was incorporated in Georgia, where it remains today.[2] Soon after re-location James "Jim" A. Lane (CPA) joined the company as President, a position he still holds today.[3]

In 1986 Chaparral Boats was purchased by RPC Energy Services (NYSE:RES) of Atlanta, Georgia. In 2001 RPC spun off Marine Products Corporation (NYSE:MPX). This offering included Chaparral Boats, Inc. and Robalo Boats, LLC (Purchased from Brunswick Boat Group in 2001).[4][5]

In 2012, Chaparral introduced a lower price-point vessel, the H20 speed boat, to appeal to a wider audience. In 2013, it combined the company's luxury roots with speed, launching the Premiere 420, a 42-foot sport yacht.[6] Chaparral currently manufactures pleasure and fishing boats ranging from 18’ sport boats to 40’ yachts in its Nashville, Georgia facilities.

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