Regal has been a family business for nearly 40 years. Throughout that time the one thing that has remained a constant in our business has been integrity. "Be honest and do what's right" that's the way we were taught growing up in the family boat business. Who are we? We are the second generation of Kuck (pronounced "cook") kids Duane, Tim, and Pamela.
Our journey really began in western Ohio and from there to Evansville, Wisconsin. It was there that Dad sharpened his skills in business while under the mentorship of Clark Prudhon and Gene Kandel. After working for Pruden Products, a steel building firm, for nearly 8 years Mom and Dad moved our family to Orlando. When we moved to Florida, Mom and Dad did not know what they wanted to do other than start their own business. After much thought, consideration and prayer, they took their life savings along with additional investments from partners Clark Prudhon and Gene Kandel, and decided to start a boat company.
Though Dad never had any experience building boats, he had experience with business, and with people. Mom and Dad researched names and chose the name Regal a name that would reflect the essence of quality and royalty. The first Regal boat was a 21-ft. cuddy, followed by a 16-ft. tri-hull and 14-ft. runabout. They were produced out of a small, run-down, leased production facility in Orlando in 1969. Ever so slowly we began to produce and sell product.
From the beginning Regal was a family business. Mom did payroll, a job she kept for 20 years. In 1973, just as our fledgling company began to hit its stride, an energy crisis hit the country, and the stock market went into a free fall. Although things looked bleak, Dad just did not know how to quit. A year later most orders for boats were canceled, and much of the original investment was gone. It looked as though the beginning of our boat business would actually be the end.