The Livingston Story

The executive team at Ranger Tugs represents an accumulative total of over 200 years of boating experience. Fluid Motion President, John Livingston has been kicking around fiberglass boats since before he could walk. His father and business partner Dave Livingston built his first boat when he was 15 years old using plans he found in Popular Mechanics magazine. Not long after building the popular mechanics dinghy, Dave built his first hydroplane which he raced AND skied behind. During those early years, it was a regular occurrence for the neighbors to see Dave hauling wood back from the lumber store on his bike until he was finally old enough to get his driver’s license.

After completing four years of service in the Navy, Dave designed and built what would soon become his first commercially successful vessel, his iconic design bearing the family name, the Livingston dinghy. After several successful years at the helm of Livingston, Dave eventually sold the company to Reinell. Over the years, he has created, modified or consulted for many boat manufacturers including Bayliner, Reinell, Wellcraft, Regal, Larson, and many more.

Dave’s steady hand at the drafting table and experienced eye for design trends has helped propel Ranger Tugs to its current level of success. Dave works tirelessly designing new models for Ranger Tugs and is continuously improving manufacturing techniques and facilities.

“The heart of Ranger Tugs is Family”

A Legacy of Hard Work

John Livingston’s boating history literally begins with his mother running a chopper gun, building Livingston dinghies while she was pregnant with him. John says his family was always on boats, as far back as he can remember. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, he has fond memories of boating up to the San Juans, the Canadian Gulf Islands and Queen Charlotte Strait.

After college, John started and ran the US division of U-Flex, a marine steering and control company. After years of full-time travel selling boat parts, he decided it was time for a change. John left U-Flex and started building boats with his father. John and Dave contracted with Regal boats in Florida for three years before deciding to move back to Washington State and start their own boat company. This is where they crossed paths with Howard “Smitty” Smith.

Howard started the Ranger Fiberglass Boat Company on Pacific Highway in Kent, WA in 1958. Dave, John, and John’s wife, Jennifer, purchased the company from Howard in 1998, beginning what would become Ranger Tugs.

The Ranger Tugs & Cutwater Boats design and engineering teams are led by industry veteran, Dave Livingston. Dave is no stranger to bringing innovative new boat designs and marine products to market. Over the past 50 years, he has held patents on numerous products and features that have all served to make recreational boating safer, easier, or just more fun.

One of the features that Ranger Tugs are well known for is our trailerability. The ability to easily trailer your boat to your favorite waterway has opened up a whole new world of boating possibilities for our customers. Ranger Tugs owners are crisscrossing the continent every day transporting their boats to waterways that would otherwise require chartering a boat or crossing off their cruising destination bucket list all together.

Some popular cruising destinations that our customers trailer to each year include the San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound, Alaska, Lake Powell, Gulf of California, the Great Lakes, North Channel, Rideau Canal, and of course the Great Loop.

Our patented dinghy lift on the R-27 is another industry first that is already changing the way that people are shopping for new boats. For some cruisers a RIB inflatable dinghy is a necessity. Until now, those cruisers found themselves eliminating outboard-powered boats from their list of boats to consider. Now cruisers can enjoy the classic comfort of cruising with a RIB dinghy without sacrificing all the exciting benefits that modern outboard-powered boats have to offer.

Storage is key for your over-sea adventure. The cabin top sport racks are an example of a popular Ranger Tug feature that adds a tremendous amount of versatility to the boat. The sport racks can accommodate SUPs, kayaks, bikes, a cargo box, cargo rack, life raft, or just about anything else you can think to put up there. The racks maximize available space and usability.

Ranger Tugs are packed with safety features. One of which is our exclusive hull-side trailering lights. A simple trailer plug located in the anchor locker attaches to a plug on your trailer to illuminate the hull-side markers and integrated transom brake and turn indicator lights which greatly improve roadway visibility and safety.

Every outboard-powered Ranger Tug has a planing hull which incorporates our laminar-flow interrupter technology. Our laminar flow interrupters are found near the bow of the boat and serve to break the surface suction in a turn which prevents porpoising and provides smooth, positive cornering.

Innovation is part of our DNA at Ranger Tugs. We are constantly raising the bar in usability, safety, and fun.

More Features Per Foot

As you shop for your new boat, you will notice that Ranger Tugs are packed with standard features that are listed as upgrade options on similarly sized and priced models from other major manufacturers. That’s because we build our boats fully equipped and ready to cruise.

Our R-25, R-27, R-29, and R-31 models are all sold in one of two package configurations, the Northwest Edition featuring diesel heat and downrigger plugs and pads or the Luxury Edition which features Air Conditioning with reverse cycle heat and in some cases, a generator.

The Northwest and Luxury edition packages allow us to address the needs of boaters, while streamlining our manufacturing process, which translates to a feature packed boat at a better value. If you purchase a NW or LE Ranger Tug you will still have a short list of available options to choose from, but you will find that the everything you need to cruise in comfort and style is already included with your new boat!

Highest Quality at the Best Value

Ranger Tugs is a proud member of the American Boatbuilders Association. The ABA is America’s leading buying group for independent boat builders. Through the collective buying power of the ABA, we’re able to purchase the highest quality materials at the lowest available cost of any boat building entity in the United States. This allows us to pass that savings on directly to our customers.