Brunswick dumping Sports Yachts and Yachts. Where do we stand?

I'm sorry. That was 6/28. Last Thursday. The plant is shut down this week for summer vacation. My last day will be 8/23.
So sorry to hear this. What an awful thing to have happen. I cannot imagine going through this, the uncertainty would drive me crazy.
 
Another thought on models being discontinued. It happens all the time. Tiara d/c'd its most popular boat ever, the 31 Open. People were upset. 31 Opens are still very much in demand. Probably the same thing will happen with the big SRs. There will always be a market for them. It is just a small market because of the high cost of the boats. Not that many people have the bucks and there are lots of options from other builders.
 
Another thought on models being discontinued. It is just a small market because of the high cost of the boats. Not that many people have the bucks and there are lots of options from other builders.
• In 2017, there were 31 million Mass Affluent households with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, NIPR. That is an increase of half a million households from 2016.
• The number of Millionaires, those with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million, climbed to 9.98 million, an increase of almost 600,000 compared with 2016.
• The Ultra High Net Worth market, in which net worth is between $5 million and $25 million, grew to 1,348,000 households, an increase of 84,000 from 2016.
• There are now 172,000 households with a net worth exceeding $25 million. That reflects an increase of 16,000 households from the 2016 total, an increase of more than 10 percent from the 2016 total of 156,000
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/438...ficant-growth-in-u-s-household-wealth-in-2017
 
• In 2017, there were 31 million Mass Affluent households with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, NIPR. That is an increase of half a million households from 2016.
• The number of Millionaires, those with a net worth between $1 million and $5 million, climbed to 9.98 million, an increase of almost 600,000 compared with 2016.
• The Ultra High Net Worth market, in which net worth is between $5 million and $25 million, grew to 1,348,000 households, an increase of 84,000 from 2016.
• There are now 172,000 households with a net worth exceeding $25 million. That reflects an increase of 16,000 households from the 2016 total, an increase of more than 10 percent from the 2016 total of 156,000
https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/438...ficant-growth-in-u-s-household-wealth-in-2017
Should have said not that many people have the bucks, who like to boat, who live near water, who like the SR brand, who prefer power over sail, etc. Plus, you can rule out many people with net worths of 1-5 million because spending the kind of money these SRs cost represents a significant percentage of their wealth which gives thinking wealthy people pause if they are serious about growing their wealth. As far as the ultra high net worth people are concerned who boat, and we have a few around here, they don't own SRs. Look at the numbers of these boats that are sold each year. It's not a real big number because the market is not that big.
 
I have not seen the add this year but a manufacture of a Jet Ski had a line in there TV add
"Enjoy 10 worry free years" Or something to that effect. I took that to mean at the end of 10 years it was time to get a new one.
 
.....As far as the ultra high net worth people are concerned who boat, and we have a few around here, they don't own SRs.

As with many absolute statements this is not true. Having a net worth in excess of $1-5M, or extraordinarily high repeatable cash flow, is likely a pre-cursor to owning a big boat (i.e. bigger than 50 foot), Sea Ray or not. Buying a new one likely requires membership in the UH net worth group. I'm sure more than a few owners on here are in the ultra high net worth category.
 
Not to confuse disposable income with facts but:

https://www.statista.com/topics/1138/recreational-boating/

The US boating industry has been flat and declining for several years. Sea Ray and everyone else sees the same numbers. Yes, disposable income plays a role and any kind of boat ownership is expensive.

That said....when I talked to a friend in the boat building business he said that the industry sold 240,000 boats in the US last year which includes jet skis and pontoon boats. The most popular models had outboard power. He said across the board new customers are shifting what they buy and that there are 10-12% fewer customers from 2016. I can't validate that statistic but if it is true.....it would support a consolidating market place. The only winners in that story are companies like MarineMax who can sell new or broker older boats.

He said the manufacturers have been in denial for a long time. They just have a hard time believing that the next generation of customers would rather spend time on social media than go boating.
 
Well the concern I have is that they are not just stoping one or two models but the whole lines.
My experience with my new boat has been a bit concerning with a huge number of items to be fixed. I was not expecting the amount of time I have spent dealing with these. I believe the quality control fell off quite a bit. SR has been wonderful in fixing everything but I can’t see how they made any money with the costs they have incurred making these fixes. If this was the norm, I can see why they stopped production. I love the boat and know once I get everything in order I should be fine.
 
