This is interesting.... are you sure you saw the "Around Long Island Race" pass your house in the 80's?

It was late 90's... Born in 89.... I believe so at least that's what my dad told me .....

That goes for anything, I been doing it with cars for years....

I myself am a few years away from being an 80's baby but I will give my take. Personally, I have been raised on go fast boats my entire life..... I eat, sleep, think, drink boats....... It is the only thing I am into. If the world series, superbowl, or any other sport is on, I am just as happy watching my boat videos or surfing the net for the next project. It truly is a sickness! With that said, I am truly out of the norm.... But, I will give my 2 cents...

1. I will never never ever buy a new boat! One reason, I cant afford it. If I hit the lotto that would be different. It would be funny to walk into cigarette and demand a boat with no bling, one color interior(white) and a boat that is mostly white. Regardless, the new prices are crazy! Just went to the boat show and priced out a cool 16' Glastron closed bow with a 150 HP, $26K. That price can get pull a pretty decent used boat. Look at the price for a 24' cruiser, one can pick up a very nice used 30' performance boat for that asking price.

http://www.glastron.com/content/models/overview/GT160CB

2. In the long run for the younger guys, Jobs in america could be a killer, I see more and more white collar engineering jobs get sent overseas to India... Its kind of scary. Some days I feel like we will be living like in the movie Idiocracy here sooon........... Heck, Cable television seems like a good pulse on the situation.......

Never the less, thats my take..... I will go back to dreaming about boats..

Duuuuuude.. I'm with ya bud!!

I am glad I am in a good buisness for job security.... if i had the cash to order a new ride, I would probably have your twin... I love simple...

I think the supply will shrink and the demand will stay steady for several years.

No one but rich phukers are buying new and those are cash deals. Banks won't touch a loan on a boat with the boat as security so that takes 75% of the boat buying public out of the picture. The most recent boat shows here in Florida show some up tick in sales but it's mostly for family boats. I think Center Consoles with multiple big power outboards are going to be the trend setters.

The niche for offshore power boat business will be in restorations...big market in that segment....with a lot of demand. Especially re-power and upgrades. The independent drive shops and good independent marine mechanics are busy down here...best it's been in 3 years.

In summary...I think the interest and values peaked before 2008. I don't see it ever achieving that level again. The demographics of the country is changing and the emphasis is moving away from recreation that requires mechanical aptitude and ability. It hurts me to say that but I believe it to be true.

In the whole of the world though...I see Australia emerging as the "New Frontier"of people that aren't afraid to work on things and have the work ethic that we had in America 40~50 years ago. I see some of that same spirit in the Heartland of America...away from the coasts and large population centers.

The one thing that could very well change all of this and shift demand and the economy back to where we were in the '80's would be a tremendous oil or energy discovery here in the US.

Should we start a new thread ABOUT how threads posted on by 80's and 90's "babies" go to hell? I should know, I am one!

Always turns into mostly "I" and "Me personally" stories, instead of commenting with a wholeistic viewpoint...
But - with age comes a wider point of view I suppose.

BTW, this is just a bit of razzing - dont take offense

I was born in the mid 80s, yes I can drive a stick, I'm no master mechanic but by no means am I worthless. All I can tell you is that I am extremely passionate about this sport!!! The only machines I feel that are cooler on the planet are fighter Jets!!! Lets face it a big cat on a tilt trailer is just the $hit!!! I know I can't afford one YET, and that's my mind set... But reading this thread all you make great points- I grew up boating where as a lot of my friends did not, my dad got me into performance boats, I too have friends my age that think our boats are bad ass BUT they feel our boats are impractical & cost too much $$$. I think it also goes back to the younger generations defeatist attitude such as being LAZY. Lets face it you have to make large sums of $$$ and most of the time that involves determination & hard work, young people have less of that. I'm just looking at it a little deeper from a different angle. An yes the gas prices people again take a defeatist attitude, me on the other hand say "oh damn I can't do anything about it, means I just have to go make more $". The most disturbing comment I saw an it very well could be true in some cases is younger people think a Prius is cool!!! The fact that is possible makes my stomach turn!!

Question:

Will a more modern stepped V and cat hold its value better than an older heavier version?
(Based on year for year. Ie. a 1993 Top Gun in 2013 Vs. a 2003 Gun in 2023)

I got to thinking about this when someone here mentioned the big Apache vs. the 50 Cig.
The reason I say this is because it takes less horse power to maintain similar speeds and less hp equals less maintenance. I would love to own a 41 or 47 Apache but to make one of those run the numbers my boat runs would cost a fortune and 1/2 compared to what it costs me to run. Also, if I want to repower down the road, I can go to Mercury or Ilmor and get warrantied 565 - 600 reliable horsepower that would still push me to 100mph.
That makes me think the depreciation curve may be better for the newer used boats.

I think the newer tech will be worth more than the old flat bottom stuff for many reasons. The killer will be if there is another big jump in technology.

Another killer is size. Too big is a killer. Boats that can be towed with standard vehicles tend to do the best followed by reasonable vehicles. Storage is another factor as well. Not many people have a place to put a boat that is 50 feet long on the trailer... if rack stored you pay by the foot.

I think the long run for say, Cig 36 gladiator is looking really good. Doesn't take much power to run them and they aren't huge to store. Not much interior to maintain. Other boats are like that too.