MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc is making its largest commissions yet: two 180-foot motor yachts.
“The owner came to us with a design brief, and what you see is basically that design brief come to life," said Ron Cleveringa, vice president of sales and marketing at the company.
Cleveringa's been in the business for 39 years, and Burger Boat Company has been around for over four times longer — operating since 1863.
In all of those years, Burger has built many ships, at times even making them for major U.S. wars. While some of those commercial builds have been larger than the current project, no custom commission has reached this size.
One of the 180-foot motor yachts, currently called Hull 514 by the Burger Boat crew, is already purchased and has been given an official name by its undisclosed owner. It was just released to the public on Wednesday, but it's been under construction for 18 months.
Its sister has not been built, but work on it will soon begin.
The yachts have many impressive technical details, including nine generators that come online as needed. a firs-of-its kind system to be installed on a yacht of its size. The yachts will also be prepared for all kinds of conditions, making them capable of cruising the world, including through frigid ice water.
Cleveringa said that even though the technical aspects of the design are indeed incredibly impressive, it isn't the parts, but the whole that makes it so great.
“The neatest feature of this yacht is the yacht itself, and the fact that the owner had trust in Burger to build his dream. That’s exciting. And it does put a lot of people to work with very good jobs right here in Manitowoc," Cleveringa said.
The sister yacht has not yet been purchased.
