Overboard Boater

This has to be good news for the boating industry. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Brunswick, the parent company to Sea Ray Boats and Mercury Marine, closed at its highest stock price since the start of the recession.

Here’s the link to the article.

When Brunswick was down to $2.14 last March with not much hope in sight, it paralleled the depths to which the economy had faltered. You don’t need an MBA to figure out that when people lose their disposable income, the leisure industries take the biggest hits.

While no one is saying everything’s back to the good old days, this is a positive sign that maybe we’ve turned the corner. That the NMMA is predicting flat sales numbers for 2010, rather than another double-digit percentage loss in sales, is another good sign.

The Brunswick CEO is quoted as being cautiously optimistic in this article. It’s a billiard news site, but it’s mostly about the boat biz.

One expected aspect of MIBS 2010, The Great Recession Version, is the scarcity of new models being introduced by the boat companies. One reason for this is understandable–the backlog of inventory left over from the economic meltdown that put people’s plans to buy a boat on hold. You can’t push new until the dealer network clears out the old.

Those willing and able to buy a boat have benefited from this, getting great deals on boats that are essentially brand new but classified as last year’s, or yesteryear’s, models. But that wave may be cresting. A number of builders I spoke with said they have finally sold most of those boats off, with one saying went from have a 120 boat logjam to having fewer than 20 left.

If you’re looking to buy a boat, the lesson here is, strike while the iron is hot. Or if you insist on having the latest and greatest, expect more new builds to start making the scene for 2011.

Remember how the Boating industry was flying high in 2005, and how it fell off a cliff, with the rest of the economy, in October 2008? The year 2009 will go own as one of the worst in modern times for the boat business, as half of all people working in it found themselves holding a pink slip at some point.

The world of production power boats got rocked. Particularly the major players. Brunswick closed plants, including for its flagship Sea Ray brand.

Genmar declared bankruptcy in June. That story alone accounted for five of the top ten most read articles of 2009 in Soundings Trade Only. Its pieces are set to go up for auction on January 7th.

So what will 2010 bring? Anecdotal evidence from day one of the recent Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show, and word of mouth discussions, seemed to be somewhat positive. People have hopes for some sort of rebound by next fall. Anybody left standing should be in a good position to grow when the economy does, but do you think we’ll ever go back to the days of having 5,000 different new runabouts or midcabins to choose from again?

The earliest we will know is at this February’s Miami Boat Show. I’ll be anxious to cover that one from the ground floor like no other in my 11 years in the business.

The map says it all. Look at all that coastline. Look at how close it is to the Bahamas. Having grown up in Florida, I have the biased opinion that it’s the greatest state in the Union. At the very least, it’s the boating capital of the universe. Don’t believe me? Read this article pointing out how Florida boaters spend $8.5 Billion annually to pursue their passion. That’s right, billion. That’s more than the entire GDP of some sovereign nations. (Some really small sovereign nations, but the point still stands.)