That in itself should tell you about SR and quality control. A new production boat should not be dealing with warranty after warranty issue to "get it right" . Imagine if you bought a new automobile that was having multiple problems right off the lot. My guess is that car would quickly be gone.

As with any product, if there is a viable market out there someone will step in to fill it. My impression is the boat market (35-60) market is shrinking. There may open a market for custom built boats in that range that the buyer can get more of what he wants and without the QC problems that have plagued SR.
 
As with many absolute statements this is not true. Having a net worth in excess of $1-5M, or extraordinarily high repeatable cash flow, is likely a pre-cursor to owning a big boat (i.e. bigger than 50 foot), Sea Ray or not. Buying a new one likely requires membership in the UH net worth group. I'm sure more than a few owners on here are in the ultra high net worth category.
It would be interesting to see the size of the ultra high net worth boat market and the number of SRs sold in that market vs. the number of custom and semi custom builder sales. I'd bet that SR is not a blip in the pie chart. You get a hint of the company's market penetration by looking at the expensive used boats for sale in the boating mags. Lots of brands for sale. SR seems underrepresented. Our area of the country has quite a few well known ultras who enjoy boating. Can't think of a single big SR owner in that group of people.
 
It would be interesting to see the size of the ultra high net worth boat market and the number of SRs sold in that market vs. the number of custom and semi custom builder sales. I'd bet that SR is not a blip in the pie chart. You get a hint of the company's market penetration by looking at the expensive used boats for sale in the boating mags. Lots of brands for sale. SR seems underrepresented. Our area of the country has quite a few well known ultras who enjoy boating. Can't think of a single big SR owner in that group of people.

Interesting but here in Southern California our local dealer could not keep inventory of these larger SR's as they sold quick. Even sold a few L class's. In my range of boat the 400 fly, I looked at all of the competitors and nothing had the layout or quality of the SR. If Tiara would have had a competing model I may have gone with them, but I looked at Prestige, Bavaria, Galeon, Regal they all were not built as tough (except Regal). You literally stepped in the salon and the floor gave as you walked. They were at least a third less displacement, great for gas but get in any type of seas and good luck. These newer larger SR's have not been on the market very long which is why you do not see many.
 
That in itself should tell you about SR and quality control. A new production boat should not be dealing with warranty after warranty issue to "get it right" . Imagine if you bought a new automobile that was having multiple problems right off the lot. My guess is that car would quickly be gone.

As with any product, if there is a viable market out there someone will step in to fill it. My impression is the boat market (35-60) market is shrinking. There may open a market for custom built boats in that range that the buyer can get more of what he wants and without the QC problems that have plagued SR.

I am in total agreement with you if you are referring to actual build issues. Beyond that, we have a few boats in our marina that are having warranty issues taken care of week after week. Most of these have nothing to do with Sea Ray per se, but more with manufacturer issues such as electronics and other components not manufactured by Sea Ray.
 
I am in total agreement with you if you are referring to actual build issues. Beyond that, we have a few boats in our marina that are having warranty issues taken care of week after week. Most of these have nothing to do with Sea Ray per se, but more with manufacturer issues such as electronics and other components not manufactured by Sea Ray.

Still, SR put these components in their product, so they take responsibility. If they have been installing inferior equipment that has a history of problems that's still a QC issue for SR. A new boat (or any product) should not require constant warranty work "to get it right". It should be right when it leaves the factory.
 
I was fortunate to be able to tour the factory that builds the L class boats several times. I was also fortunate to go with Capt. Higgins from Long Island NY when L650 Fly hull #1 was returned to the Forida factory at the end of its East Coast dealer tour when the boat was introduced.

I can assure you that there is no inferior equipment on those boats. But, the amount of electrical wire and cabeling required to buid a complex boat like that amazes me. Sometimes that many and that level of complexity means gremlins will have to be sorted out. I just know Hull #1 ran flawlessly for 4 months uo the East coast than never even hiccuped on the 5 day trip from NY to Cape Canaveral.
 
I wonder if they are giving them away. We had a new L550, and a new L550 fly show up in our harbor (Chicago) just this week...
 

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