2023 Boat Shows

[hethj7]

I got to stop by our local show.  We were short on time, but I found a few things interesting. 

They had an Anthem wakeboat there.  $339,000 show price.   Gunning for Pavati?   PCM powered, aluminum hull, pontoon layout.    Ugly wrap.   Front loading ramp for beach access.   It all together seemed odd to me and I was shocked at the price.   

G23 Paragon - MSRP has crossed $400K.  Show price of $352,300.   Those rear seat are so well done and comfy!

Cobalt R8 Surf - $254,000.  This was intriguing - it is still missing cues from Malibu in terms of functional use of things like the trash can, but at nearly 28' long with a surf system and presumably the ability to handle chop and cruise comfortably, I would think these would start getting more traction.   

Very few closed cabins in the larger boats - lots of open bow and center console concepts.    Traffic seemed fairly heavy the night I was there and one dealer already marked their 42' yacht and another large Statement center console sold that they brought.  I'm not sure how the dealers did overall, but from what I saw, it didn't seem like a recession was here.    

The 26LSV was on display.  It's a big, gorgeous beast!

 

[blk93jeepzj]

36 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

 

The 26LSV was on display.  It's a big, gorgeous beast!

 

The Ski Shack had one of these on their showroom floor the week before Christmas when I stopped by.  You are spot on with your description.  

[oldjeep]

Didn't take a single picture this year.  The boats are getting freaking huge and the interiors are an odd mix of way too much electronics and really square upholstery.   Wifes comments on the wake boats were - at least they seem to be stopping with the glitter, and why are all the seats black or brown   Local prop shop was not there handing out coupons this year - bummer, but they seem to be busy all the time so it makes sense.

Only things that we saw that were of interest this time was a place where you could build your own wooden paddleboard (or surfboard).

May wind up doing this in the spring: https://shore-boards.com/

[Murphys]

We hit the Louisville KY show Saturday. The least expensive wake boat I looked at was nearly $130k (Malibu 21 LX). Most of the desirable wake boats were north of $200k.

Sea-Doo had what looked like a plastic pontoon boat there.

$12 to park.

$14 to get in.

$4 bottled water.

$20+ for each person to eat fast food.

I'm likely finished going to boat shows in Louisville. The show pales in comparison to what it once was.

May hit Nashville next year to see if it is still worth the price of admission. 

[oldjeep]

Yeah, those modular Seadoo pontoons were interesting/weird.  Lego boats  There were 3 or 4 of them at the Mpls show. 

 

[shawndoggy]

3 hours ago, hethj7 said:

They had an Anthem wakeboat there.  $339,000 show price.   Gunning for Pavati?   PCM powered, aluminum hull, pontoon layout.    Ugly wrap.   Front loading ramp for beach access.   It all together seemed odd to me and I was shocked at the price.   

You mean the patented "tactical wakeboat" built to MilSpec?  Their marketing is ridiculous.  It's like this thing is really a boarding craft for the inevitable vigilante marine assault on Canada, and it will surf in the meantime.

[rennis]

4 hours ago, hethj7 said:

Cobalt R8 Surf - $254,000.  This was intriguing - it is still missing cues from Malibu in terms of functional use of things like the trash can, but at nearly 28' long with a surf system and presumably the ability to handle chop and cruise comfortably, I would think these would start getting more traction.   

 

My friend's neighbor on Entiat owns the serial #1 Cobalt R8.  It is not my cup of tea but it IS ginormous and the owner loves it.  His previous boat was a 22LSV.  It turns heads on the water, that's for sure. 

[rennis]

47 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

You mean the patented "tactical wakeboat" built to MilSpec?  Their marketing is ridiculous.  It's like this thing is really a boarding craft for the inevitable vigilante marine assault on Canada, and it will surf in the meantime.

LOL!

Better marketing than the Surf Boss I guess?  Either way I'm not spending that kind of money on a 'toon!  

[hethj7]

All aboard!  If you had a small tank you could make a marine landing   

 

[dwc032]

We

5 hours ago, Murphys said:

We hit the Louisville KY show Saturday. The least expensive wake boat I looked at was nearly $130k (Malibu 21 LX). Most of the desirable wake boats were north of $200k.

Sea-Doo had what looked like a plastic pontoon boat there.

$12 to park.

$14 to get in.

$4 bottled water.

$20+ for each person to eat fast food.

I'm likely finished going to boat shows in Louisville. The show pales in comparison to what it once was.

May hit Nashville next year to see if it is still worth the price of admission. 

Same here. We went to the Portland, Oregon Boat Show. It was the same.  We had to deal with the gobs of homeless, trash, traffic and terrible people. It reminds why I hate the Portland Metro Area.  

