Sadly, I agree. A couple years back, I was filling up my old Top Gun at the gas station when a car load of teenage kids pulled up. They were all staring at the boat and one of them asked how much gas it held, I told them 250 gallons and he said "that thing's stupid" and drove off!

I've seen some great deals in recent years with little interest. Sad to say but many of my friends have now grown out of offshore boats.

So how many of us move up versus moving out of boating ? Buying something bigger/faster because the one you have is getting boring ? You're not into boating actually, you're into boats and making that once a month 5 minute wide open throttle run across the water to justify the mega expense of ownership.
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More and more I am seeing people buy boats that they can pay for...no loan...that means used. So what's the limit? Depends on the area. For people that live full time here in SE Florida...$10K seems to be the sweet spot...beyond that it thins out fast. Those individuals that have a second winter home here can double or triple that.

When I was making payments on boats what used to irk me was making that monthly payment and seeing the boat sit on the trailer week in and week out. Seemed that every weekend the weather would crap out. The saving grace here is we have 12 month boating...I don't see how the guys up north deal with only 3~4 months of the year to be on the water.

The one thing that I think could be a positive is that when the guys that actually wake board realize that they are to old to do it, I think a natural progression to move to a performance boat. Most don't fish and cruisers are to boring. They are the type of people that seek excitement and if they like having a boat what else is there other than a peformance boat to get that excitement.

At least there should be a booming business for boat/engine repair. As to mercury 525s, they are very expensive. 525 HP 502s are much more reasonably priced! Paint the thing blue!

I'm gonna stick up for the 80's and 90's kids a bit. I think its unfair to say the majority of them are not capable of maintenance, not interested, etc and blame it on their generation.

Not doubt there are a lot more distractions and Gen Y is an instant gratification world.

But I remember being the same age. I heard all the "old guys" saying the same things back then about my friends. I was one of the anomalys like some of the young guys here. But most of my friends my age back then weren't worth a damn either when it came to being able to fix their own stuff so they could afford slightly older but cool toys.

So yeah, its true and most of the young guys have an entitlement attitude that's a product of their environment. But every generation since mankind began thinks the next generation isn't worth a damn. What ends up happening is people grow up, learn life experiences, and most figure it out. Some sooner than others.

So as this applies to boat values, I don't think it affects either way which way boat values go. The market is a small niche market, and so are the amount of younger guys who are capable or willing to get their hands dirty with their first few boats. Its relative.

Economies cycle, this is just a reset. Some had it good way too long and forgot reality, that you eventually have to pay for what you purchased and it may be worth less if things tank. And sooner or later, the economy always tanks because at some point there was always economic optimistic speculation. Its cyclical. Look at history.

Smart guys normally make smart decisions, dumb guys normally make dumb decisions, and most of us in the middle are figuring it out. The boat market will pretty much follow the housing market with smart money and dumb money, because people need somewhere to live before they need a performance boat.
It's gonna take a while, but as the housing market finds its new reality and settles down properly, performance boat buyers will still buy performance boats - at the relative price they can afford.

The sport isn't in trouble, the only thing that's in trouble are those boat owners and industry insiders who forgot the economy reset (again) and haven't adjusted their thoughts of perceived value. Supply and demand will take care of performance boat values once the housing market and other real economic indicators fully settle.

So just like a house you may have purchased eight years ago, everyone's stuff (in general) is worth less. Maybe now is what its really worth and prices were over inflated before due to false optimism. Don't expect any value increases for a long time in the performance boat market in my opinion.

There are three rules I go by when buying and selling anything:

1. When you are the buyer, cash is always king. If you have some, chances are you can get a better deal.
2. When you are the seller, no matter what you're selling, if its been on the market for over three months its probably over priced for the current market to actually sell.
3. When the buyer has no cash and the seller can finance, the item getting sold is usually sold at a price above real market (cash) value and can influence perceived market value. "But I paid $xxx, its got to be worth at least $yyy". Nope.

I think those rules apply to the performance boat market.

/ Off Soapbox

I think it is a tough call but I will say down.
Even though the only boats that have been made in the last few years are high end boats and you can't really blame the manufactures, the only people with money are the ones buying high end. This would suggest that used boats will be limited and go up in value but I also think the number of people wanting them will go down.

Few reasons IMO,

I am older (48 soon 49) and when I look at the wages of the middle class for the last 30 years they pretty much have not moved. Companies now can get everything done in low wage countries, software, engineering, etc.

That along with technology also pushes prices down (When is the last time you used a bank teller, travel agent, on and on). That means more people not working.

No matter what gas prices will go up, always have always will. More people want it, and it gets harder to produce oil.

The constant downward pressure on wages just makes any boating expensive, let alone performance boating. I use this example a lot, when I was in high school (1981) I worked part time at a apartment complex doing maintenance work. I made $8 per hour, how much can a high school kid make part time now?

Last thing, when someone says a "cash" buyer, to me all are cash buyers, not like I am doing the financing. I care less about how the buyer gets the money, I get cash.

A worthwhile article on this subject by Scott Sjogren went live on the home page of this site today, http://www.offshoreonly.com/articles...t-really-worth.

Mr. Sjogren's opinions are not "absolute" and he does not present them as such. But he does buy and sell boats every day for a living, so at the very least his take is well informed.

Oh Kurt, that is depressing. Teenagers really said that? I'm laughing a little but thats terrible.

Yeah, Mainer's too.