On Aug 3, 7:18*pm, RichZ
wrote:
Slinkeey wrote:
Hello,

Does anyone know if Ned Momany is still in the boat buildig business
or if any of the molds from the Winner Boat Company are still in use
to date? *They made some great boats in their day!

Jeff

I ran a factory Winner in the mid-to late 80s. I believe the last
Winners that came out of Dickson TN were labeled '89 models, but were
actually built/shipped in late '88.

Ned had some trouble meeting insurance payments after a principal in the
company made of with a large chunk of the bankroll, and closed up shop
in '88. He resurfaced a couple years later at Bass Pro, about the time
the glass boat division of Tracker was becoming Nitro, but wasn't there
all that long, to my knowledge.

The holding company that bought everything out (and came to get my
factory boat) sold most everything to the guys who started Sprint boats.
Sprint had the same hull design, but weighed about 2/3 as much, and
didn't use the 'no-wood' stringer/transom system that made the Winner
unique at the time.

Ned was 60 when I met him in the mid-80s, so if he's still around, he
would have to be in his mid-80s.

Ahhh.... Sprint Boats.. I aslso heard Aries may have also gotten some
of the molds.

Those boats still had wood in the transom though I beleive. I think
many other Bass boat manufacturers had wood stringers even into the
90s. Did they get the fiberglass grid system idea from the older
Winner Boat company that was bought up by Thompson?

My parents had a Winner Chameleon and my mother seams to remember that
you got a great boat for the money.

I kind of want to get my hands on a Winner. The fiberglass stringer
system makes me want to beleive that a Winner from the late 80s can
still be a great shape. The only thing that scares me is the wood in
the transom. Maybe when it is time to shop the used market, I should
just forget about Winner....

One thing that I found interesting is that they made a boat called a
Spirit.. It looks like a Ski Boat / Runabout on a bass boat's hull. I
am guessing it was to compete with the smaller Checkmates.

Wow I didn't realize Ned was in his 60's when he was involved with
Winner.