MasterCraft Boat Holdings has signed 13 new Crest and Balise pontoon dealers in the US and Canada, and new dealers for MasterCraft, Chaparral and Robalo. The company announced the additions on 4 November. They cover the three months from July to September, which it calls the first quarter of its transition period.
Where the new dealers are
Crest and Balise, the two pontoon brands, took most of the new dealers. Among them are Lakeside Simplicity on Pequot Lake in Minnesota, NC Marine Sales in Roxboro, North Carolina, Sunrise Marine Center in Searcy, Arkansas, Galahad Marine Sales in Cape Coral, Florida, Germaine Marine in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Gagnon Boats & Motors in Livermore Falls, Maine. Michigan gets two, Village Motorsports in Grand Rapids and Pier 33 in St. Joseph. In Canada the brands added Quartermaster Marine in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and M&P Boat Centre in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Chaparral added MacCallum's Boathouse in Epsom, New Hampshire, and Hall's Sport Center in Michigan, which has stores in Muskegon, Comstock and Grand Haven. Hall's also picked up Robalo, and so did Holly Acres in Woodbridge, Virginia. MasterCraft's own ski and wake boats gained two dealers in Europe: Motor Boat 74 in Saint-Jorioz, France, and Boat Company AG in Caslano, Switzerland.
"By partnering with strong local dealers, we're making it easier for more boaters to experience our products with the support that makes boat ownership rewarding," chief executive Brad Nelson said in the release. Boating Industry, Trade Only Today and Marine Industry News all reported the expansion on 6 November.
Why Chaparral and Robalo are in a MasterCraft release
MasterCraft bought Marine Products Corporation, the Nashville, Georgia company that builds Chaparral and Robalo, earlier this year. The group now sells five brands: MasterCraft, Crest, Balise, Chaparral and Robalo. For an owner, a new dealer nearby means somewhere closer for warranty work and parts. For a buyer, it is one more place to check a used boat's history.
The HIN codes
Each brand's hull numbers start with a different Coast Guard builder code. The Coast Guard's manufacturer register lists MBC and RVE for MasterCraft, both in Vonore, Tennessee. Crest Marine in Owosso, Michigan holds CSM and BAL. Chaparral is FGB and Robalo is ROB, both in Nashville, Georgia. An older Robalo can carry RA1, the code of AMF's Robalo division in Sanford, Florida. The MasterCraft HIN decoder and the Chaparral HIN decoder explain how to read the rest of the number.
Two recalls still open
The Coast Guard recall database shows two open campaigns in the group. Robalo's 22MF0267, opened in August 2022, covers 835 boats from model year 2022, with the models listed as "R180-266, R EX222/242". Crest's 24MF0229, opened in May 2024, covers 15 Crest Caribbean pontoons from model year 2021. MasterCraft has five campaigns on record, all closed, the newest from 2010 for the Maristar 225 and X-25. Chaparral has two, from 1995 and 1999.
A campaign on record means some boats of that model and year were recalled, not that a particular hull was. If you are buying one of these boats, decode the HIN with the free HIN decoder to confirm the builder and model year, then look up every MasterCraft recall or run the boat recall check for the other brands. Ask the dealer to confirm any open campaign was done on that hull.
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.
