That these words are harsh does not make them less true: The production-boat side of the high-performance world as we once knew it is dead. Gone and not coming back are the days of over-production, lost to the fate of decreasing demand.

Baja’s 30 Outlaw likely will be part of the new Baja performance-boat line.



On one hand, you could say that production builders and some of their over-zealous dealers (or dealers over-pressured by builders, depending on who you ask) did it to themselves. You wouldn’t be wrong. But you could also say that the nose-diving economy of the past few years played a huge role. There, too, you wouldn’t be wrong.

What’s emerging on the production side is a business model that follows a custom-boat production model, meaning quite simply that boats will be built when builders have customer orders—and substantial deposits—for them. In the “old days,” dealers floor-planned, meaning they ordered a bunch of production boats they believed they could sell each season. With all but local avenues of marine floor-plan financing gone, that’s no longer an option. So while dealerships continue to exist, showroom models are fewer and farther between.

Knowing a good deal when it saw one, an investment group called Liberty Associates acquired seriously hurting production builders Fountain, Donzi and Baja by Fountain a couple of years ago, and in essence became the owner of the production-built performance-boat market. In an economically savvy move, Liberty moved production of the Donzi line to the Fountain plant in Washington, N.C., earlier this year.

Now Liberty has announced that it will re-launch Baja, which for all intents and purposes had gone out of production since Fountain took over the brand. (OK, to be completely fair, Fountain did build one Baja that I know of and it was a nice boat—I know because I helped test it for Powerboat magazine.)

“We have given Baja a very thorough evaluation, ” said John Walker, the vice president of and chief operating officer of Liberty Associates who also will take on the role of Baja Marine president, in a press release. “The brand has some of the most loyal customers in all of high- performance boating, and many of them, along with several very successful past Baja dealers, have given us some tremendous feedback.

One of the last Outlaws introduced before Fountain took over Baja, the 35 Outlaw attracted a broad audience.



“We will reintroduce Baja with a very new and fresh model lineup, while retaining the key attributes and features that made this company so popular and successful for so many years,” Walker added.

Specific information on changes to the Baja line and when production of the revamped models will begin is not yet available. Regardless, this is good news.

Here’s why: Among those “key attributes” Walker mentioned has to be price. Baja models always have been affordably priced and have presented solid bang for the buck. To that end, they have supported both sides of the market. They have served as stepping stones to the custom boat world for new buyers who could afford a lot more but didn’t know if they wanted to. And they have enabled new and repeat buyers of more-modest means to own and enjoy performance boats for many years.

So the return of Baja, whenever it happens and whatever forms its models take, bodes well for the production- and custom-built performance-boat markets. Will Baja eventually pump out 500-plus models a year as it did in its hey-day? Not anytime soon, that’s for sure (and to be honest, probably not ever). No one I’ve spoken to in performance world believes the market will ever return to its highest levels. The demand simply isn’t there.

But there is a place for Baja, and the sooner it finds that place the better off builders and consumers will be. Baja’s success won’t come overnight, but I wouldn’t bet against it.

trulioheadshot1Bi-weekly columnist Matt Trulio is the editor at large for Powerboat magazine. He has written for the magazine since 1994. Trulio’s daily blog can be found on speedonthewater.com, a site he created and maintains, which is the high-performance arm of the BoaterMouth group.

Written by: Matt Trulio
Matt Trulio is the co-publisher and editor in chief of speedonthewater.com, a daily news site with a weekly newsletter and a new bi-monthly digital magazine that covers the high-performance powerboating world. The former editor-in-chief of Sportboat magazine and editor at large of Powerboat magazine, Trulio has covered the go-fast powerboat world since 1995. Since joining boats.com in 2000, he has written more than 200 features and blogs.