Commentary: Baja’s Smart Move
 

Baja's alliance with the Freedom Boat Club has far-reaching potential potential, http://speedonthewater.com/in-the-ne...a-s-smart-move

Hell of a way to do durability testing.....

I think that's why they requested custom outboards. They are a little harder to destroy!! Run it like you rented it. lol How about some Donzi 38 ZR 525s for the fleet? :)

I'm thinking this opens the door for "Freedom Elite". Once you have enough hours they will let you rent a Cig or an MTI from several locations around the country. Of course I guess they would have to give a cut to SCOPE :lolhit:

Freedom clubs in S. Florida aren't great. They love to use private individual's boats as rentals (you sublease your boat to the club, they get the use of the boat for the cost of your payment), they are always getting sued/re-organizing under new names and it is somewhat of a broken business model. Some want $5000 membership fees that are good for 3-5 years plus a monthly charge.....the issue is that this cost structure rivals a boat payment with none of the flexibility of actually owning the boat!

If Baja can move 100 boats doing this great but you have to wonder what it does for the brand image (Baja = rental boat). I know in the jet ski market the smaller Yamahas like XL700s/VX sports are mostly used in the rental market so most consumers are leery of buying those models new or used (looks like a rental or it was a rental).

I was thinking the same thing, Jup. Baja = rental. They sure are a long ways away from their Bucyrus heydays. It's a brave new world though so you can't blame a company for doing whatever to move product to stay alive..

On the flip side, if you can make a boat that survives well as a rental... Think about it, the guy that just rented an "offshore boat" spent last night excited searching youtube for offshore videos and seeing Bobby S take warpath on a run that mortal men only dream of. Today he gets in that boat and puts the hammer down!! If you can build a boat that survives that time and time again, thats a hell of a selling point.

Your point on the "rental boat" perception is something I can speak to, and it's fair (don't know a lot of Freedom Boat Club but I'd be careful making a generalization based on one market). But I think you're missing the larger point, and that point is exposure for the sportboat market on the whole.

No, I wouldn't buy a Yamaha 700, even though it's a good product, but I would buy a Yamaha 1200. And like most people, I was exposed to PWC through entry-level offerings like the 700.

Jupe, if you look hard enough you can find flaws in just about anything. I'm not saying this is a perfect program or a perfect idea or the solution to the challenge of bringing new buyers into the go-fast boat market. I'm saying it's a step. I'm also saying it's nice to see a company trying something.

Or the industry can just do nothing and nothing will change. It may not change anyway, but from where I sit giving up is never an option.

I hear you on the exposure to a bigger market but renting a Baja sportboat and then even a decade later buying a 39 TG or 36 Skater is extremely long odds......especially if you leave the year round boating markets of FL/TX. I think while it is a good long range, for the industry plan, it is "pie in the sky" at best. If I was Skip (Cig) or Peter (Skater) I wouldn't want to rely on some Baja rentals this year fueling their sales model in 2024!

In the short term, Baja had an excellent reputation for being a entry level sport boat so a small outboard powered boat could certainly boost that reputation. The rentals however might hurt sales when it comes to a guy signing on the dotted line thinking along the lines of "wait, I have a 60-120 month payment book on a rental boat?"

Flip side being, a relatively new boat with loose bolsters, rough fit/finish from rental abuse certainly might deter a buyer from buying a Baja due to their perceived quality. Safe to say my example is more likely than "built tough as an Apache" example you listed above.

I know a lot, and I mean a lot, of high-performance V-bottom and catamaran owners who started with models from Baja and Checkmate. I know from many discussions with those owners that they started with those boats because A) They didn't have a lot of money "back then." B) They didn't have a lot of boating experience "back then." But their Baja and Checkmate boats hooked them on "fast boats," either though neither line was particularly "fast." That they owned them rather than paying a membership fee and monthly dues does not mean they wouldn't have done just that given the option. Again, all of these owners (and as I said I know a bunch) appreciated the ... economics ... of Baja and Checkmate. They didn't have the means—or experience—for anything else.

The truth is, my friend, that odds "are long" against anyone ending up in a Cigarette, Skater, MTI, Outerlimits, Sunsation and such period—for any number of reasons, despite how much we love and appreciate them all, their widespread appeal is small and always will be. When you hear that "70 million" people are involved in boating from one of the organizations, you have to keep in mind that includes everything from yachts to kayaks. The pie slices into a bunch of slivers when you cut it up, and the go-fast segment is among the smallest of those slivers. So yeah, that's a long-winded way of saying the odds are long.

