Why Aren't Millennials Buying Boats?

I remember being told that back in the 1980's and 1990's that LittleHampton marine had upwards of 400 trailer boaters there, its down to 50ish now. All owners by the younger generation.

They are the people that would trade up to larger boats later in life, I do not know of anywhere that has that many trailer boaters now.

Is boating going the way of boat clubs / shared ownership which cuts down on the hassle factor ?
 
Ian h said:
I remember being told that back in the 1980's and 1990's that LittleHampton marine had upwards of 400 trailer boaters there, its down to 50ish now. All owners by the younger generation.

They are the people that would trade up to larger boats later in life, I do not know of anywhere that has that many trailer boaters now.

Is boating going the way of boat clubs / shared ownership which cuts down on the hassle factor ?
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Maybe people are now using Drystacks instead
 
Much of it is attitude, not wanting to be tied down to something, lack of money to commit to something long term, and general mobility of the younger generation who often seem to have no stamina or backbone, but all the platitudes and rhetoric as to why they can't do something.
 
With a date of birth in 1990 I believe this puts me in the millennial bracket. I'm on my second boat (albeit only a 7.5m rib) and live 2 hours away from the coast where it is based. I was brought up around boats as a family but only a handful of friends share the interest as I do.

My main issue is time available to use it. I'm lucky that I have flexibility with my own business to go on mid-week trips but free weekends are few and far between. I'm giving serious consideration to a med relocation for the boat this year as the variable UK weather gets in the way all too often as well. We are very much fair weather boaters.

I hope to upgrade in the next couple of years and I will almost certainly go down the fractional ownership route for a larger med-based boat. As said above the hassle free factor is key both from an economic and ease of use perspective.
 
Maybe they are better educated and less likely to succumb to man math and idle dreaming and those that do love the water have turned it into a sport, kayaking, wind sufing, kite boarding, dinghy sailing, wake boarding, RhIBs and urrrrggg jetski-ing.
 
MartynG said:
Nothing new.
Old gits moaning about the young.
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Might be nothing new, but might also not be entirely unjustified.

When I was 17 the race was on as to who passed their driving test the quickest, who got the first car, how and when we could leave home, and of course, girls. The parental complaint was always 'You treat this place like a hotel, come in to eat and sleep and then disappear'.

When I look around at friends with young adult offspring, none of them seem to have any drive toward independence. Hardly any can drive, many (most) in their twenties are happily still living at home and rarely leave the confines of their bedroom. Most seem to have degrees but menial part time jobs, enough to pay for the lattes and the mobile phone contracts. Most aren't in relationships.

It's not all of them, a few are cracking on with it. But mostly I don't recognise the current 20-something generation at all compared to how we were.

But maybe I'm just an old git, moaning about the young.
 
ari said:
Might be nothing new, but might also not be entirely unjustified.

When I was 17 the race was on as to who passed their driving test the quickest, who got the first car, how and when we could leave home, and of course, girls. The parental complaint was always 'You treat this place like a hotel, come in to eat and sleep and then disappear'.

When I look around at friends with young adult offspring, none of them seem to have any drive toward independence. Hardly any can drive, many (most) in their twenties are happily still living at home and rarely leave the confines of their bedroom. Most seem to have degrees but menial part time jobs, enough to pay for the lattes and the mobile phone contracts. Most aren't in relationships.

It's not all of them, a few are cracking on with it. But mostly I don't recognise the current 20-something generation at all compared to how we were.

But maybe I'm just an old git, moaning about the young.
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I'd concede there is a malaise of instant gratification prevalent in todays society, but before you lay that at the kids doorstep you need to look higher up. Personally I've raised mine the way I was raised. At 18 they get an open around the world ticket valid one year and the boot or they can go live in digs. Just two more late lambs to go (y) I'd see it as a personal failure if they weren't ready for the world once reaching majority.
 
There's a lot of generalisation going on in this thread, I don't think you can characterise a massive group of people this simplistically. It seems to be a bit of an old person vs Young person thing?

