Yachting industry stays afloat by going international

By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On the Sheboygan lakefront, not far from a sausage factory and the Wild Coyote nightclub, Wisconsin’s connection with the global economy could hardly have been more apparent.

Yacht dealers from more than 20 countries met at the Blue Harbor Resort and Conference Center this past week for the annual Cruisers Yachts dealership conference. Coming from Dubai, Singapore, Poland, Greece, Venezuela and other far-flung destinations, dealers placed orders for boats and plotted a sales strategy with an increasingly international flavor.

Buoyed by a weak U.S. dollar that makes American goods cost less overseas, about one-third of Cruisers' sales are now outside the United States, up from 4 percent only a few years ago.

"Thank goodness for overseas business. I wouldn't even want to think about it if we didn't have international buyers," said Jim Viestenz, president of KCS International, the parent of Oconto-based Cruisers Yachts.

What's more, other Wisconsin yacht builders are making waves in the global economy through sales and manufacturing.

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