Pleasurecraft Marine Engine Co. founder and former owner Paul Fletcher died June 20. He was 77. Pleasurecraft Engine Group parent Correct Craft made the announcement.
Fletcher started Pleasurecraft Marine Engine Co. in 1975 in Columbus, Ohio, expanding the company the next year. He later moved operations to a newly built, 140,000-square-foot facility in Little Mountain, S.C., where Pleasurecraft Engine Group is headquartered.
Correct Craft acquired Pleasurecraft Engine Group in 2014; PEG provides engines for its Nautique and Centurion model lines. PEG brands include PCM Marine Engines, Crusader and Levitator, as well as Velvet Drive transmissions.
“Paul was an amazing engineer and businessman, and was integral in growing Pleasurecraft to the company it is today,” said PEG president Mark McKinney. “Through my 30 years at Pleasurecraft, I enjoyed working with Paul, and I learned so much from him.”
Correct Craft president and CEO Bill Yeargin said the team will miss Fletcher’s “creative and entrepreneurial spirit.” Yeargin also recalled the acquisition, citing Fletcher’s trepidations for the team he had built.
“In 2014, when Paul was considering the sale of Pleasurecraft, he was deeply concerned about how the new owner would steward what he had built and, most importantly, how his employees would be treated. I appreciate Paul trusting Correct Craft,” Yeargin said.
An obituary can be found here.
