Freedom Boat Club will start offering members Rinker Boats’ new Q5 outboard model and the new Q7 model, which will start production in September.
Both boats are available in outboard and sterndrive configurations.
Rinker will have both models on display at the Freedom Boat Club conference in November, said Rinker Boats president Kim Slocum.
“We just actually demo’d and delivered the first one to Freedom Boat Club last week, and [Freedom Boat Club president John Giglio] asked us to attend their vendor conference in November,” Slocum told Trade Only Today.
“The nice thing for us is they rotate those boats out. They don’t buy them and keep them forever, so it’s a constant stream of new business,” Slocum said. “For some of these people this will be a great introduction to boating for them, and over time some will wind up purchasing their own boat.”
Rinker will have the Q5s on display in the water, along with nine other models ranging from 21 to 37 feet, at the company’s dealer meeting Aug. 14-17 at Lake Wawasee, Syracuse, Ind.
“The 2018 Q5 outboard Rinker is the perfect fit for our club,” Freedom Lake St. Clair/Detroit franchise co-owner Rick Dobreff said in a statement. “We are so excited to spoil our members with such a high-quality boat. Thanks for helping us make our hassle-free boating an even more exciting experience. We look forward to adding the Q7 to our fleet next.”
Each Freedom location can choose the boats that best fit the needs of their customer base. Giglio provides franchisees with a list of approved and recommended boat brands and models.
“He loved the Q5, so we are on the ‘nice’ list,” Slocum said. “He said it would fit the needs of the majority of locations.”
