Annual Dealer Meeting

This past week, we hosted our Viking and Valhalla Dealer Meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey. During the meeting, Viking President and CEO Pat Healey said, “We have the greatest product in the industry – Viking Yachts, Valhalla Boatworks and Princess Yachts America.” He went on to recap a year in review as well as a look at what’s to come. Pat closed his portion by reinforcing to the crowd the importance of “Building a Better Boat Every Day” – the Viking mantra created by his father, Co-founder Bill Healey. “We outperform all our competition. It’s what we do.”

Vice President of Sales Mark Waldron detailed the new 50 Series and announced dates for the Master’s Program, which is an intensive, hands-on two-day product education for authorized sales representatives. Other speakers included reps from Wells Fargo and engine manufacturers.

Customer Sea Trials

We also held customer sea trials across the Viking and Valhalla Boatworks fleets. The new Valhalla 55 Sport Yacht generated a lot of excitement, with one impressed customer sealing the deal after a spin on the beauty.

Sustainable Fuel Demo

Viking also showed its leadership during the Dealer Meeting and Sea Trial Event with a renewable diesel* demonstration and sea trial for the media aboard the Viking 48 Mack Attack, in collaboration with Mack Boring & Parts Company of Somerset, New Jersey. The Mack Boring–owned boat, powered by twin 1,150-hp Scania V8s, ran on renewable diesel for the event – proving that high-performance sportfishing yachts can operate with increased sustainability and no compromise in performance.

The demonstration raised awareness about the viability and effectiveness of sustainable marine fuel, which will, in turn, help drive the expansion of refinery production and distribution infrastructure on the East Coast and beyond.

Above: NBC News reporter Ted Greenberg interviews Viking President and CEO Pat Healey on the dock in New Gretna before Mack Attack departs for Atlantic City. Click here to watch NBC’s report.

*Renewable diesel is a clean-burning biofuel made from sources such as used cooking oil. It’s a drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel and requires no engine modifications.