I just got back from the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Despite the hot, steamy setup days and a first-day downpour that parked itself over Bahia Mar for many hours, day two remedied the rut with a nice breeze and crisp temperatures — probably the nicest weather I’ve seen at that show in years.  

My term for this show is industry barometer. It’s where I speak the most with dealers, components and accessories manufacturers, boatbuilders and brokers to see what they’re experiencing. And the feedback I get is always valuable.

One word I kept hearing again and again, starting with a keynote breakfast that Volvo Penta hosted on day one, was “uncertainty.” Volvo Penta’s Hanna Ljungqvist used the word more than a few times during her presentation, summing up market conditions by saying, “We hope we are now experiencing the bottom, and things will move upwards from here.” 

It was a word I heard throughout the Broward County Convention Center on the first day, too. Suzuki Marine mentioned it in a press event update. A handful of brokers I spoke with said it to me. My colleagues in the marine media also brought it up a lot. One broker I spoke with said the level of uncertainty is now affecting the upper end of the market, causing the cash buyers who have been fueling the industry for so long to zip up their purses and sit on their hands. Despite a robust stock market, where many cash buyers invest their money, the overall climate has many adopting a wait-and-see position.

Uncertainty in tariffs was on many people’s minds, as well. Highfield Boats USA president Christophe Lavigne addressed it at a press meeting on the heels of the Trump administration’s “tariff truce” with China. While Highfield imports parts for its RIBs from China, it rigs boats in Michigan and has partnered with Smokercraft in Indiana to provide American-made fiberglass and aluminum hulls to avoid the costliest levies.

“I understand tariffs, and sometimes you need them,” Lavigne said. “But when I have to pay 100% on parts we import, it just doesn’t work. That’s why we’re doing more business with our American partners, and also to create a more reliable supply chain and less uncertainty.”

While inflation is on everyone’s minds at the grocery stores and just about everywhere else, it’s interest rates that are causing many dealers and brokerages to struggle. The Federal Reserve lowered rates for the second consecutive month in October, during the show, but the jury is still out on whether the move will have meaningful effects on consumers. One marine dealer told me, “It’s expensive to borrow money right now, not only for the consumer but for our floorplan financing. I know a lot of places sitting with aged inventory, and it’s costing them a ton of cash to maintain it.”

No doubt, 2025 was a challenging year for the industry. Still, there were highs along with the lows. Fort a recap of what happened during the course of the year, check out Kim Kavin’s excellent reporting starting on Page 22. She spoke with several leaders to get context about the effects of tariffs, inflation, high interest rates and M&A activity within the industry. It’s a great read.

Anyone who knows me will tell you what an enthusiastic YouTube Premium subscriber I am. I usually have it running on my second screen as background noise while working at my desk, and many of my friends are victims of my propensity for sending links to many of the comedy and cooking videos I see. 

Something insanely interesting popped up from the YouTube algorithm a couple of months ago: a Dutch invention called Finsulate. It’s a self-stick mat material that naturally discourages hull fouling without active biocides. Its inspiration is urchins, those prickly underwater invertebrates whose tasty orange gonads are often found on sushi menus. Senior editor David Conway tracked down the inventor and got the full scoop about this innovative antifouling solution. His reporting begins on Page 18.

Speaking of innovation, there’s been a lot of it despite the challenges the industry faces. I frequently sit on innovation-award panels, but no one does these programs as well as my friend Ben Stein. I asked him to summarize all the innovations happening in the industry based on his IBEX Innovations Awards and Metstrade’s DAME Design Awards judging. Of course, he saw lots of artificial intelligence being baked into products, as well as clever ideas for all sorts of equipment we take for granted, but there are also interesting trends. You can check out his report starting on Page 41.

As we head into the new year, we can all hope for some stability as a salve for the uncertainty we’re all carrying around. I hope it’s a word we won’t need to use as much as we flip the calendar to 2026.