The owner of the Invincible Boat Company expands its industry footprint by acquiring Yellowfin Yachts, another legendary brand.
Since its founding in 1998 Yellowfin Yachts has grown to dominate the offshore center console scene, building boats that run at speeds fast enough to earn you a ticket on the highway and come equipped to fish hard all day long. Though they started out with a 31-footer, Yellowfin was one of the pioneering companies when it came to growing center consoles larger and larger until they attained yacht status. Today their offerings include a dozen different models ranging from a 17’ poling skiff all the way to a 54’ quad-engine center console yacht and include offshore, bay, and hybrid bay models. And now, Warbird Marine Holdings has bought the company.
Warbird, formed by the New York-based private equity group EagleTree Capital, purchased Invincible Boat Company in July of 2019 and put industry long-timer John Dorton at the helm. With over 25 years of experience in the marine world, Dorton’s run boat companies including Hydra-Sports, MasterCraft, Crownline, and HeyDay.
Dorton says the Yellowfin team will remain in place and continue to be led by President and founder Wylie Nagler.
“The Yellowfin and Invincible brands have their own personalities and design philosophies, and we intend to keep it that way,” he said. As Dorton sees it, center consoles are split between “volume builders that can’t deliver the customization, quality, and performance a premium buyer demands, and small prestige brands that build quality boats but lack the scale and investment to become truly state-of-the-art.”
Will this acquisition lead to even better boats? Quite possibly. We’ve seen Invincible’s line-up thrive since being acquired by Warbird, first expanding with a potent 46’ power catamaran that’s been clocked at 78-mph, and now with their latest offering on the way: a unique 33’ twin-stepped cat that can carry 900 horses and boasts vacuum-bagged cored hull construction. So if past is prelude, we can expect Yellowfin to continue rolling out new and improved center console models in short order.
With Warbird’s investment backing and by combining the resources of both businesses, Dorton says innovation, quality, and customer service will all get a boost. He also looks to expand capacity, and ever-increasingly important factor holding many builders back during the recent popularity explosion in the fishing and boating markets. Yellowfin and Invincible will be managed separately, however, as sister companies under the Warbird umbrella. Warbird’s stated mission: bringing together the discipline and business rigor of a larger company with the entrepreneurial brands of premium sportfishing boats. And in doing so, create a higher level of craftsmanship, build quality, durability, and customer experience for brands in the group.
Considering the start they’ve have with Invincible and now Yellowfin, we’d say they’re right on target.
