Statistical Surveys

Main powerboat segments continued to battle for market share in February with 5,284 new boats registered. This was a 6.9% deficit compared with the second month of 2023. Year-over-year growth was down 11.9% with 9,792 new boats sold in the first two months of 2024 compared with 11,116 last year.

February is a big month for boat shows, with 43 held around the country. The schedule includes the Miami International Boat Show, which has traditionally been one of the two biggest events in the industry. “With MIBS expected to attract more than 100,000 attendees over the five-day event annually, each of the companies that we met with indicated that traffic to the booths had been strong and ahead of last year,” said Eric Wold, chief financial analyst at B Riley Securities.

That sentiment wasn’t necessarily reflected in data for new-boat registrations provided by Statistical Surveys, a Michigan-based firm that compiled numbers from 32 states representing about 57.85% of the U.S. recreational boating market.

Two categories in the main powerboat segments were on the positive side in February. Aluminum fish, which includes boats from 16 to 99 feet, saw 1,509 new hulls registered in February, a 3.8% improvement over 1,454 in 2023. That brought year-over-year numbers to 2,729 this year, a 5.3% decline compared with 2,882 last year. The other group with an increase in February was ski/wake, which had 296 new boats sold, a 7.2% boost over 2023’s 276.

Holding a pretty steady course, pontoon boats saw 1,212 new boats sold in February, a 4.6% decline compared with 1,271 last year. Bowriders/deckboats kept things close, too, with 154 registered in February, a 6.1% drop from 2023. Outboard-powered fiberglass boats stayed above 2,000 sales for the month with 2,049 sold, a 15% drop from 2,412 in the same month the previous year.

For much of 2023, the mindset was that the people who had money were still spending it on new boats. That wasn’t reflected in this past February’s numbers for yachts and cruisers. Cruisers measuring 31 to 40 feet saw 29 new boats sold, which was a 25.6% drop from the second month of 2023. Step up to yachts measuring 41 to 65 feet, and there were 29 new boats registered, a 46.3% decline from 54 in 2023. There were six semicustom and custom yachts registered in February, a 14.3% reduction from seven in 2023.

In other categories, personal watercraft continued to move decent numbers with 1,616 registered in February, a 23.1% drop compared to 2023. Jetboats stayed closed with 183 new registrations, a 3.7% decline compared with the previous year.

Strangely, the biggest gains out of all the categories were houseboats, with 14 new units in February compared with three 12 months earlier. The biggest loser for February was electric boats, with eight new registrations, a 61.9% decline from 21 in February 2023. 

This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue.