whatever happened to affordable fast boats?

[mikesufka]

Good guy to have on your sporting clays league team tho. A real marksman.

Let’s just say I got educated …

MDS

[NICE PAIR]

Don't feel lonely!

[mikesufka]

don't feel lonely!

lol …

mds

[JBS]

Just got back from a 3-day weekend on lake Martin in Central Alabama. It's a big lake with about 800 mi of shoreline. I saw zero go fast boats on the lake. Bunches of pontoon boats,wakeboard boats, and a few haul ass bass boats. It's been like that for a while guys. Our boats are just not as popular as they were back in the '80s and the '90s.

[AlliStan]

Lots of go fast boats on Clarks Hill lake, above Augusta, all kinds. One acquaintance is running in the 180s with a big boat, but there's lots of smaller ones, too. Good friend has a "new" 36 or 37 foot DW with twin OBs running 130s. Still a good many Triad V21s and STVs around, and Allisons. Sandbars on the Savannah River "host" numerous ones as well, down in Effingham, Screven and Burke counties. Big tiller arm motors on 16-17 ft. aluminum boats are very popular on the river now. Concerning them, fast is relative, but 70+ is pretty common. They're much more affordable for the younger guys.

[JBS]

The Savannah River is a good place to find a lot of fast boats.A bunch of buds run up there. That's where my V21 came from .Only issue up there is the narrow river and floating debris, logs etc.

[mikesufka]

Lots of go fast boats on Clarks Hill lake, above Augusta, all kinds. One acquaintance is running in the 180s with a big boat, but there's lots of smaller ones, too. Good friend has a "new" 36 or 37 foot DW with twin OBs running 130s. Still a good many Triad V21s and STVs around, and Allisons.

What's Clarks Hill Lake like ? Never heard of it before your post - just looked it up. Homes, restaurants, etc ... What's nearby ?

MDS

[Instigator]

Thought of this today.

To the title subject.

Back in the muscle car days of the late ‘60’s.
What did a L-88 Camaro cost then?

I would guess $6 -$7k??

We know the new rocket cars are $100k.

What is the math of ‘1968 money to today?

Wouldnt that settle this argument?

[DeudeMann]

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has a past to present value of money calculator.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

[AlliStan]

What's Clarks Hill Lake like ? Never heard of it before your post - just looked it up. Homes, restaurants, etc ... What's nearby ?

MDS

Clark's Hill Lake is very big, 71,000 acres and 1200 miles of shoreline. It has a history of fast boats and racing. For a good many years the King of the Hill boat rally and drag races were held there. The racing stopped a very few years go but the rally continues, held each year in August. Three restaurants on the lake that I am aware of. Lots of homes, lots, and campgrounds on the lake shore.

Instigator, I cannot say what an L88 "Cameo" cost new, but my '69 Camaro SS 350/300 was $3800 out the door, new.

[powerabout]

Thought of this today.

To the title subject.

Back in the muscle car days of the late ‘60’s.
What did a L-88 Camaro cost then?

I would guess $6 -$7k??

We know the new rocket cars are $100k.

What is the math of ‘1968 money to today?

Wouldnt that settle this argument?

Yep but you need to factor in the hollowing out of the middle class since about 1980, their purchasing power has dropped.

[Ron V]

If you're talking new boats, numerous reasons. First and foremost, look at the current generation of consumers. Today's 20-40 year old working class people have very little interest in anything mechanical, especially if it requires balls or technical knowledge. Add in the climate change hysteria, liability issues, less spending power, and the fact that the boating industry itself couldn't give a rat's ass about sub-20' performance boats, and there you have it.

I saw a massive shift that began with the initial gas price spike in 2008 when it hit $4.25 here for the first time. The mindset became, "Hey, rather than spending $40 in gas taking the kids skiing or tubing or going fast, let's just throw the anchor down and drink $100 worth of beer today." This only got worse with the subsequent gas price spikes which coincided with the loss of buying power of the middle class. That really laid the groundwork for the boaters and the marine industry itself to focus on large expensive party barges.

The people who were young adults when these types of boats started coming onto the scene are now over 70-80 years old. The people on the younger end of the glory days of this hobby are now middle aged, and have had THREE "once in a lifetime" economic disasters during the prime working years of their lives (9/11 attack, 2008 meltdown, and now COVID and its aftermath). This has effectively destroyed the ability of someone like a high school janitor or factory worker to spend some hard-earned money on toys of any type, let alone one that uses 5-10 gallons of gas per hour or more.

As has been mentioned, wake boats and the party barges have made operation of small high perf outboards very difficult after mid-morning.

One big question I keep asking of some of the fellow hot boaters here in the Fox Chain area is, "Where are all of the boats themselves, even if the people are out of the hobby?" Obviously not all of them rotted out and were junked. I haven't seen a Hydrostream on the water here in years except at the Blarney Island races. Once in a blue moon you'll see a STV. And this is on one of the most crowded recreational waterways in the world. To my knowledge, I'm the only one left running a small high perf outboard on a regular basis on the lower Fox River, which used to be a haven for this stuff. There are a couple of Switzers on boat lifts and you see the odd Checkmate or Baja, but that's it. I don't see these types of boats rotting away under blue tarps in people's yards, which leads me to believe most of the ones that are left are stored indoors. But if someone has the money for indoor storage, would they not have enough money to run them? Or are they too old and sick physically? Are they just sitting on them with the thought that they will become more collectible?

[powerabout]

The other issue as an old worker in tech is noticing who gets employed, the woke idiots have zero get up and go and dont get employed.
The young that are like us are far more valuable, thats not making the main stream press as the woke idiots in HR cant acknowledge it can they?

[hellbents-10]

I agree with much of what was said in the above few posts! Around my area in West Michigan the small go fast boats are very rare! All wake boats and party barges! The small number of go fast boats are just out there to show how much money they have to burn! Meaning the owners really are not die hard speed junkies but rather loading them up with bikinis and beer lol. I agree the younger generation is not looking for that high of spending time in the garage to go out and gain that next MPH.

[Lake X Kid]

I agree with much of what was said in the above few posts! Around my area in West Michigan the small go fast boats are very rare! All wake boats and party barges! The small number of go fast boats are just out there to show how much money they have to burn! Meaning the owners really are not die hard speed junkies but rather loading them up with bikinis and beer lol. I agree the younger generation is not looking for that high of spending time in the garage to go out and gain that next MPH.

If you are an OEM boat & engine supplier, or Dealer, then you have to cater to the new generations taste. The consumers market (populated by the young video-gamers) is dictating the current & future of the boating industry. I don't envision video-gamers wanting to twirl a wrench and get oil/grease on their hands, working on a boat motor. But surely, they will be happy the first day they a buy a boat, for the Boating Experience.

And that is what the industry needs to continually do... Sell the Boating Experience to the new generations.