In March, 10,704 new boats were registered in the main powerboat segments, a 20% drop from 13,372 in the same month last year. Year-over-year totals were 23,049 in 2023, a 20.9% drop from 29,145 in 2022. For the second-straight month, the numbers were more typical of prepandemic totals.

The data was provided by Statistical Surveys, a Michigan-based firm that compiled information from 34 states, representing about 70% of the U.S. recreational boating market.

The folks with money were spending it in March, with 17 yachts larger than 66 feet registered or documented, a 325% increase compared with four in 2022. This closed the year-over-year numbers to 37 in 2023 and 39 in 2022, a 5.1% difference. This was followed by boats from 41 to 65 feet, with 55 new models in March compared with 29 in the same month last year, an 89.7% jump. For the year to date, the numbers were 155 in 2023 and 150 in 2022, a 3.3% increase.

“We know that large-boat demand hasn’t softened at all,” says Eric Wold, senior research analyst at B. Riley Securities in San Francisco. When it comes to the rest of the main powerboat segments, he adds, “The expectation is that things should normalize and be strong heading into the season.”

Ski and wake boats experienced the biggest decline, with 555 registered in March compared with 1,061 in the third month of 2022. That translated to 1,175 hulls for the year compared with 2,105 a year earlier, a 44.2% drop. “People typically buy a wakesports boat in April, May, June, right before they put them on the water,” Wold says. During the pandemic, consumers bought wakesports boats during winter because they were afraid boats wouldn’t be available in the spring.

Sterndrive and inboard bowriders and deckboats took a 38% hit, with 295 reported in March compared with 476 in 2022. Year over year, that worked out to 649 in 2023 compared with 1,059 last year, a 38.7% drop.

With 3,097 pontoon boats registered in March, that segment was off by 27.2% versus 4,253 last year. That brought the year-to-date numbers to 6,131 in 2023 and 8,540 in 2022, a 28.2% decline. Aluminum fishboats were down 12.8% with 2,758 units in 2023 and 3,164 in the previous year. That translated to 5,924 this year and 6,930 in 2022, a 14.5% decrease.

Personal watercraft got back on the positive side with 4,548 units sold versus 4,400 last March, an increase of 3.4%. For the year, 9,228 was still a 3.6% deficit compared with 9,576 in 2022. Jetboats saw a 1.8% increase with 404 in March over 397 in 2022.

Regarding how people are buying boats, Wold says higher interest rates are making financing harder. “The costs have just gotten higher,” he says. “We’re seeing a higher percentage of cash transactions happen.” 

This article was originally published in the June 2023 issue.