|
|
Article: Making waves; Boats and personal watercraft compete for space on lakes and rivers and they also compete for buyers. And as personal watercraft capture a larger share of the market, the competition between boat makers and watercraft manufacturers has grown less friendly.(BUSINESS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- January 5, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
In less than a decade, personal watercraft have established a beachhead on the water sports scene, a development that's been a boon to two Minnesota companies that make the machines and a bummer to another whose boats compete against them.
Minneapolis businessman Irwin Jacobs has been in the boat business for about 20 years, and his company, Genmar Holdings Inc., is one of the biggest powerboat companies in the world. To him, the growing buzz of personal watercraft is about as welcome as an infestation of eurasian milfoil on a pristine Minnesota lake.
In Jacobs' mind, the interests of the boating and personal watercraft industries are so at odds that he ...