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Viking’s New 90-Foot Sportfish Yacht

• By Kim Kavin
• August 1, 2023

Viking Yachts made more than a few anglers happy with its Viking 92 model, delivering 21 of those boats to new owners in a span of seven years. But then, a few years ago, eco-minded regulations came into play that would have required additional equipment on board—equipment that was problematic in so many ways that the builder decided to design a new model instead, one that was just a bit smaller to avoid the regulatory size cutoff. That new sport fishing model is the 90C, which premiered at the Miami International Boat Show in February 2023. As of early April 2023, 16 of the 90Cs had already been sold.

“We designed it right under 24 meters,” says Pat Healey, president and CEO of Viking Yachts. “We took 13 inches out of the beam, 27 inches out of the length, we got it under 24 meters, and we gained outstanding performance. The boat cruises at 32, 33 knots, tops out at 38 full of fuel. We see 40 knots every day with it—that’s a big increase in speed over the 92. The 92 is an awesome, incredible boat, but this boat, it’s seven years of building 92s—everything we learned from doing that, we took it and put it into this boat.”

The 90C’s features include a 203-gallon transom fish box/livewell, a pair of 103-gallon insulated in-deck fish boxes (with optional refrigeration), a Seakeeper 35, and a cockpit sole that’s reinforced for a fighting chair, rocket launcher or table. Inside are six staterooms and seven heads, along with a full-size stackable washer and dryer.

Hull No. 1 of the 90C is being used as a demo boat on the tournament circuit. It was headed to the Bahamas as this issue went to press, with Healey pleased about its performance: “It just does things like a 70- or 80-foot boat, but you have the accommodations of a 92.” 

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Viking Service Team

The Viking Yacht Service Department is fully staffed with experts trained in various Viking systems and models. Whether you are looking for that hard to find replacement part, or have a question concerning components aboard your Viking, our service staff is readily available to assist and help handle your boating needs.

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Meet Pat Healey

• By Peter Frederiksen
• Updated: March 9, 2018

A second-generation boatbuilder, Pat Healey heads up Viking Yacht Co. as its president and CEO. The company is family owned and operated, with plants spanning some 800,000 square feet on the banks of the Bass River in New Gretna, New Jersey, and on the Mullica River, a short ride from the bright lights of Atlantic City. In its last fiscal year alone, Viking built 79 sport-fishing boats, from 37 to 93 feet, and it’s on track to continue its tremendous success in 2018 and beyond.

What were your first jobs when your father, Bill, and uncle Bob Healey started Viking Yachts in 1964? Viking was building wooden boats back then. I was probably 10 years old and would come to the factory with my father on Saturdays. My first job was in the green oil department: The insides of the hulls needed multiple coats of green wood preservative, so I used a big paint brush on a long stick and slopped the thin oil everywhere so it would be absorbed into the grain of the wood. I plugged the teak decks and was taught that each plug needed to have the grain going in the right direction, and I also packed oakum yarn between the hull planks with a putty knife.

Did you know right away boatbuilding would be your career? Pretty much. And any time I complained about how hard the work was, my father told me a thousand times that growing up in a boatyard was better than being on an iron pile, which is how he and my uncle Jerry grew up. When I bitched, my father would ask, “So, you want to go to the iron pile? Come on, I’ll take you to Uncle Jerry.”

Which departments have you worked in? During high school and college, I worked throughout the summer months and part time when I could, and I worked in all aspects of boatbuilding. I spent 10 years full time in production, and enjoyed the fiberglass work because I was a surfer and fixing surfboards was a given in my early teen years. But I also fixed up old boats — Wellcrafts and other rehabs. I wanted to learn how to do all this, and I enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time in mechanical setups and basically went through the whole company. Eventually, Rudy Dalinger put me in charge of the trim section and I worked there for about three years. I became a service supervisor and finally went into sales.

