From humble beginnings in 1959, Sea Ray grew to be a powerhouse in the boating world.
photo:sail-world.com
Inspiring Generations
It’s All In The Name
Ever wonder where the name for Sea Ray Boats for came from? That was easy, as the company’s founder, Cornelius ‘Connie’ Ray merely took the short form of his name ‘C. Ray’, and simply swapped the ‘C’ to a ‘Sea’ to come up with Sea Ray!
A great idea that launched what became a world-wide business. And a highly creative and easy way to remember and share it with the world.
photo:sailworld.com
Cornelius Ray III
Cornelius Nathaniel Ray III, known as Connie or C.N., was the founder of Sea Ray fiberglass boats. Born on May 14, 1925, he attended Detroit University in Grosse Pointe, Michigan (now University Liggett School). Ray joined the U.S. Army Air Corps at the outbreak of World War II and in 1949 graduated from UCLA. Ray became one of the pioneers of fiberglass boat construction when he founded the Sea Ray boat company in Oxford, Michigan in 1959.
Sea Ray Boats initially began as part of Ray Industries, an aggregate and charcoal company that his family operated out of Oxford. In 1959, Connie Ray purchased Carr-Craft Inc., a small Detroit-based fiberglass company specializing in the manufacturing of (amongst other products) golf cart bodies and small boats.
Ray was a recreational boating industry innovator. He was the first to adopt automotive styling to boats, hiring Harley Earl Associates - company of the famed General Motors designer - to produce consoles, dashboards, and upholstery trim similar to that used by the automotive industry. As a result, his boats were considered by many to be the most stylish and comfortable water-crafts of their time.
photo:detroithistorical.org
Sea Ray Success
Much of Connie Ray’s success can be attributed to his positive attitude and likability. He personally recruited dealers, tested many of his boats before he allowed them to be sold, and often called his customers personally to inquire about their satisfaction. The company expanded over the years, building a new factory in Oxford on Stony Lake, a corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona and another factory on Merritt Island, Florida. As a World War II pilot, Ray was comfortable flying his Lear jet to conduct his business, undoubtedly making an impression on his dealers and customers.
photo:macray.com
Sale of Sea Ray Boats
Throughout his career, Ray built Sea Ray into a boating industry leader before finally selling the highly successful company to its current owners, the Brunswick Corporation, in 1986. He retired four years later to pursue his interests in boating, aviation, and thoroughbred horses.
In 1987, not long after selling to the company to Brunswick, Connie partnered with Bill McMachen (one of the first Sea Ray dealers) and purchased property on the north-west shore of Lake St. Clair in Michigan to build one of the finest marina facilities in the Great Lakes area - MacRay Harbor.
Connie Ray passed away at his ranch in Santa Ynez, California on November 12, 2009 at the age of 84, after a five-year battle with cancer.
Article sourced with segments from: Encyclopedia of Detroit/Detroit Historical Society