Florida Yacht Manufacturers Prepare for New Boat Sales

After the Suncoast Boat Show in Southwest Florida, pleasure boat sellers and manufacturers in Manatee and Sarasota counties are predicting a good year in 2015.

Florida’s boating industry saw static but steady sales in 2014, and boat and yacht brokers say demand is rising after the Suncoast Boat Show in Sarasota. Builders, including Chris Craft and Hann Powerboats, have full factory floors with new orders backlogged for weeks.

Brokers say they are doing most of their business in preowned watercraft selling for higher prices than a year ago.

Ed Massey, president of Massey Yacht Sales in Palmetto, said the market is back to pre-Great Recession levels, at least in the used boat market.

Florida is the place to be for those involved in the boat industry. According to yacht industry publication Trade Only Today, 19% of 30,063 boats sold in the United States last year were sold in Florida. On a dollar basis, boats sold in Florida comprised 46% of the value in the U.S. market.

Statewide sales were down, however, by nearly 200 units from 2013. The value of the sales dropped 15% to $1.655 billion.

Part of the reason Florida is the top boating industry value producer is size.  Last year, 131 boats more than 80′ long were sold in Florida, according to Trade Only Today.

More typical for boat brokers are sales of craft in the 30′ to 50′ range. Aging vessels dominate tight market

What the boating market isn’t seeing right now is much new inventory. Massey, which sells a large inventory of sail boats and a growing pool of power yachts, reported selling prices in 2014 were generally lower than the year before.

Ed Massey said few new boats were built during the 5 years during and just after the recession so pre-owned boats on the market now tend to have been manufactured in the early 2000’s.

The silver lining is sellers now tend to get 90% to 95% of their asking prices, compared with 75% to 80% during the recession.

The weight toward used boats may not be unbalanced for long.

Russ Hann, president of Whitfield-area boat builder Hann Powerboats, said he scaled up operations this year due to demand. He’s added 8 employees since the start of the year bringing the company’s total workforce to 28.

While Hann’s company devotes a fair bit of its production to filling U.S. military contracts for patrol boats, the company’s volume of pleasure boat production has exploded. This week, the builder had examples of 7 of its boats under construction on its factory floor. The wait time to start a brand new order is 6 weeks.

Reflecting on this activity and ongoing contract work, Hann expects 2015 sales to be as much as 50% more than last year. “Based on what I’m seeing, I think we’re definitely in an up trend,” Hann said.

The biggest boat builder in the two-county area, Chris Craft, is also growing. In the past year, it’s added about 50 employees to its 350-person workforce. The company is also drawing up plans to add onto its Manatee County production facility.

President Steve Heese said Chris Craft built about 500 boats in 2014 and expects to build even more this year. Order volume is so robust buyers ordering the company’s largest boats may have to wait until next February to take delivery. “Larger and more expensive has challenged our capacity the most,” Heese said.

Also pointing to a good sales year in 2015 is the boat show scene. The Suncoast Boat Show at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota drew 12% higher attendance than last year and 7% more exhibitors, according to organizers. The show also had its largest yacht on display, the 130′ Amarula Sun, which is being marketed by Galati.

“All the feedback we received tells us that the consumer is back,” said Brett Keating, Vice President of marketing for show organizer, Show Management.

Brokers including Galati and Massey rely on boat shows and other events to get exposure for their inventory. Still, some boats do sell right out of dealer slips.