Legend Biography
Kim Ward
2005
Member of the Ward Family, Founder of Dura Craft & War Eagle boats
Sponsors: Coming Soon
Kim Ward was a welder for his dad and uncle during his high school days
and moved throughout the Dura Craft Company working both in fabrication
and sales as well as research and development. After college at University of
Arkansas at Monticello, Kim served in the Army during the Berlin Crisis.
During fallen market values for Aluminum runabout boats, Kim Ward
worked both with the US Coast Guard and the US military to build and
design boats for the armed services and patrol for the Coast Guard.
After purchasing the Dura Craft company from his Dad and Uncle
He soon devolved Fish tanks for the Agriculture industries for Game and
Fish industries to haul commercial grade Catfish, live minnow and game fish
for live transportation.
Kim Ward helped bring in over fifty national outdoor writers for the Marine
Aluminum Association on the Arkansas River just after it had been
converted into a navigable water way and was instrumental in helping to
establish the aluminum boat exposure for boat manufacture’s in not only
Arkansas, but for the Aluminum Boats Manufacture’s across the nation.
Kim Ward along with the help of Ray Scott and several others devolved
aluminum bass boats for the tournament angler with new innovations such
as the aerated live-well which helped to bring forth a brand new market in
the aluminum industries.
The National Marine Association decided to disallow the us of stick steering
in boats, Kim ward was solely responsible for the reversal of that decision
by having worked with the National Marine Association plus the Marine
Motor Manu factor’s to prove once and for all that stick steering was as safe
to operative as any tiller handle motor with comparable Horse power.
Kim Ward along with other members of the Ward family started War Eagle
Boat Company in 1992 and have become one of the aluminum boat
industries top selling boat lines in America. Being a great innovator of the
aluminum, the Wards have been at the forefront of the Camouflage
development for Aluminum Boats in the nation.
War Eagle boats are innovative designs by the Ward family with such new
concepts as the front low deck and the wing design transom as well as the
top cap rail with accessory design benefiting water fowler’s and fishermen.
In 2001, the Ward family moved into a brand new 300.000 square foot
facility enabling them to become an aluminum boat industry giant producing
duck boats, duck blinds, bass boats, and pontoon craft. Kim Ward along with
sons and Ducks Unlimited have helped to raise over 100,000 dollars at an
event held at the new War Eagle Plant to expand the Seven Devils Wildlife
Management Area. This new expenditure from 600 to 2000 acres for
waterfowl hunting of the management area is being dedicated in honor of
Mr. Kim Ward.