Industry Mourns Vic Porter

Vic Porter, the longtime owner and chairman emeritus of Formula Boats, has died. He was 90 years old.

Porter started his career in the marine industry 63 years ago, building fiberglass runabouts under the Duo name. Starcraft purchased Duo in 1966. Porter founded trihull builder Signa Corp. in 1970, and in 1976 he purchased Thunderbird/Formula from parent Fuqua. Fuqua had bought Signa in 1973.

Formula production and corporate headquarters were moved from Florida to Decatur, Ind., in 1988. The original 345,000-square-foot plant was twice expanded and now totals 575,000 square feet.

The family-run company has second- and third-generation Porters on staff, with Vic Porter’s four sons and daughter managing the business: president Scott Porter, executive vice president Grant Porter, vice president of sales and chairman Wayne Porter, vice president of marketing Jean Porter Brune, and vice president of human resources Ted Porter.

In 2016, Porter was inducted into the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame.

Click here for more about Porter and the history of Formula.

Marketing manager Scott Smith said in an email that the company expects to release an obituary in the coming days.