Registration numbers for the 16-foot-and-over U.S. powerboat market stayed on a recent trend through October, with a slight uptick in numbers for freshwater fishboats, a positive sign after four years of declines in that category.
Overall, new powerboat registrations were down 9% in October from the 12-month rolling average. That figure marks a sustained three-month leveling of declines since the near-term top for year-over-year numbers in April 2024. Industry experts have called for a leveling out of declines in most categories and in rolling averages, and so far, these registration numbers are bearing out their expectations.
The data for new-boat registrations was provided by Info-Link, a Florida-based company that compiles registration numbers from the Coast Guard and individual states.
Registrations across all segments totaled 233,029 units through October on a rolling, 12-month basis compared with 261,116 units for the same period in 2023. The numbers still show the overall decline from the previous year, but units registered are up from September’s numbers of 232,731, which is good news from the end of the summer selling season. Many dealers and industry experts reported positive interest by consumers in that month, before the presidential election. Many manufacturer discounts were in effect to clear out some of the overhanging 2024 stock, as well.
Good numbers came from the freshwater fishboat segment. The category posted positive numbers in October for the first time in four years — since 2020. On a 12-month rolling average, total units registered were 53,708, for a 1.7% increase over 2023. For October, unit sales were 3,049, up 7.3% from the year before. Comparatively, the same segment was down 5.4% at 2,841 units in October 2023.
In more good news, the PWC, runabout and towboat categories were up for the month year-over-year. PWC tallied 2,121 units sold for a 16.3% monthly increase year-over-year, while runabouts had 666 units for a 4.8% increase. Significantly, towboats saw a big jump in monthly year-over-year sales. That category had 453 units sold in October for a 25.6% year-over-year monthly increase, perhaps reflective of a bottom being hit in that market, as some industry analysts had predicted.
Still lagging, comparatively, in year-over-year monthly numbers were the pontoon and saltwater fishboat categories. Pontoon sales were 1,835 for October, the lowest October tally since 2020, for a 7.5% decrease from the same month in 2023. Even more stark were the saltwater fishboat numbers, also marking a low for October numbers over four years, with 1,334 boats sold in the month. That’s down 10.6% from October 2023, suggesting that numbers may not yet have stabilized in that category. The cruiser/yacht category was down only 1.9% from October 2023 with 328 units sold.
For state figures, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin topped overall registrations at 30,755, 16,907, 12,325, 9,323 and 9,200 units sold, respectively, on a rolling 12-month basis. All of those states saw overall declines during the same period. On the plus side, Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana and Nevada saw positive registration numbers for the 12-month average.
On a rolling, 12-month basis, PWC represented the largest share of the total market in the United States at 29%, followed by pontoons at 23% and freshwater fishboats at 23%. Saltwater fishboats had 10%, runabouts 7%, towboats 4%, and unclassified/other and cruiser/yacht categories both at about 2%.
Overall, though new-boat registrations were still down on a rolling 12-month basis, the stabilization of the trend is positive news. Total units sold in October tallied 10,109, a 3.4% gain over the figures for October 2023, again suggesting seasonal strength in sales, which some manufacturers and dealers had noted in discussions with Soundings Trade Only.
