Over the past 60 years Nick Barron has established himself as one of the most prominent water ski racing boat manufacturers in history.  He began building the SK style “California race boats" in 1958.  A decade later when boat building switched from wood to Fiberglass, Barron purchased industry leading Hallett Boats. Spending a lot of time on the water at Lake Mead, Barron saw the need for larger, more powerful boats to navigate the rough waters of the Colorado River.  He focused on flat bottom SK style hulls in the 16 to 18 foot range with inboard engines.  Barron was the first boat builder in the mid 1970's to experiment with a modified "V" bottom boat that would gave drivers better control and racers a "better ride" at high speeds.  He built a "V" bottom boat that was 19 feet long with a 650 horse power engine.  This experiment proved a major success as new National Championship records were immediately set behind this style boat.  At the height of the water ski and boat racing popularity in the mid 1970’s and 1980’s, Hallett Boats was building more than 50 customized water ski racing boats per year. Although Barron was never a water ski racer, he was an accomplished expert driver who has pulled races in every class and division at multiple national and world class ski racing events.  Over the past half century Barron has continued to make Hallett Boats in Irwindale, CA and promote water ski racing around the world. His boats have outdone the competition- winning more water ski racing championships than any other brand- by a three to one margin. Barron continued to design and manufacture boats and has expanded his market beyond just high end ski racing boats to reach the common consumer who want a reasonably priced "fast boat” until his death in 2017.