Forrest L. Wood
American entrepreneur (1932–2020)
Forrest Lee Wood (June 9, 1932 – January 24, 2020) was the founder of Ranger Boats, and widely acknowledged as the developer of the modern bass boat. He was also the namesake of the Walmart FLW Tour for sportfishing.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Forrest L. Wood (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Jun 9, 1932, died Jan 24, 2020.1
About
Born in Flippin, Arkansas, Wood began his outdoors career as a fishing guide on numerous lakes and rivers in Arkansas, while maintaining a construction business and a cattle farm. Wood began to build lake boats in 1968 behind a service station. The business moved to an old nightclub; by 1970, Ranger Boats sold 1,200 units. The boats are considered to be the prototypes of what are now called bass boats.
The facility was destroyed by fire in 1971, but Wood salvaged orders from his desk in the building and restarted. That same year, Wood qualified for the first-ever Bassmaster Classic. The next year, Wood signed a sponsorship deal with the tournament, making it the Classic's official boat from then until 2000.
Wood sold Ranger Boats in 1987, but remained active in the industry.
In 1996, the tournament organizer Operation Bass renamed itself with Wood's initials, a name it retains to this day.
From Wikipedia’s article on Forrest L. Wood, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Ranger BoatsFounder9
Career
Occupation: businessperson.4
- Date not recordedFounded Ranger Boats3
Personal life
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataForrest L. Wood on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaForrest L. Wood on Wikipedia
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- 9WikidataRanger Boats, Founder
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