On the mark!!

Don't blame the President? When you occupy the top leadership position, then fail to lead, who should be blamed? I think Obama is more in love with being the Pres. than doing the work.His record speaks for itself. Checkmate Boats is just another casualty in the destruction of the middle class.

The statements in Matt's article were spot on.

I was surprised by many of the comments the past few years on the lack of financing.
It's rather obvious why banks are hesitant to offer the same, dumb deals they did last decade. Many of the folks that bought those boats went underwater as soon as the bubble bursted. As is evident by the sheer number of repossessed boats up for sale the past few years, many of the folks you thought were successful last decade, were merely cashing out on their house appreciation. HOUSE AS ATM. If that wasn't available, people found it easy to obtain financing that was initially cheap, with little to no money down. I discovered this many times at boat shows. At one show, I saw a Formula on sale, a list price equivalent to most middle class houses. The payments offered in BIg, Bold letters, were about the same as those on a small family sedan.

The powers that be are not interested in financing the whims of fancy of an unstable middle class. Their rather recent experience of how people react when the sky does fall mans that if they do relax lending a bit, it will not be for a luxury item that will plummet in value steadily. Cars? Yes. Not boats. We've seen people that were paid excellent wages in manufacturing laid off, then called back at half or less what they used to make. I've seen an increase in larger corporations training people in India, Mexico, and other areas to do jobs in areas like customer service, engineering, and manufacturing. I recently ended a relationship with one firm prematurely do to this practice. One department, supported 85% by defense contracts, having their employees travel overseas to train their eventual replacements. It sickened me to the point of burning bridges.

It's inevitable that when casual bow riders run $50,000 to more than $200,000, performance-oriented boats in the smaller sizes will dry up. This is an era of more work for less pay and benefits. Luxury items are cut first, and boats are first on the list. Pontoon sales, some fishing boats and center consoles, they do well because they are in a completely different market, not to mention price range. Obviously, boats like those are far less expensive to own, and they don't have a track record like the performance boats do. The comparisons between used 32-35 foot boats and new single-engined performance models is valid as well. Most of the folks that looked at a smaller Checkmate couldn't afford to buy a single Mercury Racing engine 1100 or 1350 for cash, much less two, or the boat to mount them in.

This is not new stuff by any means. There's a very valid reason that from the 60's onward most middle class boat owners had Bayliners, pontoons, Glastrons, whatever. They didn't own new Formulas or Cigs, because they couldn't afford them. My first boat years ago was an 18" Larson, and I put down 25% cash, and had a 5 year loan. Not a big deal. Last decade, some people making $50 grand a year were buying $100,000 plus boats with 20 plus year loans. Not a recipe for financial or boating success. It is what it is.

[QUOTE=4bus;3929479]Wow, more blaming of others.....why not focus on what you can control. Change or improve your financial situation so you can afford the things that you want. Can't afford to heat and cool your home, buy something more efficient. I live in NY which is much higher than your area, and my utilities are not nearly that high. Gas too much for your boat, maybe consider finding something a little smaller than that giant Black Thunder, wtf? If your friend can spend money on boating and buy something nice for the kids then guess what......he can not afford to own a boat, plain and simple. Your post says democrat all over it, yet you are blaming a democrat. Don't expect a politician to make things easier for you, unless you are on welfare.


Perhaps my rant wasn't clear but I was addressing the rapidly rising cost of energy and how it relates to ordinary people. The current administration's energy policy, if you can call it that, is based on conservation and restricting supply. The president's energy secretary is on record saying that we need to have prices on gasoline equal to Europe's. Our president himself has said that he has no problem with 4.00 a gallon gas. He has restricted drilling on federal land, offshore, and prevented the Keystone pipeline from being built. He has raised the mpg standards on autos to the point that we will all be driving 4 wheel motorcycles soon.

I don't recall saying anything about my income but you say that I shouldn'y worry about the things I can't control and if it gets to the point I can't afford them, I should just sell my hose and boat. Well I happen to like my lakefront house with the Malibu Ski boat in front and I like my Black Thunder and I might even upgrade if I get the sense that oil prices have stablized. I don't want to have to give them up because of incompetent a$$holes in Washington. Many people have already had to give up boating already because of the cost.

+10

The energy policy may not be the greatest, but we are on track now to be the largest producer of oil in the world. We actually exported more than we imported I believe last year. (net exporter status). People that use diesel would know this at the pumps, since diesel fuel is a prime export for the US now, as other markets pay a premium for ours. It's precisely because oil is high that this country has come back so far in energy. The energy sector has been creating jobs, and record revenues for some states. As we saw after 2008, too low a price and they turn off the spickets here.

People would naturally gravitate towards single engine and smaller boats if the gas pinch was that severe. However, it's the huge engines that have been selling briskly. Checkmate's problems would not vanish if gas were $2.50 a gallon. The mpg requirements have been going up for decades. One of the costliest things in smaller boats was done last decade, mandating the catalytic converter. That blew out the venerable 3.o 4-cylinder engine, but also left the door wide open for outboards.

Stable oil prices are in the range of $70 to $100. Less than that hurts, more than that hurts. Obama actually wants the Keystone pipeline, and I suspect it will be finished sooner than later. Again, if oil goes too low, nobody wants to produce tar sands oil, none of which is destined for the US markets anyway. After the Keystone pipeline is built, gas prices will go higher throughout the Midwest part of the country. What makes a huge difference in the entire cycle is how much people are earning, and whether they earn more each year. That has been an enormous problem for 15 years now.

Rite on with that.they all should tar and feathered.

I think this is my favorite post because most turnament ski boats and many high end pontoons ARE in the same price range as single engine performance boats, and they are still selling. Living here in Bucyrus and watching truck loads of Baja's and Checkmate's leaving town in all directions on a daily basies makes it hard to believe that the last one standing cannot make a go at it. I guess we need a good country song like Pontoon, or more 007 movies with speed boats to make the sport COOL again.

I think you missed on that one, I have done a few poker runs with Patryacht and he is one of the most down to earth level headed people you will ever meet.

I didn't make my comment based on meeting him in person and doing a poker run with him. I made my comment based on the outlandish statements he made on here. In person it sounds as if he concentrates on things he can control, and doesn't blame others for things he can't have?

My point isn't about the details, blame game, situation....I just don't care. Again, find a way, persevere, and take ownership of your situation. Having a negative outlook and blaming others will not find you success, and if you are already successful that bitterness can end it quickly.