Speaking at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show last month, three leading boat manufacturers said they expect the boatbuilding industry to shrink here and in Europe over the next 12 months. Irwin Jacobs (Genmar), Pat Healey (Viking), and Michael Bremen (Lurssen) are all powerboat builders, but their experiences may be mirrored in the sailboat industry.

Powerboat sales dropped nationwide by 10 percent in the third quarter, and Jacobs equated the downturn with a lack of entry-level buyers. This would be a major problem for builders who hadn’t anticipated the decline, he said.

Bremen said that because production costs were running “out of control,” many builders in Europe would not be able to stay the course. He predicted that the good times currently being experienced by high-end luxury-yacht builders would continue, with new markets appearing in the Eastern Europe and China.

Healey commented that there were too many “stale” boat shows, and that new ways of reaching new boaters need to be found.

 

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