Flibs

[rsmith]

Headed down today anyone else going?

[zigzag930]

I'm heading there tomorrow for the day

[mike41tc]

Also going tomorrow.

[rsmith]

Very disappointing show. Hatt had one boat. Bunch of overpriced oversized center consoles. There are some seriously stupid looking boats there

[whoover]

I viewed the Hatteras and talked to the sales representative. He said since being acquired by bass pro the focus is solely on the sport fish market. No more motor yachts. There were some motor yacht in the brokerage area. I would love to know where all the open console manufacturers came from, it looks like anyone that can mix resin is building one.
Walt Hoover

[zigzag930]

With the price of diesel fuel, maybe they should consider building the LRC again, LOL.

Viking must have had 20 sporties there. One was 90'. Apparently there is a market for the large SF's and center consoles.

I was told that all of the Vikings that were at the show were already sold, some there on loan for the show. Wow....

[Retired1]

Going back to the late nineties-the number one topic of conversation amongst dealers was “How can we sell big boats to people, if there’s no place for them to keep them?” as marina after marina was torn down for high rises? On the other hand High and Dry’s were being built, and one could at least always find parking ‘somewhere’ for boats on trailers. Then with the advent of high horsepower outboards-the future of the boat business was cast.

[Pascal]

It may be possible to find a spot to park a boat on a trailer but even that is becoming challenging with many places especially south Florida not having enough ramps. Also, many communities have cracked down on back yard boat storage and theft is an issue as well

I think Hatteras has pretty much surrendered the big SF market to Viking. Having now pulled out of the MY market their days are numbered. Europeans and Taiwan have pretty much taken over the MY market altogether. 15 years ago out of 60+ boats on my pier there were 8 Hatteras and maybe six 50+ European boats. Now there are just 3 hatts and at least 20 European MY.

[rsmith]

Krush and I went back yesterday. Word it Hatt hasn’t built a boat in 2 years. I’ve heard before that Bass just bought them for the property. Figured when the private equity firm bought them this would happen. Seakeeper and a number of equipment vendors we talked to have been bought out by PE’s also.

[ageless]

I believe that Hatt is the '13 GT60, sad that's the best they could offer