On the Water

Boating market statistics released by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) show a mixed bag of news. Here’s a quick peek into the latest official stats for all of us who are boaters.  And what does that boater profile look like?  Well, approximately 15% of us are sailors and 85% are power boaters.  75 percent of the powerboat market is made up of outboard boats and an estimated 50 percent of outboard boats are aluminum – probably under 20 feet.  Conclusion – there are very few sailboats and yachts out there and I’m not even talking about megayachts.  75 percent of boaters have a household income under $100,000 and 96 percent of powerboats on the water in 2009 were 26 feet or under.  In 2009, 65.9 million people went boating (what going boating means was not defined) while in 2008, 70 million of us went boating which is a decrease of 6 percent. Ok, so now we know roughly who we are and how we enjoy boating.  Now a cursory look at the industry.  An estimated $30.8 billion was generated in boating sales and services in 2009, a decrease of nine percent from 2008.  Primarily this is still a cottage industry with only a handful of companies generating annual revenues even hovering around the $1 billion mark – companies like West Marine and Garmin (and a large portion of Garmin sales are not from the marine market).  It’s a pretty fragmented market overall populated by small vendors – mostly family owned.  No surprise, consolidation is likely in a downturn and we saw that last week as FLIR gobbled up Raymarine.  The industry used to be dominated by two main giants, Brunswick and Genmar.  Genmar is no longer although it’s coming back to life under a new name and Brunswick is slowly recovering but has shed many boat brands in the past 24 months just to stay afloat.   So what did NMMA’s statistics tell us?  In 2009, the number of new boats sold decreased 19 percent to 572,500 units. The traditional powerboat segment declined 24 percent in units to 153,550; retail sales were down 25 percent to $5.7 billion. And finally, the reason everyone is finding it tough to get new customers - consumer credit is still tight and will probably not change much until the beginning of 2012.  So what’s the good news?  Well, sales of brokerage (used) boats are up in most length segments and that includes sailboats.  In fact, brokerage boat inventories are getting skinny which might (let me repeat – might) drive used boat prices slightly higher.  Sales of new aluminum powerboats in the 18 foot range increased 30 percent during the first quarter 2010 and that is the majority of the market so maybe there might be a change on the horizon.  And finally, consumer confidence was up in March and April.  Now let’s see what a tumbling stock market does to that.  In conclusion, there is very little to conclude.  Some stats are positive some negative and overall nothing will move until credit eases in this country.  The real battle will begin when the marine industry has to acclimate to, and survive in, whatever awaits us on the other side of this debacle.  There’s nothing to be done but to get out on the water as often as possible and try to get through these times as best as possible.  …Read More

Editor’s Note — Victoria Allman is the chef aboard a 143-foot megayacht and the author of the recently released “Sea Fare:  A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.”  This is the fifth in a series of periodic columns here on OceanLines featuring her irresistible recipes. Best of all for OceanLines readers, who are travelers of the [...] …Read More

href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Ed-Hamilton-Co-Yacht-Charter-Agents/169997904985?ref=ts" target="_blank">Ed Hamilton and Company Facebook page …Read More

What follows is a first time guest entry by regular Panbo commenter Adam Block, who is planning a 2011 Pacific crossing aboard his Nordhavn 47 Convexity.  Adam says "he had no idea what he was getting into when he started a recent electronics up... …Read More

© Paul Todd/OutsideImages.CO.NZ Aleph team skipper Bertrand Pacé wanted the left side and went for it in pre-start maneuvers against Francesco Bruni and Azzurra—generally in these situations, you assume that the bowman communicated to Pacé that he could go—but the evidence suggests that it was a bad idea. © Paul Todd/OutsideImages.CO.NZ The setting was La Maddalena, currently [...] …Read More

On a dream fishing charter, two brothers catch yellow-fin tuna, dorado, and striped marlin. …Read More

Sunscreen is a necessary evil. The ravages of the sun over time make you worse off not wearing it, but still, slathering on a layer of grease or spraying on an alcohol-based mist leaves something to be desired. SmartShield looks to address these negatives with its new aloe vera based lotion. I took a sample bottle [...] …Read More

href="http://www.njcharters.com" target="_blank">Northrop and Johnson Worldwide Yacht Charters website …Read More

We haven’t heard much news from Si Tex lately, so it was nice to discover that they’re introducing a new line of chartplotter fishfinder units, the EC series. I haven’t laid my hands on one yet so I can’t give you a full-blown test report, but here are the basics: There are three models in the [...] …Read More

Yes, the photo is largely under exposed, but the point was to illustrate the relative brightness of the new Green Marine LED-backlit AWM-1900 monitor I checked out in the lab last week.  I think it would be usable in sunny conditions, and it's f... …Read More