Brunswick has sold Heyday Boats, its wake and surf brand, to Whisper Marine, and new Heyday boats will be built at Crownline's factory in West Frankfort, Illinois. Boating Industry and Trade Only Today reported the deal on 4 November. It is Whisper Marine's third brand purchase in less than a year.
Whisper Marine's third deal in a year
Whisper Marine bought Qwest Pontoons in December 2025 and Crownline Boats in June 2026, according to Boating Industry. Heyday takes the company into wake and surf boats for the first time, next to Crownline, Navion and Whisper Pontoons. The current Heyday lineup is the WT-2DC, WT-Surf, H20 and H22.
Production moves to Crownline's plant, which Whisper says has delivered more than 90,000 boats and water tests every one on its own lake. "To Heyday dealers, our message is simple: we're committed to this brand, we're going to invest in it, and we want to grow with you," said Paul Hoilman, chief operating officer of Whisper USA. Whisper says it will work with existing Heyday dealers to keep the brand in their showrooms.
What it means if you own a Heyday
The announcement covers dealers and the factory. It doesn't say how warranty claims on boats Brunswick already sold will be handled after the handover. If your Heyday is still under warranty, ask your dealer who now honours it, and get the answer in writing before you need it. Keep the original warranty paperwork with the boat. A future buyer will ask for it.
The WTX code on the transom
Heyday hulls built under Brunswick carry a hull identification number starting with WTX. The Coast Guard's manufacturer register lists WTX under Brunswick Family Boat Co Inc of Knoxville, Tennessee, and the Coast Guard's own recall record under WTX names the company as Hey Day. A HIN stays with the hull for life, so boats already built keep their WTX numbers whoever owns the brand. Whether boats from West Frankfort will use WTX or a new code hasn't been announced.
A real example from a Coast Guard record is WTXX1112B818. WTX is the builder, X1112 is the hull serial, B means it was built in February, and the last three characters say built in 2018 and sold as a 2018 model. How to read a boat HIN explains each position, and where the HIN is on a boat shows where to find it on the transom.
Heyday's recall record
A search of the Coast Guard recall database on 5 November found one Heyday campaign: 180009S, for 20 WT-Surf boats from the 2018 model year, opened in May 2018 and closed in April 2023. That is the boat the example HIN above comes from. A campaign on record means the builder recalled some boats of that model and year. It doesn't tell you whether a particular hull was one of them or whether the work was done.
If you're buying a used Heyday, type the HIN into the free HIN decoder to check the builder, build date and model year match the listing, then run the boat recall check to see any campaigns for that builder. Ask the seller for the dealer's paperwork if the boat falls in a recalled model year.
Check the boat, not just the listing
Type the 12-character hull number from the transom. The decoder reads the builder, build month and model year, and the recall lookup lists any US Coast Guard recall campaign on record for that manufacturer. Free, no account.
