Brunswick : Mercury Marine’s preserves its heritage with a return to Lake X
February 19, 2018 at 09:00 am EST
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FOND DU LAC, Wis. (February 19, 2018) - Mercury Marine, the world leader in marine propulsion, is reviving a piece of its history as the company has agreed to lease the property at Lake X in Central Florida. Lake X, a pillar of Mercury's heritage, was designed and built by Mercury Marine Founder E. Carl Kiekhaefer in 1957 and later sold to the Kirchman Foundation, who still owns the property today. The facility was designed to be the most secluded marine testing facility in the world with 12,000 acres of land and 1,440 acres of water at Lake Conlin.
'Mercury Marine is closing in on its 80th anniversary (in 2019) and we have a rich heritage that is unmatched in the marine industry,' said Michelle Dauchy, Mercury Marine chief marketing officer. 'Returning to Lake X is an opportunity to build an immersive brand experience around that heritage and capitalize on the popularity of the Mercury brand. We have been able to host customer and media events as well as take advantage of the lake to test product.'
The location, based in Osceola County, Florida, is roughly three miles long, one-mile wide and nearly six miles in circumference. Lake X was long used for performance tests of Mercury-powered boats, R&D, new product testing and endurance validation. Mercury Marine occupied Lake X until 2004 when it chose to not renew its lease.
The secluded freshwater lake is also known for one of Mercury's most famous PR events that took place in 1957 where a 50,000-mile endurance run, featuring two boats running continuously on a closed 5.8-mile course, 24 hours a day, seven days a week made marine industry history.
'We hear stories all the time about folks who worked for Mr. Kiekhaefer and their wonderful experiences at Lake X,' said Dauchy. 'We want to create new memories and build on our heritage of performance, reliability and to merge together our new Go Boldly brand cache with almost 80 years of history.
About Mercury Marine
Headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wis., Mercury Marine is the world's leading manufacturer of recreational marine propulsion engines. A $2.6 billion division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), Mercury provides engines, boats, services and parts for recreational, commercial and government marine applications, empowering boaters with products that are easy to use, extremely reliable and backed by the most dedicated customer support in the world. Mercury's industry-leading brand portfolio includes Mercury and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrive and inboard packages; MotorGuide trolling motors; Mercury propellers; Mercury inflatable boats; Mercury SmartCraft electronics; Attwood marine parts; Land 'N Sea marine parts distribution; and Mercury and Quicksilver parts and oils. More information is available at mercurymarine.com.
Brunswick Corporation published this content on 19 February 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 19 February 2018 14:00:01 UTC.
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Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures and markets recreational marine products, including marine propulsion products and boats, as well as parts and accessories for the marine and RV markets. Its segments include Propulsion, Engine Parts and Accessories (Engine P&A), Navico Group and Boat. The Propulsion segment designs, manufactures and sells engines, controls, rigging, and propellers globally. The Engine P&A segment sells products such as engine parts and consumables including oils and lubricants, electrical products, boat parts and systems, and also includes its marine parts and accessories distribution businesses. The Navico Group segment designs, develops, manufactures, and markets products and systems for the marine and RV, specialty vehicle markets. The Boat segment consists of the Brunswick Boat Group (Boat Group), which manufactures and distributes recreational boats, and Business Acceleration. Its boat brands include Boston Whaler, Lund, Sea Ray and Bayliner.
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