Markets & Regions
MOTORYACHTS | US
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CONSUMER PREFERENCE TOWARD DAY BOATS AND A CLEAR TREND
TOWARD OUTBOARD POWER HAS FORCED US YACHT BUILDERS TO
RETHINK ONCE CLASSIC DESIGNS
WORDS: CRAIG RITCHIE
Starting over
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W
ith the continuing trend toward day boating and away
from cruising, American manufacturers of yachts and
large cruisers continue to face a declining market.
The latest data from Statistical Surveys Inc (SSI) shows sales
volumes of sterndrive-powered and inboard-powered cruisers
from 31ft-40ft to have dipped by 9.3%, from sales of 1,441 boats in
2016 to 1,307 boats last year. Yachts in the 41ft-65ft range fared
little better, showing a sales decrease of 6.4% from 949 units
to 888. While sales of large yachts in the 65ft-175ft class grew
by 11.2% year-over-year, in whole numbers that represents an
increase from 143 boats two years ago to 159 boats in 2017. “It’s
been tumultuous,” says Rob
Parmentier, president and
CEO for Pulaski, Wisconsin-
based Marquis/Larson,
manufacturers of Carver and
Marquis yachts. “You may get
a month where it’s up here and
there, but for the most part,
if you look year-over-year the
whole category has been facing
challenges, mainly because
there are too many builders
fighting for an extremely small
piece of pie.”
DAY BOATING
Parmentier notes that consumer
preferences have shifted
significantly toward day boating,
forcing yacht and cruiser
manufacturers to innovate in
order to stand out in the market.
“We’ve been doing extremely
well with Carver, to the point we’ve
been able to increase production steadily over the last four years
in the face of a tough market,” he says. “People always look for
something that’s new and innovative and different, so that’s been
our focus. Our Coupe series has done extremely well, and so have
our Command Bridge models. Almost all the product is new and
it stands out in the market by being fresh and inspired. It’s the
same for the larger stuff in our Marquis line, but that’s a smaller
market still. The reality is that nobody takes boats for lengthy
SFormula’s mid-range day boats, including the 310, 330
and 350 are said to be doing extremely wellcruises anymore. Even with the big boats, people do day trips, or
they might go away for a weekend somewhere. They’re not using
the yacht like they were 20 years ago, when families would go on
extended cruises lasting a couple of weeks. That’s why we’ve done
so well with our Coupes and our Bridge boats in the Carver line,
they reflect the features that today’s boaters want.”THE BENEFITS OF OUTBOARDS
Decatur, Indiana-based performance yacht builder Formula Boats
has also embraced the shift toward day boating as a means of
growing sales. Its most recent Super Sport Crossover and All Sport
Crossover luxury performance yacht
models not only reflect day boat
styling with their open bow seating
and enlarged cockpit spaces, they
also incorporate outboard power.
“We’re definitely seeing a clear shift
toward outboard engines,” says
Formula CEO Scott Porter. “In salt
water you can tilt them up out of
the water, which is obviously a plus,
and there’s a general perception
that they require less maintenance.
They’ve also come a long way from
an engineering perspective. So we
introduced our outboard-powered
430 SSC, a 43ft day boat with a nice
cabin and a coupe enclosure that you
can close up if the weather gets foul.
It’s done very well for us, and we’re
building one of those about every
two weeks right now. Have been
for a year. Our mid-range day boats
including the 310, 330 and 350 are
also doing extremely well.”
Because they blend the luxurious amenities of a cruiser with
the exhilarating ride of a performance boat, day yachts appeal to
a broad cross-section of buyers, says Porter. “It used to be that you
had to decide if you wanted luxury, or you wanted to go fast,” he
says. “Performance boats used to be the only way to go fast. But
today there are so many other ways to do that, and to do that with
a bunch of your friends in a nice open cockpit with plenty of space
where people aren’t constantly bumping elbows.”