With the crowd at Amsterdam’s National Maritime Museum on its feet, Viking Yachts co-founders Bill and Bob Healey received the 2019 IBI-Metstrade Boat Builder Lifetime Ahievement Award on Tuesday evening.
The Healeys founded Viking in April 1964 and built the company into one of the largest manufacturers of sportfishing and motoryachts. The award, which was sponsored by Side-Power, was presented to Bob Healey, Jr., executive co-chairman of the Viking Group.
When accepting the award, Bob Jr., said that his father and uncle would attribute the company’s success to the people behind the scenes at Viking, citing the work of long-time employees like Rudy Dalinger, Al and Frank Uhl, Juan Beltran and Bruce and David Wilson. “Without these people and many others, we wouldn’t be able to build a better boat every day,” Bob Jr., said in a statement. “So I’d like to thank you, and thank all of them as well.”
The fifth edition of the Boat Builder Awards was jointly organized by International Boat Industry magazine and Metstrade. The program received 82 nominations this year.
In addition to their success in boat building, the Healey brothers were recognized for their efforts to repeal the luxury tax of 1990. They have “proven to be an incredible force in the world of boatbuilding,” said Nick Hopkinson, IBI publishing director.
He continued, “Together they have successfully steered the company through the ups and downs of economic cycles and it remains as successful as every today, with the second and third generation of their families now driving the business. Its manufacturing plants represent the pinnacle of boat manufacturing achievement, with nine modern buildings, state-of-the-art machinery and the space to build 100-plus footers. The company has built more than 4,500 yachts in its 55-year history and continues to lead the marine industry through innovation and that same commitment to build a better boat every day.”
