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TROUBLED WATERS

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By MARY SHEDDEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2007

TAMPA - Pleasure boat dealers feeling adrift in today's economy are putting more faith in boat shows to help bail them out of slumping sales.

Events like this weekend's 42nd annual Tampa Boat Show always are crucial for dealers looking for prospective buyers. Two years of decreased sales - triggered in part by a weak housing market - make the showcases more important than ever.

'It's a primary means to market to get new boaters in,' said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. He estimates that 40 percent to 60 percent of new boat sales tie directly to shows that highlight the newest in the boating industry.

The Tampa show, for example, features everything from small, flat water skiffs to a 59-foot, $2.5 million Italian Ferretti yacht docked in the Hillsborough River, adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center. Seventy boat dealers paid from $1,000 to $90,000 for a space to pitch their products to 20,000 people.

'What can dealers do in two-and-a-half days to attract thousands of potential customers?' show director Larry Berryman asked of the event that runs through Sunday. He said several hundred boats, of all prices, will sell during the weekend.

Robert McCurdy, owner of St. Petersburg's O'Neill's Marina, invested almost $30,000 on fees, transportation and display costs for the three-day Tampa show. After 20 years in business, it's the best way to meet customers who are serious about his sport fishing and cruisers that cost from $15,900 to $219,000.

'Shows are extremely important, if not for the sale, then for the name recognition,' he said.

The number of new power boats sold in the United States decreased all but one year since 2000, according to association statistics. The 291,900 boats sold in four major categories last year, in fact, are the fewest sold since 1997.

Sales have increased during that time to $9.58 billion from $4.9 billion. Poor sales in 2006 led industry analysts to predict as much as a 10 percent drop by the end of 2007.

Dammrich said sales industrywide tend to follow economic highs and lows. The latest concerns, he said, are directly tied to the fact that people are less able to finance boat loans via home equity lines than they were a few years ago.

'As home prices have declined, there's just less credit available,' he said.

When housing was booming and home prices rising, people used cheap equity lines of credit for major purchases. As troubles in the subprime mortgage market became apparent and home sales faltered, prices also fell. Some people found they had much less equity in their homes than a year ago, so in many cases, major purchases have been put on hold.

The downturn has affected local boating businesses.

Clearwater-based Marine Max, the nation's largest recreational boat dealer, has seen its revenues tumble as well, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Sales for the quarter ending June 30 posted $379 million, compared with $421 million in the same period a year ago. Net income for the period decreased to $13.9 million from $17.5 million.

Marine Max is among the largest dealers at the Tampa Boat Show. In addition to touting a wide array of high-end and moderately priced boats at the show's marina, the company inside features more affordable vessels, complete with stickers explaining monthly payment options. The goal: get visitors excited and comfortable about buying someday.

'It's a great way to introduce a person to the boating lifestyle,' said Noelle Norvell, general manager of the company's Clearwater retail location.

Mike Vinci said this weekend marks the first of eight shows for his family's company, Largo's Indian Spring Marina. By the end of the year, about 75 percent of its sales will come from people he first meets at a boat show.

If the boat show this weekend has more window shoppers than serious buyers, Vinci is not overly concerned. People will always want to go out on the water.

'Even though it's down, it's not dead,' he said.

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at (813) 259-7365 or mshedden

@tampatrib.com.

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