How did Hatteras and Bertram influence Viking designs? My father would wake me up before the crack of dawn when we were at the boat shows in New York, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and we would study the Hatteras and Bertram displays. They had a lot of great ideas, and each time we came away with improvements. We always built a great boat, from the early 1970s, but our boats had what I call a Jersey style, while the others had their North Carolina and South Florida looks. They had that panache. So we set out to change the style, and it began appearing in our 35-, 41- and 46-foot convertibles. We could sell boat for boat with Hatteras and Bertram in the Northeast, but they would kick our ass everywhere else.

What is the driving force at Viking? To build a better boat every day, a mantra my father came up with a long time ago. We strive to out-design, out-build and out-service everyone. In 1995, I was the vice president of sales overseeing marketing, sales and service. My father and I were butting heads on design. I wanted to incorporate the ideas of the younger members of our team. We were hardcore fishermen. So in 1996, my father gave us a shot with Bruce Wilson and his son David, Drew McDowell, Lonni Rutt and me. We reviewed the custom boatbuilding world and took those great features that were focused on chasing billfish around the world and incorporated those into the Viking 55 Convertible. In the fall of 1997, we launched our first 55. By the time the boat appeared at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, we had sold the first 20 hulls. It became one of the most successful boats in our history and accomplished an equally important mission of delivering the boats on time, which to this day remains a company benchmark.

How do you stay in touch with your customers? We are all eyes and ears at fishing tournaments and boat shows. We are still learning every day. If we can tweak something to make it better, we do. It could be changing the layout of the mezzanine or tackle center, fine-tuning the livewell so you don’t lose bait, or tweaking the props. We stay on top of everything we build.

So rather than chase success, you make it happen. To be successful, you surround yourself with the right people. That box is checked: We have the best. You need to stay current on available materials and methods used to build the boats to make them stronger, lighter, more fuel efficient and faster with available horsepower. It’s important to be on the leading edge, whether it’s in fiberglass, resins, generator technology, steering or electrical systems. It’s important to build boats that are Seakeeper ready, which we have done for the past 10 years. Knowing the next big item in the industry helps us build that better boat. We spend $12 million a year in our research and development, and that is a critical investment over the long haul.

How has the Viking acquisition of the former Ocean Yachts plant played out? Ocean’s John Leek III wanted to retire, and he approached me about acquiring his 100,000-square-foot facility, which is only 9 miles from New Gretna, and I didn’t think twice. But I wanted two things in addition to the plant: the 37 Billfish, because it was a nice design although it never had a real chance to be successful because of the timing of its introduction in 2008. I also wanted John Leek IV to come work for Viking because he is an outstanding boatbuilder. In our first full year, we built 35 Vikings in that facility, from 37 to 52 feet. The plant, which we call Viking Mullica, allows us to free up space on our four production lines in New Gretna for our larger convertibles as well as our line of motoryachts.

What does Viking have in store for the 2018 model year? The 68 Convertible premiered at our VIP Preview and then again at the Miami International Boat Show. We also have a new 44 Open and Convertible, as well as a 68-foot Enclosed Bridge on the way.

Who do you admire in the industry? I look up to the boat­builders. They know who they are because I shake their hand and give them a hug and say there are not many of us left. That’s who I admire. We need more boatbuilders to keep this industry going.

Read Next: Viking 92 – Boat Review

What is your favorite type of fishing? My favorite is billfishing, but right behind it is striper and flounder fishing. I just enjoy a bent rod. The reason I enjoy billfish so much is the interaction with all the other teams on the dock. There is nothing like it: the camaraderie, having a beer on the dock box in the afternoon, eating a slice of pizza in the cockpit, rigging baits till midnight, working on the boat. All the challenges that go along with tournament and fun fishing are just awesome. I have the same passion for stripers and flounder, but there’s more at stake when you’re billfishing. It’s a bigger rush.

