In the August issue of Soundings Trade Only, senior editor David Conway traces Aquila back to an empty plot of land in Hangzhou, China, where Lex Raas stood before there was a factory, a model line, or a brand. Raas founded Aquila in 2012 with two partners he already knew well: MarineMax, then led by Bill McGill, and the Xiong family's Sino Eagle Group — each bringing a different piece: innovation, distribution, and manufacturing.
The feature follows what came of that. The Xiong family built the Hangzhou shipyard before a single production boat had sold. Jean Raas, Aquila's CEO and chief product officer, describes the work of moving the power catamaran from niche idea to mainstream, a lineup that now spans 28 to 70 feet with more than 1,000 boats delivered and dealers in 88 countries. And the second generation running the business today already has a third coming up behind it, learning the boats from the factory floor.