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flybridge yachts, and express cruis- ers) around the Great Lakes and South Florida. When I started the company, I quickly realized that I had to travel to places that were not necessarily long distances as the crow flies, but would still take a long time,” Weber began, adding that the geography of Lake Michigan is challenging. A specific listing un- derscored the inefficiency of driving to meet with clients.
“I was selling a boat in Mackinaw City, Michigan, about an eight-hour drive each way. I thought there had to be a better way of doing this than driving. I was busy and didn’t want to waste all of that time. So, I went to the local airport and said I wanted to take a flight lesson to Mackinaw City. Luckily, I ran into a flight instructor who was flexible and understood not only what I wanted to do that day but also that I could ‘kill two birds’ while I learn to fly.”
For about a year after the first flight, Weber would incorporate flight training whenever he needed to visit a boat for a survey, showing, delivery, or other need. He explained that avia- tion has had an extremely positive impact on his life.
Chris Weber and his CubCrafters Carbon Cub SS
“I think our business has scaled significantly due to aviation, not just the time savings, but the contacts you meet. It’s a brotherhood of pilots, and we all want to support each other. I’ve seen that to be true in so many ways. Just last week, I had a very good friend who flies a CJ2 call me up and say he wanted an 80-foot boat in The Bahamas within two weeks for
an important and mean- ingful trip with friends. That’s a pretty tall feat!”
“But we f lew to Fort Lauderdale, sea trialed and closed on a new-to- him boat in less than a week. It’s hard to pull off something like that when coordinating com- mercial travel with sev- eral parties. We put a boat under contract the day of his phone call, and we were in Florida on the water the next day. Aviation made his accelerated timeline possible when it would have otherwise been a significant challenge.”
Before purchasing the Phenom in 2021, Weber Yachts had a far smaller footprint in The Sunshine State.
Weber had owned two Cirrus SR22s that worked well around the Mid- west but were not a good fit for the frequent trips to Florida.
“As our business grew, so were the sizes of the boats we were selling. I knew that South Florida was becom- ing my primary mission, and I want- ed the highest probability of mak- ing that trip non-stop in the shortest amount of time. The Citation Mus- tang was a consideration, as was the Cirrus Vision Jet. I enjoyed my time in the Cirrus family; they treated me extraordinarily well. The Vision Jet just didn’t have the performance profile for us, and at the time of ac- quisition, a Vision Jet was a million dollars more. So, that equation just didn’t resonate with me.”
The opportunity to test his two top prospects simultaneously pre- sented itself and helped make a decision easier.
“I’ve got several friends who own Mustangs, and they’re great airplanes. But I remember one trip that con- vinced me to get a Phenom. We did a guy’s fishing trip to The Bahamas and took a Mustang and a Phenom. I rode down on the Phenom and rode in the Mustang on the way back. On the way home, we took off first, and about five minutes later, the Phenom flew by us in the climb. Between the fantastic cabin, ramp appeal, and
Chris Weber flying his Phenom 100 with one of his daughters in the right seat
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