Barrie Rejoins Statement Marine
From his management and marketing roles at Cigarette Racing Team from the early 1980s and to the late 1990s to his most recent gig stewarding Donzi Marine—for the second time in his storied career—Craig Barrie has extensive history in the high-performance marine industry. Now Barrie, who amicably parted ways with Iconic Marine Group-owned Donzi in December 2023, is back with Statement Marine in Tampa, Fla.
Marine industry veteran Craig Barrie played a vital role in helping Statement Marine become a successful builder of performance-oriented center consoles. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“Over the years, I have been fortunate to work with many talented people and incredible brands including two Don Aronow companies—Cigarette and Donzi—and Statement Marine, a Nick Buis company,” said Barrie. “The people at those companies supported my ideas, and together we took the brands to more-creative levels and progressed.
“Statement has come a long way over the past eight years,” he continued. “So to have the opportunity once again fits me.”
That Barrie left Statement in the spring of 2022 to join Donzi meant nothing to company owner Buis. On the contrary, Buis was eager to welcome him back.
A well-known and respected marine industry veteran, CraigBarrie is back with Statement Marine.
“I told Craig when he left, ‘You’re chair is always open,’” Buis explained. “When Craig decided to move on, he left us in great position with orders and a fantastic dealer network he set up. Craig is fantastic with our dealers.
“I couldn’t be happier to have him back, especially with the new larger catamaran and center console models we have coming on line,” he continued. “Craig is going to be integral the success of those new Statement offerings.”
When Barrie joined Statement in 2013, his first order of business was to help Buis and his team maximize production efficiency. Barrie strictly adhered to the notions of cost control through right-sized staffing and minimizing overtime, even if that meant producing fewer boats each year. Barrie helped Statement transition from being a producer of exotic, high-dollar go-fast sterndrive catamaran and V-bottom sportboat to a performance-oriented center console builder producing 25 to 30 models a year.
“Craig is all about keeping things simple,” said Buis. “He distills things to their most basic and essential elements, and that’s going to be even more important as we start producing our larger center consoles and catamarans.”
With larger catamarans and center consoles soon to be offered by Statement Marine, Barrie’s return to the company couldn’t be better-timed.
Added Statement Marine dealer and new-model partner Randy Sweers, “The team is getting back together with Craig’s return, and it’s fantastic.”
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