Bump's World

35th New England Boat Show

I just finished my 35th New England Boat Show. This one will go down as the snow show. There was several big storms right before the show. Boston was designated a disaster area and the Governor encouraged people to stay in their homes. I moved our Dehler 46 out of Manchester Marine fearing I would not be able to get out the drive way. It seemed to snow every day. I shoveled the boats off time and time again because we are not allowed to have snow on the boats going into the show.

Move in was Tuesday at 11 AM. Ryan Marine showed up and we set up our staging. Ronnie, the best trucker in the world, brought in the Dehler 46 and went to get the Hanse 455. Ronnie said that a Hinckley 43 yacht was stuck in a snow bank in Boston and he could not move our boats into place until that boat moved in. Joe O’Neil, who runs the show, was in constant contact and we both tried to keep each other from panicking.

Both boats were covered in snow and we made a snowman on the Hanse 455 which was the talk of the show. Everyone came by to see the snowman and add something like credentials. Our boats were not only deep in snow but dirtier than I have ever seen show boats. Barbara and Julia spent long hours and did a fantastic job cleaning the boats.

They finally got the Hinckley in the show and Ronnie moved our boats into place. We had a great booth and everyone enjoyed the beautiful yachts. Day 1 was overshadowed by yet another big storm forecast to start that afternoon and continue for 12 to 18 hours. Attendance was steady but light for opening day. The storm hit and for only the second time ever the show was closed Sunday, day 2. The storm, as predicted, was huge.

We had snow many of the other days but people came to see the boats. I believe that in spite of the weather Joe O’Niel did an unbelievable job putting on a great show. People in the Convention Center were upbeat and friendly. Everyone talked about the weather, but they did not complain.

Monday after the show I flew to the Hanse factory in Germany to see a new Hanse 575 I am delivering this spring. The factory is about 1000 miles north of Boston. The weather there was in the 40s with no snow. The factory is on a river that empties into the Baltic Sea. At the marina next door they were commissioning boats for this season. It felt like here at the end of April?

I meet with the President and the head of sales at Hanse Yachts. We discussed the recent weaker Euro. Last May the Euro was at a high of 139.5. When I was in Germany the Euro was at 112. Hanse’s President explained to me that when they set their US pricing in winter of 2014 they used a base line of 133. They guess on a number which they feel will be the average for the exchange rate for the next six months. That way they can have US pricing and not change the price sheets every 2 weeks. So when the rate went from 133 to 139.5 Hanse did not have a price increase. Since then the Euro has dropped. It has dropped much more than anyone expected. There is always the chance that the Euro will return to its average over the past few years of about the 133 range. Remember it takes months to build the boat so the rate can change either way in that time or stay the same. There are believable arguments for the Euro to go either way.

Hanse and Dehler want to sell boats. They want our US customers to benefit from the lower Euro. They have authorized us to factor in the lower Euro in selling boats going forward.

This enables us to give better deals than ever. Both Hanse and Dehler are not price-point boats. They are high quality offshore capable yachts that sail better than their competition. With the old pricing they stand out. Based on what we can offer today there has never been a better time to buy a new Hanse or Dehler.

Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox