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Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sales Among Sails Despite Dark Clouds Over Economy
| POSTED BY John Burnham AT 10:06 PM GMT |
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With the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis opening last Thursday as the stock market had its worst week in decades, the sailing industry held its collective breath and was relieved to see that the sun was out and attendance was strong. Fewer total boats may have been selling, but most of those builders I talked with were still signing contracts and selling boats. Jeanneau America even issued a press release reported strong sales, highlighted by sales of three of their flagship model, the 54DS.
The docks were filled with sailors, particularly on Saturday, and the weather was abnormally outstanding; typical this Columbus Day Weekend gets hit by at least one day of heavy rain, and as of Sunday night, it looked as if exhibitors would escape without a drop, which seemed only fair to an industry braced for the worst based on the stock market swoon. Sailors arrived, as usual, with shopping lists of equipment to search out, and attendance at Cruising World's seminars (sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation) was extremely good, too, as cruisers flocked to hear from Jimmy Cornell, Tania Aebi, Don Street and many more.
For Cruising World's Boat of the Year contest, I inspected more than two dozen boats in September and October, just before the show opened. Working with our other two nominating round judges, former CW editor Steve Callahan and current CW senior editor Mark Pillsbury, we selected a solid fleet of 21 new cruising boats ranging from Hunter's new trailerable, The Edge, to Beneteau's new big boat, a 54-footer. One of the more unusual designs was the swing-keel twin-rudder Southerly 42RST, which I reviewed after sailing in England last May. Oddly, there was only one new multihull this year, the Moxie 37 Day Hopper. But in the 30 to 45 foot range there were several good new models from the likes Hunter, Beneteau, Bavaria, Southerly, Jeanneau.
The jury is still out on the economy and the long-term effects on the sailboat market, but for this weekend, the sun shone and sailors were smiling.
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