BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Cruising at a lower altitude

Shanda Lear-Baylor has traveled the world, flown the jets her father designed and that made her surname famous, and has a recorded album of her singing with a band.

But these days, her sights are set on the water. She’s absolutely focused now on her electric boat company, Lear Electric Boats.

Her West Coast Highway sales shop sits almost across the street from the established Duffy Electric Boat Company in what Lear-Baylor calls “the mecca” of electric boating, Newport Beach.

Ten years ago she met her husband, Terry Baylor, while he was creating designs for an electric boat. He had previously worked with a few others who were contracted to do some of the work on Duffy boats. When that contract dissolved, he and his other partners went to work.

And Lear-Baylor saw a product she believed in right away and helped tweak the designs to make them more accessible to people who are new to boating.

But the accessibility comes at a price, and Lear-Baylor doesn’t hide the reasons.

Lear-Baylor and her husband spent about $2 million in research and development, which they raised through her mother’s estate and investments from friends. They’ve created a thin profit margin so they don’t price too many people out. Now the boats are ready for launch on the lakes, bays and waterways of the world.

Lear-Baylor has sold more than 10 boats, which can start at $50,000 for the basic model with a fixed top. But for the company’s signature, retractable-top model, the base price is about $65,000.

The retractable top is the big sell for a lot of customers. Newport Beach resident Lynne Butterfield bought her Lear Electric Boat after seeing one go under the Balboa Island bridge twice in one day.

“It had many looks, that’s what appeals to me,” Butterfield said.

The top on a Lear Electric Boat goes up or down in about 45 seconds with the touch of a button, like a car door lock.

When a mariner wants to dock the boat and not leave his or her valuables unattended, the top secures the boat. The top also eliminates the need to put on a cover after each use, as most boats would require to keep out mildew, birds and UV rays.

“I prescribe to the simple-stupid method,” Butterfield said. “It has to be easy or I wouldn’t use it, and the fact that you don’t have to cover it every time, that’s great.”

But that isn’t all the boats looks: The top can also be pushed out so the boat becomes a two-seater.

“Basically, we bought it because it has another look beside the party boat…. I knew I didn’t always want it to be a party boat, sometimes it’s just one or two of us,” Butterfield said. It allows her and her husband “to romantically go off under he Balboa Island bridge out into the mouth of the harbor together.”

Lear-Baylor put mom- and kid-friendly touches to the boat. There’s a swim step and ladder, a head, a laptop or cellphone plug-in and other options.

Butterfield is thankful for the swim step, she said, which her grandchildren use often.

The boats have a sleek look, which could be reminiscent of the look of the Lear jet itself. The similarities don’t end there, Lear-Baylor said.

“My husband and I have both piloted the Lear jet, and this feels like a Lear jet steering,” she said, pointing to the helm.

Lear-Baylor said she takes pride in her and her husband’s work, and extended an invitation to all buyers to visit their Garden Grove facility where the boats are made. Butterfield took that opportunity to meet the Lear Electric Boat family and was glad she did.

“It was the icing on the cake,” she said. “I love the boat, but meeting all of them has been more exciting and more unique, they have such a great passion.”

For more information about Lear Electric Boats, got o www.learbaylor.com or call (949) 722-7757. The shop is at 2510 W. Coast Highway, next to Bayport Yachts.