Profile

The MasterCraft Boat Company is a United States-based manufacturer of luxury high-performance boats. The company was founded in 1968 in Maryville, Tennessee, and is currently headquartered in Vonore, Tennessee. MasterCraft boats are used in waterskiing, wakeboarding and wakesurfing, though the company has also produced several boats that are not focused on water sports, such as the NauticStar line of fishing boats. MasterCraft's founder Rob Shirley was a young waterskiing instructor who opened a waterskiing school in Florida 1965. In 1968, with the help of a few fellow waterskiers, he modified a Ski Nautique boat manufactured by Correct Craft. The boat was completed in August, and debuted at the U.S. Nationals in Canton, Ohio. In that same year Rob had to close the school and moved to his wife's parent's farm in Maryville, Tennessee. There he founded the MasterCraft Boat Company, which initially operated out of a two-horse barn.