CCJ
Well-Known Member
Due the to low £ now, compared to 3 yrs ago i would expect many are exported
Why MoBoing is dying on its feet. ?
- Thread starter oldgit
- Start date
Due the to low £ now, compared to 3 yrs ago i would expect many are exported
Blue Sunray
Well-Known Member
As with the daft comment equating an entry level Princess with the lower cost end of motor boating, the average marina isn't representative of motor boaters (or sailing boaters) in general and certainly not at a lower cost entry level. Drive up or down the M3, A27 or A3 on a summer weekend and you'll see more than a few motor boats, the great majority being towed by cars containing younger couples or families. Nor are these fora necessarily typical (how many with a proper job and family are going to have the time to post on here during the working week?), take a look at http://www.boatbanter.co.uk/ for a subtly different demographic.
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tico
Well-Known Member
I'd also look at those on the most popular beach frequented by boats that have arrived that way.... most under 30 (make me feel old)
ari
Well-Known Member
Do you think that there will be no one over 50 years old in the future..?
2hullsonemarinaberth
Active Member
Not dying - but MoBoing would be helped by a few more active clubs. Here on the East Coast, lots of sailing clubs that prohibit MoBos. Would be nice to see some active promotion from the RYA as well.
BruceK
Well-Known Member
Nobody is getting the hump about it
But if you believe you have a voice that holds gravitas as a single person you may be in for a shock. Not even a crowd of single voices holds as much sway as a club or institution that has history and respect behind it. You may be very surprised at how much you take for granted has been achieved on your behalf by others who have invested their time and energy into ensuring such.oldgit
Well-Known Member
the point of the post was that the sailing clubs will invest in a suitable boat and invite a bored seven year old, to climb in and go.....
MotorBoat clubs could do something similar but appear to care little about the future.
Why.
As for boating being on the up, a careful read through most of the puff reveals its not motorboating thats the growth area.
While appreciating that clubs are not everyones cup of tea, they probably do reflect the age profile of boaters in general.
Wander around any marina or boat yard.
MotorBoat clubs could do something similar but appear to care little about the future.
Why.
As for boating being on the up, a careful read through most of the puff reveals its not motorboating thats the growth area.
While appreciating that clubs are not everyones cup of tea, they probably do reflect the age profile of boaters in general.
Wander around any marina or boat yard.
BruceK
Well-Known Member
But this goes back to my first point. Fast fishers / speedboats /Ribs / PWC are all trailer boats. Just because you dont see them doesn't mean they are not there and not growing rapidly. Mobo's as in cruisers as far as I can see are very much in decline. What I do see a lot of is new sub 30 foot pilot house / fast fisher crossovers with a modicum of comfort built in and then quite a jump up in size. Nothing in between that isn't aging. It's that gap that I think is the barrier for new blood to upscale.
ari
Well-Known Member
Again, why does that matter? If most boaters with marina/boat yard based boats are indeed 50+ years old, so what? There will still be plenty of 50+ year old people around in ten years time and in a hundred years time.
For most people the major expenses in life are house mortgage and kids. It's only once into the fifties for most people that those things are gone, freeing up more cash for other things.
I'm in my fifties and only recently able to afford a marina based boat. Interestingly, my route into boating was via a boat club and a Mirror dinghy, so exactly what the RYA are promoting today (albeit probably not Mirror dinghies!)
Not aimed at anyone specifically, but I notice that there does seem to be a lot of gloom talked on this forum. We're told that boats don't sell, and we should expect to knock huge amounts off yet in reality there's a real dearth of boats for sale and values, if anything, are rising. Princess, Sunseeker et all are all building the wrong boats that use too much fuel that no one wants and they should be building power cats and displacement boats, yet Princess has just announced record sales and are apparently all but sold out for 2018 and most of 2019 (and I don't know anyone on here who actually has a power cat!). And now boaters are dying off, they're all 50+, yet it's always been the case that that's typically the age group with sufficient disposable income to afford the larger marina based boats.
It seems strange that so many seem so intent on talking down the hobby that we love.
BruceK
Well-Known Member
Nobody is talking it down, I just wonder if it it sustainable being top heavy.
CCJ
Well-Known Member
I would be very surprised, at that accusation, do you have evidence of that happening
shan
Well-Known Member
I suspect it will be more of a case of people changing the way they go boating. More chartering and partial ownership rather than traditional ownership.
mlines
Well-Known Member
Quote from Motorboat owner editorial
BruceK
Well-Known Member
yes, but as always the perception on this forum is mobo = cruiser. And that is not true.
Blue Sunray
Well-Known Member
Nonsense. As stated above by various posters 'clubs' have limited and decreasing attraction for younger boaters of both the sailing and motoring type. I'd suggest that this is particularly true for the latter as one of the few things they can offer to the wind powered fraternity, organised racing, holds little attraction to motorboaters.
Marinas and boatyards are no more representative of motor boaters than postings on a forum in the middle of the working week. Last time I went to Studland it was crammed with boats, the majority of the motor boats (which were more numerous that the sailing variety) being easily trailer-able.