• More: Sport Fishing Boats , Viking Yachts

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JBYS is the Oldest Viking Dealer Worldwide

The Viking Yacht Company started by brothers Bob and Bill Healey. In 1964, they bought Peterson-Viking Builders. Based in New Gretna, NJ, Viking builds the world’s best luxury performance sportfishing and cruising yachts. Celebrating over five decades in the business, Viking Yachts is a family owned company. They have evolved to be a global leader in semi-custom fiberglass yacht production.

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Passing Of A Legend: Viking’s Robert Healey, Sr.

Robert Healey, Sr. – who cofounded the Viking Yacht Company with his brother Bill back in 1964 -passed away on December 9, 2021.  He was 92.

A graduate of Camden Catholic High School, St. Joseph’s University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his law degree, Bob would spend 25 years dedicated to the field of law before he and Bill turned Viking into the #1 sportfishing yacht manufacturer in the world.

With Bill handling the boat manufacturing end, brother Bob steadfastly kept up on the business side of the equation.  As Viking’s Chairman of the Board for 57 years, Healey, Sr. diversified their financial interests into multi-family, industrial and commercial real estate, oil and gas exploration and development.  He would go on to receive numerous awards for his many achievements, including induction into the NJ Marine Trades Association Hall of Fame, as well as the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame.

When the Healey brothers bought Peterson-Viking Builders, it was a small, struggling New Jersey builder of 37-foot, wooden sportfishing boats.  The first all-fiberglass Viking, the 33′ Convertible, wouldn’t roll off the New Gretna, NJ line until 1971.  But on their nearly six-decade journey towards becoming number one in the sportfishing game, Healey, Sr. also channeled his financial success into philanthropic interests, which included building schools in impoverished areas of Mexico, and providing housing, medical assistance, education, food and clean water to the people of war-torn Sierra Leone through the Healey International Relief Foundation.

Together with his wife Ellen, he also founded the Gleneayre Equestrian Program, which uses the unique connection between horses and people to support learning, growth, and healing to help support at-risk youth.

“My father was a true leader, and his vision will always guide us,” said his son, Robert Healey, Jr. who added “He believed that the people around him – his family, friends and employees – lifted him to success and it was his obligation to leave the world a better place.”

No Is Not An Answer

I was executive editor of The Fisherman Magazine in late 2008 when Mr. Healey called me on the phone to pitch me an idea. “Mr. Healey” is the only way I felt able to address him then, as I do today. It’s probably important to understand that my honor and respect for the Healey family came at an early age. My grandfather, James Becotte of Ocean City, had run boats for Post Marine in Mays Landing, and he would occasionally take me for tours of some of the local manufacturing facilities; our visit to the Viking facility in the 1970s somehow stuck out vividly in my memory.

So while working out of our Shirley, NY headquarters for just 2 short years, I was a bit surprised when Mr. Healey asked me over the phone to take the reins as managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA). I politely declined, to which he responded rather emphatically that I should personally visit him and his son Bob, Jr. at the Healey’s horse farm. To paraphrase, “Nobody says no to me on the phone, you come out and here and tell me in person.” As I was beginning to learn, Mr. Healey was not the type of man to take “no” or “not” as an answer.

In the 1950s, the Healey brothers acquired and developed the Bass River Marina in New Gretna before buying Peterson-Viking in the 1960s. After renaming the company to Viking Yachts, the Healey’s moved the boat manufacturing facility to their property adjoining the marina. But as business began to occupy so much of their time, they sold off the marina to focus attention on Viking; Bob, Sr. the moneyman and Chief Executive, while Bill focused on the essentials of boat building.

Viking Yachts would go on to become what they are today, but not without one incredibly large obstacle that threatened to destroy everything. In November 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed off on a luxury tax aimed at reducing the federal budget deficit (despite that “read my lips” moment on the campaign trail). The 10% luxury tax was levied on watches, jewelry, expensive furs, private jets, expensive cars, and yes, boats and yachts too. While some Americans might see a tax on the rich as a worthy investment in the middle class, it would turn out to have many different results. As noted in a 1993 Baltimore Sun article, the Luxury Tax would cost billions of dollars in lost boat sales and tens of thousands of lost jobs between 1990 and 1993. Many boat manufacturers went belly up during this period, and Viking itself was forced to lay off all but 65 of its 1,500 boatbuilders.

