Commentary: Shine Sweet Freedom—Brunswick’s Power Play
Thanks to Nor-Tech Hi-Performance Boats dealer manager Geoff Tomlinson and Nor-Tech 390 Sport center console owners Pam and Todd Martin, last month I was able to look like a seriously well-connected dude in front of a few dear friends from Indiana, who have a second home in Naples, Fla. Here’s how it all went down.
Brunswick’s move to acquire the Freedom Boat Club is brilliant.
I had business in Fort Myers that kept me over a weekend, and my friends wanted to take me boating on Sunday. But they don’t own a boat—at least in Florida. (They have a pontoon boat at their summer home on the shores of Indiana’s Lake Wawasee.) They’re members of the Freedom Boat Club in the area, and they had planned to grab a deckboat for a day of casual cruising.
That seemed like a slow-moving slice of hell to me, being more than a little spoiled with unlimited opportunities to enjoy big-dollar go-fast boat. So I called Tomlinson. who, in turn, set us up with the Martins on their pretty 39-footer. Tomlinson, his wife, Katy, and their adorable daughter Mallory joined us for the delightful day on the water, which included lunch on Captiva Island.
At one point during the ride home, we reached almost 60 mph. My Hoosier friends were exhilarated. It’s easy to forget that 60 mph is faster than most people have ever gone or will go in a boat.
and then