Industry Mourns Victoria Banister

With her husband, she ran 1st Performance Marina in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

By David Conway

June 16, 2026

Victoria Banister, president of 1^st Performance Marina located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. died June 8. She was 72.

According to her obituary, in June 1988, Bannister purchased Bill’s Sunrise Marina, a multilocation PWC rental operation in South Florida, and changed the name to 1^st Performance Marina. During the next 38 years, Bannister and her husband, Bob, turned 1^st Performance Marina into one of the top-ranked service facilities in Fort Lauderdale, focused on multiengine center consoles and motoryachts up to 60 feet.

From the time she started, Bannister ran the company as a family business for the benefit of her employees and was especially proud of the fact that many employees stayed with the company for decades.

“They were a huge asset to individuals and companies like ours,” Michael F. Joyce, CEO of Hargrave Yachts, said in a note to Trade Only Today.

David Conway

Senior editor David Conway has been writing about news and issues in the recreational marine industry for more than 20 years. He is the author of Fishing Key West & the Lower Keys and is also a contributor to Saltwater Sportsman, a Firecrown title.