BOAT SHOW

bubba

Well-Known Member
Boat Show

Well it looks like there are not many types of boats at the boat show.

70% surf boat… one is 38 feet long.

28% tritoon

1% fishing boat.

1% Jet Ski


I saw a massive 400 HP outboard on a tiny little fishing boat for $133k.
This is what it looked like.


Tritoons were all over the place from traditional style at entry level prices to high end units priced well above $300k. Did not see any twins this year but did see a 400HP on one. The Tritoon boat footprint is growing, most were 10 foot beams and 28 foot long and most now have much larger tubes than just 5 years ago.

IMO, Surf boats are for dumb people with big egos - they are crazy way over priced from low $200k average to over $500k. I did not get close to the 38 footer surf boat (not a typo) as it was too packed with over 3 dozen kids from just 3 sets of local parents.

Lots of bulldog noses on all the new boats - flat and wide with lots of angles - massive new structure for sure for reducing flex - at the end for the day the new look is like the big grills on the lexus, has zero impact on performance or experience but will date every curved boat as old - the blocky and flat design with lots of triangles is a stamp of 2025 new and nothing more… I loved it.

Adonia has an ego houseboat with new shares at $489,000 to OVER $500,000 for an 8 share boat. That is $4 million for the boat folks - so crazy to buy in at those numbers just for the brand - pay 1/4 of that and get a trifecta with 90% of the experience, minus the boner logo.

The biggest surprise was 3 ice cream cones, hand scooped by a very funny Russian guy for $37.00. After that was the lack of steam gauges - everything is touchscreen and that is great with big nits and calm water.

Cheers…
 
Unreal and from Regal? Oh well, can't wait for some inconsiderate crew to come to the back of a cove while I'm clinging to a small beach in my houseboat and knock me around with this overgrown POS. That will be truly awesome! The surfer in tow will probably give a wave or a thumbs up and smile as they go by 20 feet off my transom oblivious to everyone else like most of the rest of them. Yeah, the wake wave of this monster is going to make that ongoing experience especially delicious. Sigh
 
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I sure miss the Phoenix boat show. No idea when it faded away. Closest replacement is the upcoming Outdoor Show. Attended quite a few years back, and, similarly, the few boats were mostly wake boats and a few fishing boats as I recall. I still subscribe to Boating Magazine and the recent boat buyers guide (77 boats) covers the major categories of boats, prices are truly astounding to this old man (interesting that no Sea Rays in the guide; I owned 4 over the years). The offspring of our LP gang are economically successful by most measures and they scoff at new boats and have picked up used express cruisers to continue the LP legacy. Fortunately, I still get invited to hop on board occasionally.
 
We old ....er, mature.....folk's do miss the boat shows....here's a true boat show story:

It's January 1968 at the NY Boat show. We lived on Long Island.

My Dad, always dressed in a suit, would take me every year. This year, 1968, he wants to talk to someone at the Homelite booth. He'd bought 2 55HP 4 cycle Homelites new in 1965, and because he used Amoco clear (unleaded) gas, not knowing it burned hotter and would warp the valves, in 3 years the engines had literally no compression. They now were inoperable.

We waited for hours at the show, and then Mr. Pierce (homelite had been then bought by Fisher-Pierce) shows up and my Dad, dressed in his suit, respectfully tells him his sad tale of woe.

Mr Pierce listens, then shakes my Dad's hand and says: That's just not right, we're gonna give you two new engines....and Thank YOU for telling me about this valve seat problem. He said he's not heard of it before.

Dad got his two new Homelites...with hardened valve seats. They were on the old '61 Dorsett when I bought it from Dad in 1977...still running great.

Postscript: We left the boat show ecstatic, I'd never seen Dad happier, (except for when I left home.....:LOL:)

We Go to our parked car....a '65 Plymouth Valiant.....and the battery had been stolen!!!

Yup, a true boat show story.......like it happened yesterday.... (y)

Here's the Homlites he got at the the 1968 show at our lake in 1978


PICT0010 (2).jpg
 
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We old ....er, mature.....folk's do miss the boat shows....here's a true boat show story:

It's January 1968 at the NY Boat show. We lived on Long Island.

My Dad, always dressed in a suit, would take me every year. This year, 1968, he wants to talk to someone at the Homelite booth. He'd bought 2 55HP 4 cycle Homelites new in 1965, and because he used Amoco clear (unleaded) gas, not knowing it burned hotter and would warp the valves, in 3 years the engines had literally no compression. They now were inoperable.

We waited for hours at the show, and then Mr. Pierce (homelite had been then bought by Fisher-Pierce) shows up and my Dad, dressed in his suit, respectfully tells him his sad tale of woe.

Mr Pierce listens, then shakes my Dad's hand and says: That's just not right, we're gonna give you two new engines....and Thank YOU for telling me about this valve seat problem. He said he's not heard of it before.

Dad got his two new Homelites...with hardened valve seats. They were on the old '61 Dorsett when I bought it from Dad in 1977...still running great.

Postscript: We left the boat show ecstatic, I'd never seen Dad happier, (except for when I left home.....:LOL:)

We Go to our parked car....a '65 Plymouth Valiant.....and the battery had been stolen!!!

Yup, a true boat show story.......like it happened yesterday.... (y)

Here's the Homlites he got at the the 1968 show at our lake in 1978


View attachment 31308
beautiful shot, love it, great story
 
With a 12’ beam and dry weight (without the trailer) at nearly 20,000 lbs, you won’t be seeing any pimped out Escalades with an Oversize Load banner towing this gargantuan to Powell…perhaps there’s hope…

But then again, anyone with a spare 3/4 million disposable income and the bucks to fill a 250 gal gas tank can certainly afford to pay an entourage for hauling services…
 
I grew up on LI too around that same vintage. I worked in a Marina / boatyard on the North Shore while in high school and got a free pass to the NY boat show every year. We had and Boston Whaler Nauset model with a 55 Homelite. I could water ski all day using half the gas that my buddies used!! I was skiing too close to shore to get out of the wind waves & chop. My buddy driving the boat hit a rock. Just the lower unit but the engine never ran the same again. My dad never let me forget about it. We eventually got a 70 HP Johnson. I think between my dad & I we had the boat for 25 years.
 
I grew up on LI too around that same vintage. I worked in a Marina / boatyard on the North Shore while in high school and got a free pass to the NY boat show every year. We had and Boston Whaler Nauset model with a 55 Homelite. I could water ski all day using half the gas that my buddies used!! I was skiing too close to shore to get out of the wind waves & chop. My buddy driving the boat hit a rock. Just the lower unit but the engine never ran the same again. My dad never let me forget about it. We eventually got a 70 HP Johnson. I think between my dad & I we had the boat for 25 years.
Port Jeff area? Sq
 
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