As I said, Mr. Healey never responded well to no’s and not’s, and he was instrumental in spearheading a national, grassroots campaign to fight the tax. Mr. Healey took the industry lead, organized busloads of out-of-work boatbuilders to converge on Capitol Hill for demonstrations, and set fire to a boat on a barge in Narragansett Bay as a highly effective symbol of protest. He would continue to work with Rep. William Hughes of New Jersey’s second congressional district to help secure votes in Congress, and by August of 1993, President Bill Clinton officially signed the repeal of the “luxury tax” while citing an overwhelming loss of American jobs.

“My uncle’s efforts to repeal the Federal Luxury Tax on yachts will never be forgotten,” said Bill’s son and Viking Yachts President and CEO Pat Healey. “He saved not only Viking but the entire marine industry. He was the catalyst and leader, and he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

With his brother’s help, Mr. Healey privately funded the company out of his own savings, allowing Viking to tool up new models during the early 90s downturn. While sales from 1991 until 1993 were dismal to say the least, the Healey’s decision to remain open allowed the company to tool up for new models, which helped the company leapfrog competition in the mid-1990s. Once the Luxury Tax was finally repealed, Viking Yachts fired out of the gate, taking over the position of #1 sportfishing yacht manufacturer.

“He was a brilliant lawyer and savvy businessman who was able to convince the politicians in Washington that this was very much a jobs issue,” his nephew Pat said, adding “It was a great victory for our family-owned-and-operated boatbuilding company, the people of New Jersey and everyone in the marine industry.”

Thus it was sometime around Christmas of 2008 – not long after the passing of my grandmother Becotte – when I sat down personally with Mr. Healey and his son Bob, Jr. at their Gleneayre farm to discuss the RFA position offered by phone; the one which I’d already turned down. After trying the “no” route several more times during our meeting, I eventually agreed to give notice to The Fisherman in early January; I would spend the next 6 years at RFA working not far from the Viking facility in New Gretna.

The Politics Of Fishing

In the years that immediately followed the luxury tax repeal, Mr. Healey began to focus on the political solutions to problems plaguing the recreational fishing and boating industry. In 1996, he and former New Jersey charter boat captain Jimmy Donofrio helped establish RFA as a 501(C)(4) nonprofit political action organization to promote sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine environment. Over the past 25 years, Viking has contributed well over $1 million to the RFA efforts.

“I got to spend a lot of time with Bob driving to DC meeting with House and Senate members, and I was always amazed by his instinctive ability to analyze a situation and read people,” Donofrio said of Mr. Healey. “He was a brilliant leader and a mentor for me. He always told me just keep moving forward and get it done. I am happy he had a full life and I was glad to have some part in it over 25 years. Love you Bob,” Donofrio added.

Of Donofrio, Mr. Healey leaned towards me across his desk during that sit-down at the family farm in 2008, and in deadpan expression said “You see, Jimmy Donofrio is like nuclear energy, control it and you can power the world.” As he spoke, he brought his hands together with fingers entwined, before suddenly breaking his hands apart and saying “but if you can’t keep it under control, you could destroy the entire planet.”

It was a strange way to hammer the deal into place. Those who know Donofrio will no doubt appreciate the analogy. But those two men have very much been like father and son, loyal as the day is long, and patriots to the cause. The fact that Mr. Healey passed away just weeks before Donofrio’s official retirement from the RFA was perhaps more poignant than coincidental; both representing devastating losses to the fishing community as a whole.

