New ski boat company finishes first model

MOUNT DORA, Fla. – Standard Boat Co. owner Phillip Sheer has just finished production of his first ski boat, according to a recent article in The Daily Commercial.

This comes after a year and a half of designing and constructing molds to build a ski boat targeted at price-conscious consumers, the newspaper reported. With a price of $29,000, Sheer told the newspaper his 19-foot, 350-hp boat will compete more with used boats than new.

“My goal is to capture one percent of the industry,’ he was quoted as saying. “For every 100 boats sold, I’d like to sell one.”

Over the course of his career, Sheer, 28, has worked for six ski boat builders, the newspaper reported. However, his boat was not originally designed to compete with his former employers. He simply intended to build a boat for himself until his friends started asking for versions of their own.

Now, he expects to keep the company small, building one boat per week and eventually about 50 boats a year, the newspaper reported. All models will be sold direct from the factory to keep the cost down and be built according to customers’ specifications.

• For more of the latest news, click here.