A local boat manufacturer celebrated 25 years of business with the construction of a special edition luxury boat.
Andy Barry, owner of Silver Streak, built a custom designed boat in honor of over two decades of business. The nearly $90,000 vessel, painted a pale beige, boasts all the advanced modifications. Light, fast, and fancy, the edition has been appropriate dubbed Phantom.
The Silver Streak 25th anniversary coincidentally coincided with the 50th Vancouver Boat Show. According to Terrence Martin, operations manager, the prized model towed the frontline in the company’s biggest presence at the Lower Mainland show.
The boat was a special project undertaken from Barry himself, but is on the market for sale.
According to Martin, the 25th year anniversary is a milestone for Silver Streak, as the previous recession hit the boat manufacturing industry hard.
“In terms of what’s significant for the 25th year of the company is that this company is still here and a lot of big companies are not,” he said, adding the boat building business slumped due to a downturn in recreational spending.
Martin said Silver Streak persevered and continues to thrive because the company focuses on building work-type boats — fishing boats, prawn boats, and craft-type boats. On top of independent clients, he said the company has built boats for government bodies like the Department of Oceans and Fisheries, and Parks Canada, and also builds boats for First Nations.
The company recently jumped into the international market and shipped a boat to Siberia, to be used for security purposes.
“The prospects for this company are better than ever. We’re currently tooling up, we’ve hired three or four people that I can recall in the last 2-3 months just to meet the production requirements.”
The company currently has 14 full-time employees, in addition to contracted help. Martin said the small operation also benefits the local economy by obtaining glass and canvas materials and hauling services locally.
The company has 14 models of boats, including the Phantom, and can add 1,400 different modifications. Approximately 700 boats have been built so far.
