machloosy

Haha I'm the odd man out here Matt. No boats in our family except a canoe. I did however grow up right near the water, and like Nate5.0 mentioned, my Dad is a big car guy.

SeaFordguy, no offense taken. More of a joking "hold on now!"

79formula

I was born in 1984. Most people my age see boating as the biggest waste of money ever. Most of my friends think I am insane for owning one. I do all my own work on motors and my boat. Most of my friends are alot like me, but we are a dying breed. Just as a guesstimate, I have 300 friends age 25-40 on facebook that I know, of that 300 I would bet half have a household income of at least 100k. Of that half that could afford a boat (not saying you cant making less than 100k, just makes it easier), including myself, only 4 own boats of any kind. It also seem like we are the YOLO generation and lack the ability to save any money.

chrisf695

iTrader: (3)

Seems like we have the same taste in friends... my friends think my boat is bad ass... looks great, sounds amazing... but they also think its the biggest waste of money. But none of them grew up boating or never did much near water. I can also say that most of my friends that range 26-35 are the YOLO Gen and they could careless... even though some of them making over 100k a year. Now I dont make that kind of $$$, but here I am still owning a kickass boat and still putting money in the bank.

Need4SpeedGTCS

Matt,

Interesting reading/responses...I'm in my mid 40's, been a boat owner since I was 21. No previous boating in my family and like the 80's guys' comments some of my peers had no interest in boating. One of my friend's parents had a boat back when we were younger but my buddy had little interest in using it or getting his own.
I do consider myself a 'gearhead' and love speed; had my first snowmobile at 15 and a Mustang at 18. Buying a boat and 'dumping my money into the water' was (is) a natural for me. I have a passion for this stuff and I'm sure there's many out there like me who will hopefully keep the go-fast sport alive. This forum and others is a bit of an indicator that there is still interest.
I do believe that right now the economy is the issue for the people with the passion no matter what generation.
Just throwing in my 2 cents.

Need4SpeedGTCS

Oops! hijacked.

As for boat values...supply and demand, with the economy messing things up right now. I know I'll want to move up again but new will probably be out of the question. Good used in a few years without being too old will probably be scarce.

HEDGEHOGER

One of the problems is any one who buys a new boat wants extras for example livorsi guages a company will charge you $$$$$more for livorsi guages with its the same installation process as gafig then you never get the $$$$$ back when you go to resell. Just my thinking
We bought our boat 20 years old and while we got a good deal i feel the time is coming when all the good deals will be gone and you'll be left deciding between an old nightmare or dropping a couple 100g on a new boat hopefully when that time comes there's enough people with enough money to keep the industry going

txtraveller2002

I think this exact question is the tipping point here. I just turned 41, so not as young as the demo the question is really pointed at, but I grew up on boats. Mostly what my Dad could afford, so nothing super fancy. It ran the gamut from an od outboard trihull, to a 24 ft glastron jetboat with a 460. It even had the required metal flake orange paintjob.
I'm not sure where my interest in all things internal cumbustion came from, outside of just being a guy. My family, outside of the boats, really weren't gearheads, yet my brother and I most definitely are.
As far as the younger generation goes, I can only speak to what I see. I have 2 step-daughters, 19, and 22, so their dating pool is smack dab in the middle of that gen. I can tell you that either A) their taste in men was NOT influenced by my presence, or B) there really isn't an interest in doing things yourself. Most don't give a crap what they drive, as long as friends think it's cool. And the guys they brought around in high school, if they DID have a cool (to me) car, mommy and daddy bought and maintained it.
I know there are people out there in that age bracket that do want a performance boat, but like Machloosy said, you can buy a boat more tailored to taking a bunch of friends out for a lot cheaper than you can a performance boat that can do the same. I was in the same situation at around the same age. I've had a boat since my early 30s, but I started out small, and just over the last 6-7 years have been able to afford to break into a performance boat market. And even then started relatively small. We'll see how it all pans out, but I tend to agree with the opinion that the market will continue to get smaller as gas prices go up, and paychecks across the board stay relatively stagnant. If we have another run on the econimic side like the early 90s, all bets are off. It will happen again, all this stuff is cyclic anyway. If freakin bell bottoms came back, I bet performance boating will come back into style too, eventually.

flysfloatsor

iTrader: (-1)

Ive seen values staying about the same. Im in the market for a decent lake boat, and the sellers dont realize the market value just isnt there, so they let it sit over priced. Ive seen POS boats on Craigslist relisted for a year with no price reduction.

The Marinas that used to be able to make some coin repairing boats are the slowest to adapt.
Theres less people with boats, less people needing repairs, and even fewer who can afford the repairs. Yet shop rate is still $80-$100/hr. And dont forget to mark up the parts.

The Market is telling us all that the current pricing model cant be supported - The industry isnt listining, and they are starving and will likely die.

endeavor1

iTrader: (3)

+ 1

Mastercraft240

Im in 80's baby... my father owned a 240sc mastercraft ski boat. I live on long island and saw the around LI race pass my house one day and I was hooked ever since. I've actually gotten him into performance boating.