Some cynics I’ve met over the years could never be convinced that Bob and Bill Healey cared much for the little guy, blindly viewing them simply as wealthy boatbuilders who only cared about their big boat customers. But as Mr. Healey would often explain to me, hardworking folks who make a modest living today strive for success in the future; a young plumber’s apprentice for example, working a 60-hour workweek so that he can climb aboard a skiff for a weekend of fluking, might someday step away from his own plumbing and supply company for a few hours each week to tool around in his 55′ Viking convertible called Pipe Dreams .

So as much as the Healey family has remained committed to a personal mantra “to build a better boat every day,” they also dedicated their personal and professional lives to looking out for everyone else in the recreational fishing and boating community, navigating some often treacherous political waters. As the saying goes, “a rising tide floats all boats.”

“My father always said, ‘We’ve worked hard to get to the top of the mountain, we’re enjoying the view and we’re not going to give it up,'” said Bob Jr. who is now co-chairman of the Viking Group which manages Viking Yachts, Viking Investments, Viking Associates, Viking Residential and Viking Developers. In fact, in following with his father’s belief in finding political solutions to solve problems, the younger Healey recently tossed his hat into the political ring in announcing his bid for Congress in 2022 running against Rep. Andy Kim in New Jersey’s third congressional district.

“The reason those boats are of such good quality is because we’ve got a 57-year history of having really great people that work alongside us,” Healey, Jr. was recently quoted as saying at NewJerseyGlobe.com , adding “We’re talking about 57 years of people who have been able to buy a house based on working for our company.”

“Some of them are immigrants. Some of them were born and raised here. Some of their families go back 300 years in places like Ocean County and Atlantic County… they’re all really good people,” Healey, Jr. told NewJerseyGlobe.com .

The Healeys repurchased Bass River Marina again in 2002, reopening it as the Viking Yachting Center. Along with the Viking Yacht Company, the marina complex also includes Breeze’s Bar and Grill on the Bass River along with a fuel dock. In 2016, Viking also purchased the Ocean Yacht facility in Egg Harbor City – roughly 9 miles from the New Gretna facility – where Viking Mullica builds the new line of Valhalla Boatworks center consoles from 33 to 46 feet.

All together both South Jersey facilities employ roughly 1,100 good people.

Perrine, Leek, Cavileer, Hankins, Henriques, Hunt, Post, Olsen, Peterson; the list of family names in New Jersey boatbuilding history is a long one, dating back to colonial times. And while Viking may be the brand best known around the globe today, it’s the Healey name that will carry along with the other legends of New Jersey’s rich seafaring lineage.

Fair winds and following seas Mr. Healey.

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For those interested in making the Viking Yachting Center a homeport, you will really appreciate our protected marina location that offers up a peaceful and spectacular natural backdrop to help you unwind and escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And when you want to pick up the pace and get the action started, our marina is conveniently located just minutes from prime fishing and cruising locales along with many other exciting Jersey Shore attractions.

Manufacturer's Representative

Job posting for manufacturer's representative at viking yacht company.

```Duties```

• Viking Yacht Company , the industry leader in yacht manufacturing, is seeking a highly motivated individual for their Sales Department as manufacture representative. This position offers an extensive factory-training program to those who qualify. Hands on boating and fishing experience a plus and college graduate preferred.

Viking yacht offers competitive wages along with an excellent benefits package, (401K with 50% matching, medical, dental, life, LTD, vision, prescription insurance), and incentive bonus plan and a pleasant and safe working environment.

Viking Yacht has an excellent benefits package (medical, dental, prescription, vision, life) including a 401K retirement plan.

If you are interested in joining the number one team in sport fishing yachts builders, please send your resume with salary history to:

Andrew Davala

Viking Yacht co.

New Gretna, NJ 08224

Viking is an EOE, m/f, ADA employer

Job Type: Full-time

• 401(k) matching
• Cell phone reimbursement
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid training
• Profit sharing
• Vision insurance
• 8 hour shift

Supplemental pay types:

• Bonus opportunities

Work Location: In person

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