But anything the industry can do to improve those odds, even minutely, is a good thing. And in the case of Baja and the Freedom Boat Club, it does no harm, at least that I can see. The guy who falls in love with a Baja through a 247 Islander he became exposed to through "rental" might be bothered by that when he sees the price of the boat and the payments required to cover it, but then, new-model pricing is another challenge/problem/hurdle (whatever) the entire powerboat industry faces.

In short, there is no single solution to or strategy for bringing new buyers into the go-fast market. But as exposure for the general boating public goes, this one might do a little good. And there's nothing wrong with a little.

As for the quality issue that both you and Phragle both bring up—and it's a worthy issue—I think you're looking at it from the perspective of experienced performance-boat owners and operators. When you're new to the game and enjoying the thrill for what could well be the first time, you're not focused on a loose bolster. You're having too much fun.

If I'm wrong, the same thing will happen had Baja not tried something different. Nothing.

i once had a customer buy his first boat,a 180 crownline lpx,350 mag thru hulls solid red it was a boat we built for the boat show.any how not an offshore boat by any means,12 months later and three boats later that same 18 ft bowrider buyer was taking delivery of his factory ordered 33 donzi daytona,and he now owns a 44 mti.point is you gotta start some whwere.ron tomlinson of my way fame started in a baja i belive.good write up matt

The guy that rents these boats knows nothing about fit and finish... Have you been on the intercoastal lately? A lot of these people are flat out dangerous - no regard for water rules. That is OK in a slower boat, but put them in a boat that does 50+ MPH and its getting sketchy.

I know 2 boat rental places around Delray and West Palm.... the boats are beat to HELL! they just want to go to Peanut and beach them - party - come home - drop off boat - leave. I have heard stories about some of the "incidents" with props. LOL

I think we are in the same book, maybe not on the same page! It would also be fair to say Checkmate/Baja were probably better quality 10 years ago and were sold at a better price point than what you get today due to ownership changes, manufacturing costs. Like I said in my first post, if Baja moves 100 new boats that is a win for everyone! My favorite Baja was the 33 Outlaw, the boat had great lines and with a pair of 500 efi's it went pretty good too!

The rentals in those areas are beat for sure, not sure how a Baja would fit in those programs.

Always get a lot out of our exchanges, Jupe. Thanks for playing.

Can't wait till one ties up with me..........

If the Baja is set up correctly, it should be a solid 60 mph boat. That is plenty fast for an inexperienced captain. 60 mph is really fast for a novice and they will either love it and want to go bigger and faster or they will go back to their pontoon. This seems like a good way to introduce more people to performance boating. I don"t see any downside to this and I hope that it adds to our slim ranks.

Quality is an issue that is coming up again and again whether this thread or the feasibility of renting offshore boats thread that is current.

Quality is simple if you keep the product simple, Period,.The technology to building a bullet proof hull and cap structure has been around since 1970.

Keep the rest of the boat simple so all of the Ohhs and Ahhs don.t fall on the floor after every ride and you are there with the basics .

There used to be a saying that the boat could take much more of a beating than the man driving it , Yes they were overbuilt and heavy ,but with today's technological understandings of materials and the construction process that is light years ahead of 1970, you can still build a very competitive hull in the production field that is still over built to with stand extreme abuse.

And in general it is not any harder to build a well built boat than a poorly built boat , its only a mindset of whether you care or not to control the quality of workmanship once all the same materials have been bought.

I have been dealing with the general public around boats and waverunner rentals for ever it seems. As much as they scare you, most of them are not any worse than some of the people I have been in offshore boats or any other boat that have owned them for years.

Whether it is a offshore boat or I am on a 80 foot yacht and some Yahoo captain know it all is in charge with his one week class for a 6 pack ticket , some people will never really have the gift of confidence nor the ability to properly run any boat..

So to get back to the story.

I do believe an entry boat could very possibly lead to a very high end boat in the future for some people .

Some people it may take a year or 2 as I have recently witnessed with a friend of a friend down here in Florida or it could be a long term plan as a dear friend of mine that I introduced to the sport 30 years ago has surpassed me and I will never catch up, despite my 15 years of running and building them before him .

A simple well built, properly performing 30 foot entry level boat with a bullet proof 550 hp that can run on the rev limiter with a reliable drive like a Arneson would be my pick .

Or possibly a hull designed totally around the old Tee Drives and you would have something that ,1 you could make money with renting and, 2 would show the general public that owning a performance boat is not only fun and very exhilarating but can also be enjoyed with minimal maintenance and expense if you keep your expectations within reason.

As you can tell from all my postings I don't much care for outdrives , The outdrives themselves will hold up with a little care but the pivot point wear that they experience is something that needs to be addressed.