They still had 2022 Malibu models for sale and they were still 175-200k

[OtherBoatisaCessna]

I hit our local boat show this weekend, had similar thoughts.  Honestly, the RV show was a lot more interesting and fun a couple weeks back.  The wake boats all just kind of started to blend together into a huge ostentatious blob.  I found myself more interest in looking at jon boats with casting platforms haha.

I have been a supporter of @The Hulk’s recessionary position in the used boats thread, but it wasn’t evident at the show. My favorite was a bass boat with a tag that read MSPR: $43,999, Show Price: $43,999!  The T250s were like MSRP: $150k, Show pricing: $146k.  Whoopdeedoo.  I must be missing something.  

[granddaddy55]

9 hours ago, oldjeep said:

Yeah, those modular Seadoo pontoons were interesting/weird.  Lego boats  There were 3 or 4 of them at the Mpls show. 

 

people have fun in them as rentals , saw them on lake conroe tx in october ‘21

[The Hulk]

6 hours ago, OtherBoatisaCessna said:

I hit our local boat show this weekend, had similar thoughts.  Honestly, the RV show was a lot more interesting and fun a couple weeks back.  The wake boats all just kind of started to blend together into a huge ostentatious blob.  I found myself more interest in looking at jon boats with casting platforms haha.

I have been a supporter of @The Hulk’s recessionary position in the used boats thread, but it wasn’t evident at the show. My favorite was a bass boat with a tag that read MSPR: $43,999, Show Price: $43,999!  The T250s were like MSRP: $150k, Show pricing: $146k.  Whoopdeedoo.  I must be missing something.  

Auto loan missed payments/defaults quickly rising. As previously mentioned it takes 12+ mo for $ to move though system.. wait till later this year. IMO the gov thinks they are going to get soft landing but Many economic KPIs are currently at 08 or worse levels, or will soon will be at 08 or worse.. 

I think everyone's comments on pricing is a good point to reflect that life's unaffordability is quickly spiraling out of control for 99% of the population. More people are getting a lot poorer than rich people getting richer not good for the economy as a whole. I still stand behind my comments of that M2 chart from 2yrs ago that after a while we'll all feel the effects of our money being diluted by  roughly 40%.. keep in mind pricing is still rising just not as fast. At current inflation numbers prices will double in 11 yrs instead of the 6-7 we were at..(but that's the number we're told not true inflation numbers)  granted it's going down but still extremely high still and worse yet trillions and trillions of designated spending has not even been spent yet to further the inflation problem. Add that energy will likely rise significantly as Asia gets back online and now the one thing lowering inflation currently will cause a second spike, let's just hope it's small. 

My only concern is the soft landing narrative could very easily approach a the edge of a Cliff, granted we have a ways to go.. in my opinion we're currently in the "dead cat bounce". Time will tell but I'd say second half or late year will tell a lot more..

Home sales fell off a cliff I think worse than 08 now was last reported or should I say "revised" . Majority of Americans now can't afford a $400 unexpected expense.. yikes.. 

and yes .. I HOPE I'm wrong  but have an odd gut feeling all is not well for 99% of avg joes.. 

Now this 28ft beast y'all speak of, show me some surf videos!

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by The Hulk

[wdr]

16 hours ago, Murphys said:

May hit Nashville next year to see if it is still worth the price of admission. 

@MurphysUnless someone comes out with a new “game changer” our crew is probably done with boat shows for the foreseeable future. We all passed on Nashville this year due to the trend mentioned above. The big 4 are always there, and the local Malibu dealer is normally the largest rep and usually bring their Pro Shop which creates quite a footprint for them. The associated prices sound the same. I will say we have never had a problem parking next to the venue. 

[hethj7]

@The Hulk I got behind the R8.  I couldn’t surf it though. 😂

It has a solid tower with the nice light accents   The bimini is super solid   But, it still had bungee racks.  
 

I agree with your sentiment of affordability of many things becoming an issue for most.

[cowwboy]

54 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

I agree with your sentiment of affordability of many things becoming an issue for most.

 

I went into shock seeing that they now have toons breaking $400k. 
And it's not even just 1 brand or model, they have a few out now that are $400-$500k 

A lot of the posted prices were in payments and showed financing for 20+ years. 

Makes me wonder what would happen to the industry if the banks started tightening terms to 4 or 5 years. 

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, The Hulk said:

Auto loan missed payments/defaults quickly rising. As previously mentioned it takes 12+ mo for $ to move though system.. wait till later this year. IMO the gov thinks they are going to get soft landing but Many economic KPIs are currently at 08 or worse levels, or will soon will be at 08 or worse.. 

