Northeast (Boston) Boat Show

[lgusto]

Here are some observations from the Northeast Boat Show in Boston this past weekend. Luckily it was Valentine’s Day so my wife went with me – she said it was the best present I could give her (she's always been a better fisherman than me).

• Crowds were nonexistent. Might have been because it was Valentine’s Day.
• This is a very subjective call, but most of the vendors seemed really disengaged. Almost like they felt it was a waste of time. This was true from the biggest boats down to the little booth folks. Actually felt sorry for the loan people.
• Albemarle was present and their reps said that rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated.
• The Rampage 30 had the best interior of any fishing boat I’ve seen. Very nice with a perfect blend of comfort and practicality. But, out on deck the same old mistakes were apparent. Not a lot of tackle storage. I’m 6’ but had to stand on the gunwales to reach the hard top rod holders and would need scaffolding to reach the center ones. Helm seats looked like they were stolen from an old skiff.

As for the GW booth, they had just about every boat they make on display.
• This was our second visit on a Chesapeake and it’s just not our cup of tea. Compared to the Marlin…well, actually there is no comparison. Everything we like about the Marlin came up short on the Chesapeake. Of course, the Marlin is a much bigger boat despite the center line similarities.
• Oddly, the Marlin on display was a 2008 with twin 250’s still controlled manually. The very knowledgeable and helpful rep, Bob Freeman of Baert marine, told me the 2009’s have fly by wire controls. To me that’s an enormous improvement.
• All of the lighting on even the 2009’s remains incandescent, with no plans that I heard of to move to LED. I’m sure GW will move to LEDs like everyone else but can’t understand why it hasn’t yet been done. Here in Maine any improvement in the ability to be seen is a welcome feature.
• The new 30’ Tournament is awesome. It has more storage and open space than my house. I think it’s the best all around boat without a cabin that I’ve ever seen. It has to be a wonderful ride for a large family or group of friends.
• About the only thing I don't love about GW is the helm seating. I'm not a big fan of Whalers but they have much more comfortable seats than GW.

Under six weeks now for splashing the boat. Very jealous of all you folks down south (which of course is almost everyone compared to me).
Larry

 

[megabytes]

Great report. Thanks.
I am surprised GW is not embracing LED lighting. It was everywhere at the Raleigh boat show. The Robalo 305 has an option for underwater lighting. I'd like to see that on the large GWs in the future. Heml deck a/c is becoming more common. I have been lobbying GW for that feature for a while now.

 

[gradyfish22]

They have not gone to LED's because they are expensive and most that builders are using right now are JUNK. The better LED spreaders are expensive. Even big sportfishermen are just starting to use them, but they aren;t running 12V either so it is easier to get a bright LED light. I have been researching LED's and there aren't a ton out there. Working in the industry, I know of just about every brand who makes them. Most builders are using the HELLAA LED, they stink...380lumens compared to 800 on a 55 watt halogen, reason enough for Grady not to use them, and they are $150 a light. There are other better LED's for around $150 out there, but they are not from brands builders typically use. I was at the Atlantic city boat show the previous weekend and the crowds were not huge, but I saw an ok number of boats selling. I knew a few dealers at the show and they did move products, not any numbers like a few years ago, but better then last year and especially better then sales have been the last 6 months. I work for a boat builder and sales have been slow the past 3 months, but seem to be better from Miami, not sure if it will hold out or was just a momentary thing, only time will tell. As for companies and dealing with the economy, many situations are over exaggerated, others say they aren't as bad as they say to cover up whats really happening. Many brands are still open but have new owners. Formula, Robalo, Polar, and Albemarle are just a few of them that have changed ownership lately. Things are slow for most builders, but the bigger name brands are pulling through, just with 1/2 the amount of employees they had when times were good.

 

[ocnslr]

Thanks for the report on the Boston Show. We were going to hit the Virginia Beach Show on Sunday, Feb 8th, but we fished offshore the day before and I had to clean the boat.

Can't argue with gradyfish22 on the issue of LED spreader lights. But I can't understand why GW hasn't gone to LED naviagation and courtesy lighting.

I changed to 2nm LED nav lights and the difference is extremely noticeable. Not to mention that I expect them to last a long time, and not need me to open them up to clean the bulb contacts..

Brian

 

[Z4J]

how about trades

how about trades? were dealers interested in talking trade? did you notice any drop in used boat prices being offered by dealers?

 

[Legend]

I was there on Sunday and the crowds were pretty impressive. I checked out the Chesapeake too and was not impressed. I think the cabin is actually smaller than the the discontinued Sailfish and the price tag off 200K was questioable. You get a generator and a thuster for 22K option - Can't believe they walked from the Sailfish - of course I'm a bit prejudiced.

 

[gradyfish22]

The thruster on the chesapeake is done all wrong too...why is the hull cut and filled with a piece at the bottom. Horrible design, and it should be slightly higher. I place thrusters on the boats I design, principle rule is to mount it the diameter of the diameter above the bottom of the hull, it is lower then that which makes me question the strength of the hull. I have not rummaged underneath so maybe it is built up around this area, but they are building it all wrong, seems like the tunnel is part of the mold, instead of building the hull and putting a tunnel in the hull using a jig. The hull should always be 1 piece, not have a piece 5200's in. I agree there was no major advantage to this boat exceopt space for the gen. At 200k it is not worth it, either find a marlin for that price somewhere or look at other brands. For that price you can buy a lot more boat. I would buy a 28 or 30 whaler over the chesapeake anyday of the week. A lot more boat for the money, even though I'm not a Merc fan.

 

[lgusto]

Z4J, I didn't discuss trades in detail but the GW rep said he'd be happy to take my Gulfstream in trade for a Marlin. Course, price wasn't mentioned.

OCNSLR, where did you pick up your nav lights, price, easy to install, etc.? Did you also do the anchor light?

 

[Tashmoo]

I was at the Boston show on Saturday. Not all that well attended but it was the first day.

One very cool custom Maine boat caught my eye built by Samoset Boatworks. It is worth the time to go look at. It is a custom built Mahogany 32’ center console. I am not saying that I would buy it at $350,000 +/- but it was beautifully built.

Regarding the Chesapeake at $216,000 show price vs. the Marlin at $230,000 show price, I asked the question of the GM of Baert Marine, my dealer, why would anyone buy the Chesapeake? Please explain to me how this boat makes sense in the lineup? His answer was that an upgrade to the Marlin is probably in the works that will move the price point on the Marlin.

PS the Pursuit 28 show priced at around $180,000.

 

[pgiron]

Went to the Detroit Boat Show Saturday and crowds were light. Was told the floor space was cut by a quarter from last year and at least 1/8 of it still sat empty.

There were only 2 Gradys there, the biggest a 23'.

Such a sad outlook for the show here. 20 years ago it was double the floor space and 2 levels.

 

[Tundra1]

I was there Sat afternoon, amazing how Yamaha has taken market share from everyone. There were a few Merc and Suzuki, very few OMC. Yamaha just dominates the outboard market segment.

Jim

 

[capeguy]

I went twice, once with the kids on opening day, and once with a friend on Wed afternoon. I thought the opening day crowds were better than expected, nearly empty on Wed.

Both days, I thought the GW display was significantly busier than the others, except maybe SeaRay.

I am looking hard at a 30' class cabin boat, possibly for this summer or next year purchase and have been doing research for a while. I want outboards and as a GW owner am partial to the line. For me, the Marlin has been the target for years with the 305 a distant second.

I have to say that there is a new horse in the race... Pursuit has seriously stepped up the competition to the point where even I, as biased as I am towards GW, will have to look very hard at the Pursuit. The one thing saving the Marlin and 305 is that the Pursuit OS315, most comparable, has a horrible transom arrangement, with the fishbox under a heavy seat.

But, the newer models at the Boston show were impressive, particular in the cabin and the helm seating. The Marlin and 305 are much more fishing oriented IMHO yet spartan compared to Pursuit in fit and finish. GW didn't have a 305, but I saw it last year. The Pursuits' cabins made GW look dated.

The Pursuits' hard top is much nicer, sturdier, integrated nicely into the windshield. The bridge deck design has better seating.

I still think GW is the front runner, but Pursuit has really come a long way.

 

[Tommyboy]

I was at the Atlantic City show ....it was opening day and it was empty ... the show was at least 40% smaller than last year .. none of the BIG sportfish boats were there ... the whole atmosphere was off, the reps were all very low-key .... as if they werent even trying to sell boats ... and as stated above there were Yamaha outboards everywhere you looked! I think only Boston Whaler had Merc's on em ... It was still nice to wonder around the show and checkout all the new gadgets ... I'm waiting to be 'stimulated' before I can look at a new boat !!!

 

[striped bass]

We attended on Wednesday and we just about had the place to ourselves. Grady seemed to have the most amount of activity. Pursuit had some very nice vessels and seemed to be the only real competition to Grady. The integration of the hard top with the windshield was a nice Pursuit feature. Hunt Yachts had a nice Harrier 25 footer dual console based on the Ray Hunt hull design, but it was not cheap. Grady execs from Greenville were very accommodating and were receptive to different options (other than what you read in the brochures) on the Grady models. Grady has done the best job with the dual console bow riders, bar none, compared to the other manufacturers.

 

[ocnslr]

OCNSLR, where did you pick up your nav lights, price, easy to install, etc.? Did you also do the anchor light?

The sidelights are Attwood 3550R7 RED sidelight, and 3550G7 GREEN sidelight. They were $38.07 each from J & M Hunting Supplies & Marine Customer Service. These were an easy replacement for the factory lights.

The all-around light is the Attwood 5557-20-7, which is on a 7" pole. I moved the top assembly to the folding pole that I already had on the hardtop, as it was an Attwood with the same pole diameter. (Not a factory hardtop). There are several other models, with different styles and lengths of pole.

Brian

 

[lgusto]

Thanks Brian, I'll look into the LEDs.

Tashmoo, if you liked crawling around the Samoset boat you might consider coming up to Portland for the Maine Boatbuilders show next month. That is a really amazing collection of everything from oars to dinghys to yachts, all of which are beautifully crafted. See http://www.portlandcompany.com/boatShow/.

 

[Tashmoo]

Lgusto,

Thanks for the heads up I think that's a perfict reason to spend a weekend in Portland.