Investment Group Acquires Performance Boats Magazine

ByJason Johnson

Led by performance boat enthusiast Ray Lee of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Performance Boats Magazine announced yesterday that an investment group has acquired the Nevada-based corporation. One of the only print publications left covering the performance boat market, Performance Boats was started in 2007 by publisher Chris Davidson.

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Owner of a LaveryCraft 2750 NuEra, Ray Lee is the new owner of Performance Boats Magazine.

According to an announcement on the PerformanceBoats.com forums, Davidson will remain onboard for an undisclosed timeframe and Editor Brett Bayne and Operations Manager Michele Plummer are pleased to be continuing their roles with the publication. Plans to expand distribution and increase editorial over the next 12 months are reportedly in the works.

“I was surprised when I saw Chris was putting the magazine up for sale,” said Lee, who is excited about the opportunity to bring renewed interest to the magazine. “Chris and I are friends so I called him up, with no intention of investing, just to see what was up. He told me he had a couple of other opportunities and was looking for someone who would keep the magazine going and make it thrive. He said ‘someone like you’ and I laughed at him.

“Long story short, we went back and forth and I’ve bought into the magazine with some investors,” continued Lee, who owns a LaveyCraft 2750 NuEra and has been part of the Performance Boats test team the past couple of years. “I’m hoping to enhance the magazine overall. From attending more events and having a larger presence in the industry, we’re going to do our best to improve an already well-respected brand.”

Lee said he is focused on increasing advertising sales, bringing a different level of organization to the publication and executing a few other exciting ideas he’s not ready to share just yet. He’ll be balancing his duties with the magazine with his role as general manager of Phillips Saw & Carbide Tool Company, his family’s tool manufacturing business in Rancho Cucamonga.