the boating industry as of today ,,,

**mr fun** · 01-05-2019, 01:42 AM

had a conversation with a good friend/yacht broker about the state of things in the big picture, to my surprise Sea Ray is no longer building anything over 40', Hatteras was shut down and recently was purchased by an individual and is now back in business. I had no idea. I realized things had stalled but not to this degree, can't recall what he said about Bertram but belive he said they were still plugging along. Chris Craft has some really nice new offerings as in center console fish rigs and love the Corsairs. the outboard powered trailer boat market seems alive and well but the middle sized yacht class has taken a big hit. fun out

**davemvegas** · 01-05-2019, 03:47 AM

Probably because being half rich sucks worse then being broke. Yes i have a strange outlook on many subjects.

**Greg G** · 01-05-2019, 07:40 AM

Please someone tell me Bertram is unaffected. An amazing amount of history behind that company.

**Black Outlaw** · 01-05-2019, 07:48 AM

Last I heard they were building boats down in south Tampa in the old Lazarra factory. About a year ago Me and my brother looked at a Project 42 Baja with Tripple 502’s that had to be moved out of the building because they needed space to build the New 35

**Black Outlaw** · 01-05-2019, 07:51 AM

And we got to check out a new 35 at the Tampa boat show a few months ago. Extremely nice boat. I have never been on a vintage 35 so I can’t comment on how the compare below deck but they look like the old Bertram’s

**LakeFever** · 01-05-2019, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by davemvegas

Probably because being half rich sucks worse then being broke. Yes i have a strange outlook on many subjects.

Theres a lot of truth to this unfortunately. I believe it boils down to relatable circumstance that fuels anger and jealousy from the broke/poorer people. A broke person can look at another person who is climbing out of the poor life by seeing them purchase a new car, or a new mid range boat or something like that. An obvious dream that people talk about "if they won the lotto" etc. The real wealthy still snub their noses at these middle players and do their best to keep them out of the money game/crowd so the mid range folks have no fans or support from above, or below and it gets very lonely in the middle. This is a relatively new thing probably because of SM and friend exposure and whatnot.

The more successful people around? The better off everyone is. Hater'itus is a fad I very much look forward to becoming a bad stain on our past

**mr fun** · 01-05-2019, 01:09 PM

I admire people that are more successful than me and try to learn from them, except the crooked ones.

**mr fun** · 01-05-2019, 01:26 PM

apparently he was misinformed, just checked the sea ray website and they still offer up to 65 ft. I know he said they laid off a lot of people at the palm coast plant ,,,

https://www.searay.com/page.aspx/pag...Boat%20General

**Black Outlaw** · 01-05-2019, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by mr fun

I admire people that are more successful than me and try to learn from them, except the crooked ones.

I cannot agree more. I love people with money that are self made even more because it usually involves taking a big risk and not being afraid to put the cards on the table. It is very inspiring for guys like My brother and I who are in our 30’s and still climbing the ladder. It’s usually the people with second and third generation wealth that have the A Hole attitude and look down on the guy with the 10-20k boat or the smaller house or the less fancy car/truck because they were never there. The self made guy smiles and remembers his climb up the ladder. This is by no means factual it’s just what I’ve seen from my experience

**mjw930** · 01-05-2019, 05:21 PM

Brunswick tried to sell the entire Searay division but when that didn’t pan out they decided to discontinue their Yachts and Sport Yachts.

Brunswick Corp. will better address changing market preferences and evolving demographics with its Sea Ray brand as it moves to shut down its yacht and sport yacht division and continue to emphasize outboard-powered models under 40 feet.

https://www.tradeonlytoday.com/manuf...-difficult-one

**Double Rigged** · 01-05-2019, 08:12 PM

I have to disagree with the state of the market. Being in the marine electronics business we have seen a up tick in new boat sales. Intrepid is back going strong. The O/B Cat market has exploded. Mercury has a huge back log on engines and the HP CC market is just as strong. Just having been on the west coast for the Joey Gratton run there was a good turn out and people seemed upbeat.
JMO.

**Markus** · 01-05-2019, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by Double Rigged

I have to disagree with the state of the market. Being in the marine electronics business we have seen a up tick in new boat sales. Intrepid is back going strong. The O/B Cat market has exploded. Mercury has a huge back log on engines and the HP CC market is just as strong. Just having been on the west coast for the Joey Gratton run there was a good turn out and people seemed upbeat.
JMO.

Brunswick was quite upbeat on the boating market in its Q3 report as well...

**aquanaut** · 01-05-2019, 11:06 PM

Sea Ray is done with anything over 40'. Their largest is the 40' SLX model which comes with I/Os or Outboards. The bigger boats did not use mercury engines or Brunswick products as much as the smaller boats, therefore it was not as profitable. Now their focus is back on the 19' to 40' segment which uses all Brunswick engines and electronics. All Sea Ray production is back at the Vonore TN plant and their strategy is already paying big dividends. The new 2019s Sea Rays definitely shows that the company is on track to be the leader in innovation and quality. Boat show season is here for most of us, go and check them out.

**mr fun** · 01-05-2019, 11:31 PM

guess he was right

**mr fun** · 01-05-2019, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by Double Rigged

I have to disagree with the state of the market. Being in the marine electronics business we have seen a up tick in new boat sales. Intrepid is back going strong. The O/B Cat market has exploded. Mercury has a huge back log on engines and the HP CC market is just as strong. Just having been on the west coast for the Joey Gratton run there was a good turn out and people seemed upbeat. ,
JMO.

all the best to you, your in the right segment of the industry. but a lot of households have been affected by this shift. sad but true