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Bump's World - March 2011
March 9, 2011
MARCH 2011 BOAT SHOW
I just completed my 30th Great New England Boat Show. Overall attendance was good, not great, and the weather cooperated, no major snow storms. The show was 1 week later than it has ever been, the week after school vacation. The boat show reported an increase of 5% attendance over last year.
The overall sense was that, the people we talked to were way more up beat than in the past 2 years. The overall consensus is that the economy is in for a long slow recovery. The dooms day feeling seems to be a thing of the past. The mood does continue on a very conservative path, meaning people are not anxious to borrow more money or part with hard earned savings.
In this economy, lead by our fearless politicians and economic wizards, trillions have been doled out to banks, car companies, and financial institutions. None of this money appears to be getting anywhere near the average person who might want to buy a boat. Most people have seen their retired funds reduced and their home equity reduced my more than they would ever want to believe. Now even the public sector is getting afraid that the pensions they have been promised for all these years might be in jeopardy. No wonder people are not falling over each other to buy a boat.
The big change I see over the years is the disappearance of the small sailboat. In 1977 when I bought my C&C 25, which was shown at the boat show, the dealers had many smaller boats to choose from. The C&C dealer had a C&C 24, 25, 27, 29, and 33 on display. The Catalina dealer had a 22, 25, 27, and 30. O Day, Ranger, Cal, Cape Dory, and Hunter all had similar lines. The dealer sold you a 24 for $19,500.00 sail away and agreed to take it back in trade before you ever used it. Between all these manufacturers, thousands of small boats were sold. These thousands of boats lead to bigger boats.
When I was at Sailboats Northeast in 1986 we delivered 40 new boats in the spring. By the way this was a night mare and every year I swore to never go through a commissioning season like that again. Sailboats Northeast never got better at commissioning boats, however the economy took care of the problem with the demise of the boat industry in 1989.
I would contend that the sailboat industry never recovered from 1989. The market drives what the dealer inventories and displays. All the dealers have sailboats 35 feet and up. It is not uncommon for a buyer to make a 40 footer his first boat. Trade ins today are death for the dealer since they have to sell them for really low prices to move them quickly. The longer you own inventory the more you lose. The buyer knows you need to sell so they use that to their advantage.
I miss all the smaller boats. It makes sense that the smaller boats should grow into bigger boats. Without the smaller boat feeding grounds the bigger boats will never grow either.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox
Bump's World - March 2011
March 9, 2011
MARCH 2011 BOAT SHOW
I just completed my 30th Great New England Boat Show. Overall attendance was good, not great, and the weather cooperated, no major snow storms. The show was 1 week later than it has ever been, the week after school vacation. The boat show reported an increase of 5% attendance over last year.
The overall sense was that, the people we talked to were way more up beat than in the past 2 years. The overall consensus is that the economy is in for a long slow recovery. The dooms day feeling seems to be a thing of the past. The mood does continue on a very conservative path, meaning people are not anxious to borrow more money or part with hard earned savings.
In this economy, lead by our fearless politicians and economic wizards, trillions have been doled out to banks, car companies, and financial institutions. None of this money appears to be getting anywhere near the average person who might want to buy a boat. Most people have seen their retired funds reduced and their home equity reduced my more than they would ever want to believe. Now even the public sector is getting afraid that the pensions they have been promised for all these years might be in jeopardy. No wonder people are not falling over each other to buy a boat.
The big change I see over the years is the disappearance of the small sailboat. In 1977 when I bought my C&C 25, which was shown at the boat show, the dealers had many smaller boats to choose from. The C&C dealer had a C&C 24, 25, 27, 29, and 33 on display. The Catalina dealer had a 22, 25, 27, and 30. O Day, Ranger, Cal, Cape Dory, and Hunter all had similar lines. The dealer sold you a 24 for $19,500.00 sail away and agreed to take it back in trade before you ever used it. Between all these manufacturers, thousands of small boats were sold. These thousands of boats lead to bigger boats.
When I was at Sailboats Northeast in 1986 we delivered 40 new boats in the spring. By the way this was a night mare and every year I swore to never go through a commissioning season like that again. Sailboats Northeast never got better at commissioning boats, however the economy took care of the problem with the demise of the boat industry in 1989.
I would contend that the sailboat industry never recovered from 1989. The market drives what the dealer inventories and displays. All the dealers have sailboats 35 feet and up. It is not uncommon for a buyer to make a 40 footer his first boat. Trade ins today are death for the dealer since they have to sell them for really low prices to move them quickly. The longer you own inventory the more you lose. The buyer knows you need to sell so they use that to their advantage.
I miss all the smaller boats. It makes sense that the smaller boats should grow into bigger boats. Without the smaller boat feeding grounds the bigger boats will never grow either.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox