Matt Trulio

While I realize the legal happenings of last week have stirred emotions, your statement above is absurd. Offshore racing has been in a steady decline since the mid 2000s. Year-to-year fleet size numbers bear that out. Steady, steady decline, which, on a positive note, appears to have leveled.

The No. 1 factor that affects participation in powerboat racing is the economy. When the U.S. economy is weak, offshore racing declines. It takes silly discretionary income to race offshore powerboats, and even those who have it in lean economic times tend to withhold. People often cite "politics" for the decline of offshore racing, but there have always been politics in offshore racing and the sport has always cycled up and down with the economy. It's pretty hard to argue otherwise, at least it you're trying make direct correlations.

To your question, Phaze, I'll give the shortest answer possible: Go-fast powerboat owners, as a group, are aging and new blood is coming in at a meager pace (and it's been that way for at least 20 years). As people age, their tastes, wants, needs and desires change. A performance boat owner with kids, and maybe even grandkids, and lots of friends gets the best of both worlds with a performance-oriented center console, enough "performance" for a fun driving experience and enough space for everyone. (Plus, most center consoles are powered by outboard engines with great warranties, which typically present fewer maintenance headaches/lower costs of ownership than their inboard counterparts.) So, traditional custom performance builders such as Cigarette and Nor-Tech and MTI and Mystic and Statement (and you get the picture) have added center consoles to their lines. They are not "fishing-centric" of the likes of Yellowfin, they're social platforms that run pretty fast.

Center consoles have not "supplanted" or replaced traditional go-fast boats. But they have supplemented them, and kept the companies that once only made go-fast boats alive since 2007.

PARASAIL941

If you dont get them hooked on motorsports at a young age , they'll never know what their missing .When I was a kid , my dad would drop the girls on shore and show me how the boat was supposed to be run. I've been chasing that adreneline rush ever since ( on water and land ) . Racing in general has been on a steady decline ( tracks closing , boat counts down ) over the years and will probably continue in this direction These are the people that buy , work on , and enjoy fast boats / cars and their numbers are diminishing .
Many say they are fine without a fast toy , but IMO , they may not have ran to the edge and beyond , got out of or off a fast boat , car , bike ,ect. with hands trembling , sweating , smiling , ready to go again !!!

Flightplan

Bup, clear some PM space. Trying to send a PM.

ICDEDPPL

iTrader: (1)

It`s because most of those gen X pussified little b itches grew up with a "time out" instead of a belt across the ass. When little johnny sucked at baseball he still got a participation award and his politically correct soccer mommy told him how great he is and that he`s gonna grow up to be president someday. What she should have told him is to start reciting the phrase "would you like fries with that?" to prepare him for the real world.
Never any hardship makes for a bunch of cry babies who are too lazy and mechanically declined to be able to fix anything much less put in the work required to upkeep a performance boat/trailer/tow vehicle.
I guess what they wanna do is throw a line in the water on some easy to take care of CC and sit there with their dicks in their hand waiting for some 'smells like nasty Pu$$y' fish to bite the bait.

There`s only a few of us real mean left out there and the herd is getting smaller by the minute.


NEXT!

CDShack

icdedppl--I know you said something profound, but damn son, that Avatar is your best yet.

Oh.....And it makes me think of the point I was going to make.......I likey the "stabbin-cabin" only a true offshore boat can provide!

Flightplan

Bartender. His next one is on me, ill have whatever he's having, and make mine a double.

Gh700xx

My fever is only a 27 that sounds good and looks good. That's it nothing fancy but the teens that work the docks around here go stupid when it or a cig or formula pull in. They're all big eyed and like what's in this thing or what is that boat? We don't see many of these etc. It's sad really. The looks at a boat ramp when it or a couple other go fasts are loading or unloading are polarizing. Either they love the things and stare and point and watch or hit Ya up about them or you get glare like why you have that damn thing.

offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

Wrong boat show...

Try Miami next time

I agree on the CC stuff...

Plowtownmissile

Seems like right now that wake boats, pontoons, and center consoles are where it's at in sales. If it wasn't for me wanting something with a more "performance look", I'd have listened to my entire family to buy a twin outboard pontoon instead of my 29' Baja mid-cabin open bow. A 'toon that runs 70mph with twin O/B power is definitely faster and requires less maintenance than my boat. On our local central IL lakes, it'd be hard to beat the versatility.

On a side note, I'm very surprised that closed bow boats (especially cruisers) are so popular at LOTO. With all the homes/condos/resorts, over-nighting on a boat has to be a VERY rare occasion. The closed bow is a waste most of the time and not once since I've owned my place at LOTO have I wished I had one other than for looks.

Nate5.0

I disagree.

Me as well as many of my friends were brought up in and around fast cars and racing. Pretty much all of us have no desire to own BBC boat these days. We are all happy on egg beaters that are running plenty fast and hold all of us why we share the good time.

The love for them is still there but rather not have the headache of ownership either. This also applies to cars/trucks, it is not just a boat thing.


That is just me and my buds.