On the Water

Sales of brokerage sailboats shot up in Q1 2010.  Will the trend hold and what will happen to brokerage inventories? According to Yachtworld, the first quarter of 2010 is proving to be a good time for used sailboat brokers.  Could the recession finally be taking a hike?  There was a 32% increase in the number of sailboats sold in Q1 2010 vs Q1 2009.  That translated into a 47% increase in value with almost $97 million in used sailboats changing hands.  Surprisingly, the biggest growth seems to have been at the top of the market with larger boats making greater gains.  The 55’+ segment recorded a year-over-year (units sold in Q1) increase of 50%.  The 46-54’ segment had even better results with 58% growth.  Of course, it’s easy to lie with statistics and it helps to put this in context.  2010 may be head and shoulders above 2009, but it’s barely just touching 2008 sales levels and is way below 2007 levels.  And boats are spending more time on the market now too.  Boats sold in Q1 2010 averaged 309 days on the market, which is up 16 percent from the 267-day average in Q1 of '09. Graph from Yachtworld.com What does this mean for anyone who wants to buy a used sailboat?  I’ve heard quite a few brokers talking about their inventories being down now.  People who may want to sell their boat are convinced they won’t get a fair value as buyers look to bottom feed.  New boat dealers are feeling the same pinch as boat builders are slow to ramp up production for the demand the dealers are starting to see.  So inventories are drying up both in both new and used boat sales channels and that will drive prices up.  Good news or bad news?  Well, any kind of growth in the marine industry is good news at this point.  Garmin posted a 9% gain recently and West Marine is showing signs of life too.  So maybe we’re back on the move.  The real question is how will this all look when it’s back to whatever we call a healthy industry again?    …Read More

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There were no bombshells in the America’s Cup 34 press conference held today in Rome’s Musei Capitolini, but the hour-long session had its moments. Most of all it got me to thinking how long it’s taken for a familiar idea to take root. That being, to normalize Cup racing, give it a structure, and establish [...] …Read More

href="http://www.panbo.com/assets_c/2010/05/Azek_electronics_panels_cPanbo-2145.html"> …Read More

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As the BP Oil Disaster continues to wreak havoc on the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico, a lot of us are left with feelings of disgust giving way to frustrated helplessness. What can we do when an irresponsible company and a lax government agency bring forth a disaster of epic proportions? Unless you have the [...] …Read More

Okay, so it’s not quite as memorable (yet?) as “Riders on the Storm,” the 1971 hit by The Doors, but a new blog by writers Christine Kling and Mike Jastrzebski  called Write on the Water, is a place to talk about the intersection of writing and living and working on the water. I was the guest [...] …Read More

Dang – the Shimano guys won’t give an inch and let me tell you about the new reel we used to catch blackfin tunas today, but at least I can let you know about the new Power Pro hollow core leader rigging kit. No, they won’t let me spill the beans about the rods which will [...] …Read More

By way of introducing this new video series, let me re-state what will become obvious to you:  I am a writer. And writers may have great ideas for video but viewers will likely suffer a bit while the writer learns to be a filmmaker. And with that ugly excuse for the quality of our first [...] …Read More

href="http://www.westcoastint.com" target="_blank">West Coast Brokerage and Yachting Services …Read More