Stephen Julius (MBA '88), who is English, and Stephen Heese (MBA '88), his Yank buddy, were classmates at HBS, divided by a common language perhaps, but united in their love of quality boats. Last year, the two men took the helm of Chris-Craft, the 128-year-old company whose products at one time had been the epitome of yacht-club chic. Some years ago, however, the famous brand lost its bearings, drifted from its proud heritage, and wound up indistinguishable from the mass-market fleet.

Today, with its two new skippers, the Sarasota, Florida, firm has made a course correction to quality and style. At the New York National Boat Show last January, Julius and Heese "practically elbowed each other in their eagerness to point out their boats' teak decks, retro curves, and perforated steel dashboards and to show, running their hands over the hulls, that the smart stripes are painted on, not made from adhesive tape," the New York Times (January 13, 2002) reported. In describing the company, Julius ("in his stiff British accent") proclaimed, "It's a classic American brand. It is even, I would argue, a national asset."

The partners have eliminated four boats from the company's line, despite the fact that those models produced 70 percent of the firm's revenue. "They were practical, but ugly," noted Heese, who expressed distaste for the "fiberglass bathtubs" that are all too common these days. Chris- Craft plans to launch a new model range of boats up to sixty feet long and with them, a new attitude that recalls the elegance of yesteryear. As Julius told a group of salesmen at the boat show, "I don't want to hear the word price - I don't want to hear the word discount. I don't want to hear about how many cup holders these models have."

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