Savage boats celebrates its 120th anniversary

Home-grown boat brand Savage has marked its 120th anniversary, celebrating years of innovation that at one time even elevated it to the title of the nation’s best-selling brand.

The brand was founded by John Joseph Savage, who founded his business in 1898 to build wooden boats out of Melbourne’s hawthorn and South Yarra, and later at nearby Williamstown. A century later, the Savage name would be firmly etched in Australia’s boating heritage.

Over the years, Savage has thrived on innovation. Today, most of the 50 models on sale boast the brand’s Ultra Lift Hull that offers more stability at rest and while underway, increased fuel economy, and better performance.

During the 1980s and ’90s its range of fibreglass boats helped Savage hold the title of Australia’s most popular boating brand. Savage was also the first Australian boat brand to build its products from plate aluminium rather than fibreglass.

Savage was bought from Brunswick Asia Pacific Group a decade ago by Gold Coast-based Telwater, with manufacturing moving from its former Williamstown base to the Queensland company’s 8.6-hectare Coomera boat making facility, and switching across exclusively to aluminium construction.

Telwater’s buyout has helped lift the brand from 250 sales a year via a handful of dealers to more than 1500 sales annually via a dealer network that has expanded 400 per cent.

The current Savage range runs from the Raptor series, ideal for exploring Australia’s diverse freshwater systems, to the Scorpion line-up dedicated to fishing, and the more family friendly Beach Comber series.

“I would like to congratulate each and every one of our 60 dealers across the nation,” Nick McCartney, the national account manager for Savage Boats, said. “Their hard work and reliability is what helped us achieve this historic milestone.

‘It humbles me to think of the thousands of Australian boaters who have owned a Savage over the years and the 120 years of memories created on the water,” he said.