The RYA's actions outlined in your OP speak much of their focus on sailing boats of all sizes rather than boating as a whole. IMHO motor boaters don't need to take such action as their part of the hobby/business/sport is rather healthy.
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ari
Well-Known Member
But that's exactly what I'm talking about!
'It's top heavy'
'Boats aren't selling, you have to give them away'
'Only old people are boating, and soon they'll all be dead so there won't be any boaters'
'Princess are making the wrong boats, no one wants fuel guzzling planing boats'
None of this (as far as I can see) has any foundation, people on this forum just seem to want to believe it for some reason.
It's most odd...
jrudge
Well-Known Member
Agree!
The market is good as a far as i can tell. In Mallorca try and get your boat serviced!
You need a certain amount of wealth as they are simply toys, but that wealth can come to you at any age.
I suggested ( based on a Portofino post) the other day boaters were older. JFM had an alternative view, and on reflection I replied that he was right and I was wrong. Many people have significant wealth in their early to mid 40s.
Wealth is relative. Someone owning a 25 foot boat must still have enough wealth to meet their other legitimate needs or they would not have a toy. The price of starter boats is in my opinion daft, but given they sell others must see value.
There are two type of wealth ( using the Jeremy simple model). There is capital wealth through selling your business, retiring, (equity release - bit tenuous) and income wealth - I earn more than i spend. If you are a home owner as mortgage costs fall away income wealth becomes more likely and also allows equity release / trading down.
What will be interesting is that there are increasingly large numbers of Generation Rent whom will keep paying rent and not have the benefit of capital release from property. I would imagine that many of this demographic are currently boaters and this - may well over time dampen. Pension savings also seem down especially as final salary pensions have all but gone away.
The market is good as a far as i can tell. In Mallorca try and get your boat serviced!
You need a certain amount of wealth as they are simply toys, but that wealth can come to you at any age.
I suggested ( based on a Portofino post) the other day boaters were older. JFM had an alternative view, and on reflection I replied that he was right and I was wrong. Many people have significant wealth in their early to mid 40s.
Wealth is relative. Someone owning a 25 foot boat must still have enough wealth to meet their other legitimate needs or they would not have a toy. The price of starter boats is in my opinion daft, but given they sell others must see value.
There are two type of wealth ( using the Jeremy simple model). There is capital wealth through selling your business, retiring, (equity release - bit tenuous) and income wealth - I earn more than i spend. If you are a home owner as mortgage costs fall away income wealth becomes more likely and also allows equity release / trading down.
What will be interesting is that there are increasingly large numbers of Generation Rent whom will keep paying rent and not have the benefit of capital release from property. I would imagine that many of this demographic are currently boaters and this - may well over time dampen. Pension savings also seem down especially as final salary pensions have all but gone away.
BruceK
Well-Known Member
I think you may be missing my point Ari, probably because I am not explaining it well. The current 50 plus population of motor boat owners from what I have experienced have grown up with boats and there has been a natural progression in size etc as they climbed the ladder. However there are not an equivalent size of new blood replacing the old blood as they leave the hobby. This is compounded in new boats as there is quickly becoming a size gap between cruisers and the sub 30 foot "pilot house / fast fisher/ day boat" types which imo creates a stumbling block for progression for those young and new to boating to overcome. For instance you may get a Parker 660 or MF for 30- 50 k but the price jump then to 40 foot is just a leap to far. This gap is currently filled by the second hand market, but soon I dare say, what boats there are left in the 28-37 foot range will be too old to be desirable and speaking purely for myself as an example I may well afford to buy a 40 foot plus boat on the second hand market but probably couldn't afford to run it. And I dont think I am unique in this respect. I am out every weekend and know the boats in my area. I can vouch that very few leave their marina on any regular basis. They are holiday homes more than anything else from what I can tell. So when I decry the current state the context is really in Cruisers (not mobo per se), Using the boat for it's intended purpose, ie. cruising. And cruising as an extension of the sailing arm and disciplines within a club ~ish environment. What I do see is the 50 foot plus boats in our area are very active day tripping but little else except for the true day boats of under 25 foot whose population is growing quickly but in a completely different area of the hobby.
jrudge
Well-Known Member
But has it not always been that a good % of boats ( just like light aircraft and holiday homes for that matter ) are little used once the initial blush of excitement has passed?
BruceK
Well-Known Member
Yes and no. That is where I believe the club played it's part and where it's dying now. I am constantly amazed by the fear a lot of owners seem to have of their pride and joy. The blush of excitement can soon be tarnished because doing the same old same old and lack of practical knowledge has lead to a trepidation and abhorrence of doing much more than marina hopping. Speaking only for myself and I am sure the north Wales mob will concur, I actively seek out the newcomers and try to get them to broaden their local scope. It takes me a year just to get some out of the local bay. Even those with a long history in boating seem to come unglued at times. But for the fact that there wasn't somebody around inviting them out and helping them out, I dare say most that now do would never have built the confidence to even anchor overnight. It seems strange to me that when I was learning the ropes (and by no means any sort of expert at all) it was not from a fellow Mobo'er, but from a boating community composed almost entirely of raggies.