Slumping Boat Sales

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Holy Grail

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FYI... Reported by Bloomberg today... Brunswick Corp, the maker of Sea Ray yachts and Boston Whalers, today announced plans to close four more North American plants and may eliminate as much as 10 percent of its 27,050 employee workforce (as of 12/07) to reduce costs in a shrinking market.

The Bloomberg report stated the US economic slump has shrunk Brunswick's stock market value by almost two-thirds in the last year... US powerboat sales sank to the lowest in more than 40 years in 2007.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have noticed far less boats out on the water. Don't see nearly as many running up and down the canal on weekdays, nights or weekends either.
 
I think the days of "joy" riding are over. Now its get to a place to eat, anchor, or dock. I still don't think it will every die completely, but more and more we will get squeezed as volume goes down by waterfront marinas, fuel, restaurants, etc.

I feel bad for the go-fasts, I was reading an article in my boating magazine that they burn about 90 gallons per hour! Plus some of them use that extra high octane stuff. Sheesh! Now thats just a waste of gas.

Personally we actually want to go bigger so we have more room......when we are sitting at the dock!!
 
Couldn't agree more, especially about the waterfront marina situation. Seems like many of these boat yards are just holding on, hoping real estate values return so they can sell off into retirement. I don't many young, energetic types going into the business or working as mechanics. It seems to be the old "salty dogs" that make it all work.
 
Dave, if they are going 90MPH, burning 90 GPH, they are getting 50% better mileage than I am!

We took a cruise last night - went from the slip, down the fairway and over the pumpout, and back - what a gorgeous trip!
 
I think that 90GPH was idle! No, I think it was a speed around 55. So 55/90 = .6 mpg
 
That's about what I get - 33gph at 20mph!
 
It's really slow out there. Tows are off by about two thirds and the radio chatter on ch-16 is almost non extinct. I might only see one or two go fasts go by during the week end where they were all over the bay a few years ago. The crappy 25 year old bayliners with the force engines are long gone as well as the old salts and their 30 year old Luhers and Egg Harbors.

Adam
 
It's the midsize cruisers that are being hurt most. The small boats don't burn much and cost are low for trailer boats. The big boat owners are have money to begin with. The midsize cruiser 26'- 35' is the guy that stretched to move up to a bigger boat and is feeling the squeeze from all sides - slip space, auto and boat gas. He no longer has extra money for boating.
 
I live in a big salt water fishing community with a lot of center console bay boats and aluminum boats. Those things sip fuel and they are not slowing down. That market is still going good over here.
So is the pontoon boat market.
It is the small to medium sized cruisers market that took a dump.
A lot of pleasure boaters and go fast boaters are slowing down or selling out.
All of our friends in the cruiser boats(25 to 54 footers) are not changing our habits yet.
We still do the same things we have always done. But most of us don't have a boat note either. That makes it a lot easier.
 
I was out today clamming on my dinghy and it looked like pretty normal summer boat traffic. Actually given the forecast for thunderstorms I was kind of surprised that many boats were out. I fished out east yesterday on a friend's boat in Gardiner's Bay and saw plenty of boat traffic also. I suspect a lot of people weren't in a rush to get the season started and stayed home while the weather was marginal but now that the water is warm, kids are home, etc, will start using their boats.
 
CurrentSea: Actually, my gofast uses about 30 gallons an hour at 30 MPH cruise, at 3,000 RPM. That makes it as efficient as most trawler yachts, yet it cruises three times faster on the same fuel burn. Hence, actually MORE efficient if factoring in the speed, and 92 high octane is still cheaper than diesel.

If you bury the throttle in a gofast, sure it is easy to burn up 60 or 70 gallons an hour, but I don't know any gofasts that operate at full throttle all the time. Gofasts are highly fuel efficient: little of the hull in the water and minimal drag from the outdrives, plus a narrow beam. At idle speed of 6 knots up the ICW, I think I get about 3 miles per gallon.

The relative fuel efficiency came in handy when cruising to Nantucket from New York.
 
I'd like to see a trawler that burns 30 GPH at cruise...most are in the single digit burn rate
 
quote:
Originally posted by RamSport47

I'd like to see a trawler that burns 30 GPH at cruise...most are in the single digit burn rate

Click to expand...

True, but I think the question here is; how many gallons will that Trawler burn to cover 30 miles?
Seemed to me that the OP was trying to make the point that it takes his Gofast about the same amount of fuel to travel 30 miles as it does a Trawler, and when you factor in the cheaper price of 92 octane as compared to current Diesel prices and the time savings when traveling at the higher rate of speed in the Gofast, that his Gofast is actually more efficient.
Comparing the mode of transport is like comparing apples and oranges, but I think the OP was on point with the relative fuel comparison.
 
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