Periodically we report the brands most boaters are searching for on Boat Trader, and Sea Ray is No. 1 every time we do. We took a snapshot that compared September with the same month in 2012 and found that Sea Ray not only led, but had strengthened its lead over Boston Whaler, Bayliner and Chaparral, even though all four brands were searched for more often this year than last.
In the fifth position Grady-White moved ahead of Mastercraft, which slipped to sixth. Other brands that rose were Wellcraft, with a strong move up three places to No. 8, and Malibu, climbing two places to No. 10.
Although they’re not shown on our chart, two brands slipped out of the top 10 — Cobalt, down one spot, to No. 11, and Yamaha, down four places, to No. 12. The biggest gainers in the lower half of the top 20 were Four Winns, up three spots, to No. 14, and Carver, up seven, to No. 19.
This article originally appeared in the November 2013 issue.
