phaze

I have lived in Colorado for the past 35 years (born and bred on the east coast) and am among a very small segment of go-fast boat owners here. The last surviving of my parents, who lived in south Florida, passed in 2007. Prior to that I would visit FL regularly a couple of times each year and enjoyed the West Palm, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami boat shows, with particular interest in the latest and greatest go-fasts.

This past November, my wife and I visited for the first time since 2007, and caught the Ft. Lauderdale boat show and the Superboat races off Key West. I was completely floored by the boat show; virtually no traditional go-fast boats! Whatever happened over the past 7-8 years? It looked as if the entire market had shifted to center console boats with 3 to 4 outboards. Can anyone out there explained what happened? Who is buying the center consoles? Is it former go-fast owners or is it a new type of buyer? Are any of the traditional go-fast boats still being made? Has this site--Offshore Only--been affected by the phenomenon? Are the center console's owners and their boats supplanting the traditional boats here also?

To say the least, I am baffled!

klaatutooyou

Refer to the Matt Trulio articles posted on page 1 ,,2,, and 3.

Free money metted out pretty much played a part in the disappearance .
.

Nate5.0

Times be a changing....late to the party on this topic?

hogie roll

To be fair just because the decks are different doesn't mean they aren't legit offshore sport boats. They're as fast as old school straight bottom resin buckets and have more useable space.

The market in general seems to have to shifted to open boats and day boats. New buyers don't seem as interested in overnighting accommodations and cabins.

999JAY

Trends change and then change back ,the offshore boat isn't dead.

Nate5.0

Great post right here and how I think/feel about it.

If I was in the market for a new boat, I am going CC these days. Just a way better fit for the life style and as you said it is the same bottoms on these boats and the speeds are coming up as well.

Knot 4 Me

2005 has come on gone. Welcome to 2015!

Hogie nailed it.

BUP

iTrader: (9)

The majority of numbers for new boats sales are Yamaha Jet drive boats for a one model overall leader in sales, Then highest sales wee pontoon boats, Wakeboard boats 12 only main manufacturers and offshore CC in that order. Rec fiberglass is really down in numbers and Sportboarts are at the bottom of the list. Bass boats sell more than the average family REC I/O boats.

The numbers for Mercruiser and Volvo combine for new engine packages for 2014 were less than 30,000 and we are talking about 200 boat builders at least that use this app. Sea Ray, Four Winns, Glastron, Cobalt, Tahoe, Stingray, Larson and so on. GM produces 35,000 engine per day so the marine end really means nothing to them anymore.

Diamond Dave

We just bought our first boat and here In Portland we are definitely the minority...There are a few but people act like it's a spaceship or something when they see it. All wakeboard boats here but no center consoles...yet lol. I have ALWAYS wanted this kind of boat and don't care what the current fad is!

rj45

Offshore powerboats are expensive and for the most part one-dimentional. These days, a somewhat basic boat is $250K and custom boats are well over $500K. They just don't appeal to many buyers, especially those that have the means to buy such things. Most professionals and big business guys want a luxury-type boat for entertaining or a big sport fisherman. It not only appeals to them, but to their colleagues and friends who'll be invited aboard. These people consistently make big money, even through tough times, so their type of boats are the ones you see at the shows. Plus, with these modern sport CC's getting better every year, many performance guys can switch to a boat that satisfies them and the wife and kids. Unfortunately, all this makes the offshore powerboat a tough sell.