So now I'll generalise a bit - They're not buying boats because it very expensive, they're having enough trouble buying houses.

I say this as a middle aged bloke who finds boating very expensive
 
MartynG said:
Nothing new.
Old gits moaning about the young.
Click to expand...

Well said. This thread is nonsense.

I teach for a living and have seen plenty of driven students working part times jobs alongside A' levels, and passing driving tests (when an option of affording a car is on the table - which for many is not) and progressing on in life. In many cases with more ambition and resilience than I ever had. Also, lets not forget that plenty of millennials are leaving university saddled with 50K of debt, not to mention getting on the property ladder.

Even cheap boats cost alot of money.

Where I work, with a staff of over 100 and few millennials there is one other boat owner. Go figure!

Happy weekend to all!

D.
 
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Feels a little bit like reminiscing..
Back in the 70’s and 80’s clubs were thriving with youngsters on toppers, and families crabbing off the back of cruisers, right up to couples whose kids have left home with the bigger cruisers. In the yard there was always someone restoring an old classic or building one from a kit ( remember Colvic Craft and the like). Now these youngsters from the 70’s and 80’s are the majority in a lot of clubs with no “younger” members joining.
So what’s changed ... A boat often used to be the second biggest purchase after the house.... But house prices in the 80’s were often around 3 to 4 times the average salary for a 3 bedroom semi. Now it’s more like 10 to 12 times. Millennial's have very little chance of getting a house in their mid twenties so they are staying at home longer relying on the bank of mum and dad. Or they are renting at high rents taking up over half their income.
In am sure many Millennial's would love to own a boat - it’s just so far out of reach for them it doesn’t even appear on their radar.
 
Don't want to play the Millennial whisperer but as a late GenX techie the 30 something people I know that earn a lot are too busy to have time demanding hobbies, especially ones that are often not entirely wife compatible. A week sleeping in a cupboard in Cornwall vs a 5 star in Dubai is a hard sell for some. The others are either in stereotypical high consumption urban lifestyles or spending all their money on family / house. Have plenty of interest in people wanting a go on the new boat though..
 
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bowler said:
Well said. This thread is nonsense.

I teach for a living and have seen plenty of driven students working part times jobs alongside A' levels, and passing driving tests (when an option of affording a car is on the table - which for many is not) and progressing on in life. In many cases with more ambition and resilience than I ever had. Also, lets not forget that plenty of millennials are leaving university saddled with 50K of debt, not to mention getting on the property ladder.

Even cheap boats cost alot of money.

Where I work, with a staff of over 100 and few millennials there is one other boat owner. Go figure!

Happy weekend to all!

D.
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That's very reassuring to hear. Maybe I just know a lot of really bad parents! :D
 
We can all theorise based on our own experience.

Owning a boat ( other than something towable ) gives rise to significant capital and running / mooring cost and the need to have time to use it. Why do boat dealers lick their lips when they hear of retirement or people selling a business ( my dad was peripherally involved with BA Peters long before it went bust - they biggest single customer group was people who sold businesses and wanted something to show for it) - simple they simultaneously have enough money and time.

Cost for some may or may not be a problem - but I would suggest that time is at a premium for most. The world is more accessible - why get tied down with a boat ( I feel the same sometimes) when I can fly anywhere for not a lot and stay in an amazing house on Air BnB?

The costs have escalated as - for mobo's anyway they are no longer boats but lifestyle apartments with the bills to match. I own one just like most on here and of course that is what I want - I don't want a caravan experience. But of course it comes at a price.

I am not sure that boating was ever a young persons "sport" - depending of course on how you define young!
 
At some point soon there will be pretty severe social stigma attached to flying for holiday purposes. If it could be cleanly separated from business travel this probably would have happened already. I believe Norwegians have already developed a word for a particular kind of Nordic shame about going on holiday abroad. There's only so many times you can go to a Centreparks without going nuts, so maybe there's some hope in recycled boating. Mobos probably still screwed with this scenario however.
 
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