I think everyone's comments on pricing is a good point to reflect that life's unaffordability is quickly spiraling out of control for 99% of the population. More people are getting a lot poorer than rich people getting richer not good for the economy as a whole. I still stand behind my comments of that M2 chart from 2yrs ago that after a while we'll all feel the effects of our money being diluted by  roughly 40%.. keep in mind pricing is still rising just not as fast. At current inflation numbers prices will double in 11 yrs instead of the 6-7 we were at..(but that's the number we're told not true inflation numbers)  granted it's going down but still extremely high still and worse yet trillions and trillions of designated spending has not even been spent yet to further the inflation problem. Add that energy will likely rise significantly as Asia gets back online and now the one thing lowering inflation currently will cause a second spike, let's just hope it's small. 

My only concern is the soft landing narrative could very easily approach a the edge of a Cliff, granted we have a ways to go.. in my opinion we're currently in the "dead cat bounce". Time will tell but I'd say second half or late year will tell a lot more..

Home sales fell off a cliff I think worse than 08 now was last reported or should I say "revised" . Majority of Americans now can't afford a $400 unexpected expense.. yikes.. 

and yes .. I HOPE I'm wrong  but have an odd gut feeling all is not well for 99% of avg joes.. 

Now this 28ft beast y'all speak of, show me some surf videos!

 

 

 

@The Hulk This thread is about Boat Shows, please don't dilute it with all your Gloom and Doom predictions. Therre's another thread for that.

[ahopkins22LSV]

42 minutes ago, cowwboy said:

I went into shock seeing that they now have toons breaking $400k. 
And it's not even just 1 brand or model, they have a few out now that are $400-$500k 

A lot of the posted prices were in payments and showed financing for 20+ years. 

Makes me wonder what would happen to the industry if the banks started tightening terms to 4 or 5 years. 

There was a Bennington at the Detroit show with a new merc 600 on it. I believe the boat show special was 240k. Made me feel better about Malibu pricing I think?

[Steve B.]

No boat show for me this year. They cut ticket prices in half though to get traffic. At our convention center parking and food is a 3rd party so the boat show has nothing to do with those. I'm lucky that the biggest ski boat vendor at the show is right up the street from me anyway so I can go gawk or chat anytime.

Steve B.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Steve B.
spelling

[Hemmy]

 

I was shopping Pontoons at the boat shows.  Pontoons are definitely almost or just as much as wakeboats now.  The latest from Barletta has a base price of $287,000.  Obviously, this isn't your basic pontoon, but it was pretty cool.  If I was going to spend that kind of money on a boat, it wouldn't be a pontoon boat.  I saw this boat at the Chicago boat show, but did not see what the MSRP was of it.  It was a beautiful pontoon boat that included a 400 Mercury engine.

https://www.barlettapontoonboats.com/models-and-pricing/reserve-model-selection
 

Here is one of the build sheets for one of Barletta's middle of the road pontoon boats I saw over the weekend at my local boat show.

And then a G23

[Cole2001]

Honestly think boat shows are becoming a thing of the past. The Canadian tow boat dealers decided not to attend the shows this year. Just not worth it. 

Also can’t believe the price of the pontoons but that’s just not the market I’m looking at. 

[The Hulk]

1 hour ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

There was a Bennington at the Detroit show with a new merc 600 on it. I believe the boat show special was 240k. Made me feel better about Malibu pricing I think?

Twin 300-450s is lighter weight and you can parallel park so I have yet to figure this one out.. other than .. because you can.. 

[The Hulk]

46 minutes ago, Cole2001 said:

Honestly think boat shows are becoming a thing of the past. The Canadian tow boat dealers decided not to attend the shows this year. Just not worth it. 

Also can’t believe the price of the pontoons but that’s just not the market I’m looking at. 

Because the sell likely 10:1 or more compared to wake boats.. we're previously half the price for more comfort and also many have awesome sound system options/upgrades.. used my toon 90-95% of the time this past summer.. 25lsv was for planned surfing or tubing/skiing only.. 

Now with 300-900hp options you can pull about anything and do anything "pretty well"  except surf.. 

$115-140k 25ft pontoon with a 300hp will do skiing and tubing for 90% of people buying a boat, and most people are only doing watersports 10% of their time anyways.. why I said Malibu lost out not buying a toon brand a while back. Basically full cross over of workforce+ suppliers + vendors from the RV industry for these toon mfgs so they can offer more way more value for the buck than any wake boat company could dream of. 

[Woodski]

Does anybody else have visions of Rodney Dangerfield behind the helm of a 600 hp toon?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGD-tUsySPs

[mxmark4]

The Knoxville boat show isnt until March, and honestly it wasnt as much fun as I had expected when we went last year. My interests are more in the aftermarket side of things and looking for mods or upgrades that I havent seen or might find inspiration from. The boats at our show are well represented since Bu/Axis, Supra/Moomba and Mastercraft are all made right here. So its cool to see and compare all the boats right next to each other, but then again i live just minutes from 5 different wake boat dealers. Hopefully our show will have something good to justify the parking and entry prices.