{"id":9662,"date":"2025-05-16T10:02:18","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=9662"},"modified":"2025-05-16T10:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:02:18","slug":"boating-innovator-john-rinker-dies-age-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=9662","title":{"rendered":"Boating Innovator John Rinker Dies Age 93"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Boating Innovator John Rinker Dies Age 93<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2-1024x1024.jpg?resize=800%2C800&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image\" alt=\"John Rinker obituary\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BTG525-John-Rinker-2.jpg 1445w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">Boatbuilding innovator August 8, 1931-April 29, 2025.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">Courtesy Rinker Family<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><iframe id=\"wxuzj5efbz\" src=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.dragonforms.com\/wxuzj5efbz\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve written a story with Rinker in the headline. John Rinker is worthy of that, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>This co-founder of Rinker Boat Company was a driving force in recreational boating from the earliest days of fiberglass production right up until recent times. The best testament I can give\u00a0 to that is the great number of Rinker boats that still give boaters enjoyment around the world, despite the company having been corporately-absorbed and the brand shelved in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rinker Boats were, and remain, known for their value.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/tag\/rinker\/\">Boating\u2019s Archive of Rinker Boat Tests<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When I use the word \u201c value\u201d with regard to Rinker Boats, I am not implying the current marketing-speak definition of the word. Instead, I use the term in the old-fashioned sense. Rinker provided a high build quality\u2013not exotic, mind you; just basic materials applied with good workmanship\u2013and incorporated\u00a0 what boaters needed with less emphasis on deck candy. Rinker countertops were Formica, not faux granite. Upholstery was high in quality but wasn\u2019t the showy kind with five and six different materials covering the seats. The standard head was manual, or even a portable one. Etcetera.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Rinker boats possessed excellent storage, excellent service access, and cleats big enough for that fat line at the gas dock, plus a fender. Rinker\u2019s runabouts boasted removable tubs at a time when many boats were still lining stowage areas with mildew-breeding carpet. How about canvas with red and green flags on the sections to make it easier to put up? Rinker Boats spent more\u00a0 time than many others at that time refining engine installations, drive heights and selecting props, towards the end of greater efficiency, not top speed. I could go on, but will only say that they built boats that have now proven to have been long-lasting and worthy of repower and did so, not for the cheapest price, but for a mid-range price. Rinker was all about the \u201cboating experience\u201d long before we even knew we needed, \u201cexperiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These values haven\u2019t been lost in modern boats. They are often just buried beneath the Corian, the stabilizers, and the electrically-retractable seats and tables (and the price that goes with those kinds of luxury items).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fair winds, John Rinker!<\/p>\n<p>Read John Rinker\u2019s official obituary on the <a href=\"https:\/\/eastlundfuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/john-rinker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eastlund Funeral Home website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Those wishing to leave a personal message or make a donation in John Rinker\u2019s honor may do so at the link above.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/boats\/boating-innovator-john-rinker-dies-age-93\/\">Boating Innovator John Rinker Dies Age 93<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/\">Boating Mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    Kevin Falvey<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.boatingmag.com\/boats\/boating-innovator-john-rinker-dies-age-93\/\">Go to boatingmag<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Boating Innovator John Rinker Dies Age 93 Boatbuilding innovator August 8, 1931-April 29, 2025. Courtesy Rinker Family It\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve written a story with Rinker in the headline. John Rinker is worthy of that, and much more. This co-founder of Rinker Boat Company was a driving force in recreational boating from the earliest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[820,126,148,4356],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-9662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boating-news","category-boatingmag","category-boats","category-rinker","tag-boatingmag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}