Summer 2017: “World-Class Boats Built in Small-Town Kansas” Sneak Peek!
World-Class Boats Built in Small-Town Kansas
Cobalt Boats in Neodesha celebrates nearly 50 years in the marine industry
When it came time for Casey Lair to buy a boat, the choice was clear.
In fact, he says, there really wasn’t much of a choice to be made at all.
“We had bought a lake house at Table Rock, and I just assumed that if I was going to have a boat, Cobalt is supposed to be the best boat made – and it’s made in Neodesha,” says Casey, who’s lived and worked in Neodesha for 32 years. “So that’s what I needed to have.”

Seven years and two boats later, Casey is a Cobalt Boats devotee. And he’s in good company: Tens of thousands of people across the country (and the world, for that matter) own a Cobalt luxury boat, all of which are built – by hand – by folks in Neodesha. Today, just shy of its 50th anniversary, Cobalt Boats has developed a reputation for building the best of the best in the marine industry, having received multiple awards for customer satisfaction from J.D. Power & Associates and the National Marine Manufacturers Association.
“We build as good a quality boat that’s built anywhere in the industry, right in Neodesha,” says Pack St. Clair, Cobalt’s founder. “To me, it’s what makes the business fun. We’ve been able to have success from a small town in Kansas where not many people expect to find a boat manufacturing company…”
Want to keep reading about Cobalt Boats? Check out the summer issue of Southeast Kansas Living, out now! It includes this story in its entirety, plus so much more. Subscribe now, or contact us to find a newsstand near you