As the gaudy sales figures from the pandemic continue to return to more realistic numbers, the main segments of the recreational boating industry saw new-model registrations of 4,421 in November, a 30.3% drop from 6,340 during the same time in 2021. Year-to-date numbers were 157,967 for 2022, a 14.5% decrease from 2021’s 184,709.
The information was provided by Statistical Surveys, a Michigan-based firm that compiled data from 32 states that represent 65% of the domestic boating market.
While these declines could lead some people to panic, the sales boom created by the pandemic since 2019 was not normal. Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, new personal watercraft sales were listed at 69,000 units, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Sales of wakesports boats were estimated at 10,500 units, and sales of new cruisers from 22 to 32 feet were at approximately 9,000 units.
New-registration numbers through November compare favorably to those prepandemic numbers. The personal watercraft pipeline continued to unclog. New PWC registrations for November were 1,916, a 40.8% increase compared with the same month in 2021. Total registrations for 2022 to date were 62,367, a drop of 17.2% from 2021’s 75,352, but still comparable to 2018.
Year-to-date wakeboat sales through the end of November were 11,572, a 10.4% drop from 2021, but a 5.2% increase over 2018’s 11,000.
Looking at some other individual categories, aluminum fishing boats saw 1,102 new registrations in November, a 31.2% decline from 2021’s 1,602. Year-to-date figures for 2022 were 36,060, a 22% drop from the 46,256 new boats registered in 2021. For the first time in recent memory, new pontoon-boat registrations numbered less than 1,000, coming in at 892, a 40.1% drop from 2021’s 1,489. Fortunately, a strong 2022 prior to November kept year-to-date numbers closer, with 55,231 new pontoon registrations for 2022 and 61,706 the previous year, a difference of 10.5%.
The same trend is happening with outboard-powered fiberglass boats, which saw 2,070 new registrations in November, a 22.9% reduction compared with 2,685 in 2021. Year-to-date numbers were 47,890 through the end of November, an 11.9% difference from the 54,347 the industry saw a year earlier. Registrations for new bowriders/deckboats numbered 103 in November versus 181 for the same month in 2021. This represented a 41.3% difference, the biggest for a single category. In the year-to-date numbers, the category had 25.3% fewer registrations in 2022 (5,786) than in 2021 (7,742).
Yachts measuring 41 to 65 feet held relatively strong with 35 new registrations in November compared with 38 the year before, a 7.9% difference. The numbers for semicustom and custom yachts larger than 66 feet saw a similar trend, with 11 being documented in November and 14 in 2021. Year-to-date numbers were within 5.1% of each other. There were 150 new yachts registered through November and 158 during the same period a year earlier.
Ending on a positive note, new-sailboat registrations for November 2022 and 2021 were identical at 45. This led to a 6.4% increase for year-to-date numbers, 1,535 through November compared with 1,442 in 2021.
This article was originally published in the February 2023 issue.
