Brunswick selling off Sea Ray brand

Curious who ends up picking up the Sea Ray line and what's in store for the future.

It doesn't surprise me that they've gone this route. Although the boating industry has returned since the downturn in 2008, pricing continues to rise to stay in the game. Everything from dockage, parts, fuel, insurance, the list goes on. This was exactly one of the reasons why I opted to hold off on the my purchase this past year. When I saw what I would be spending, I thought my money would be better used elsewhere. One of the biggest expenses today that may not have been a factor in the past is children's college education and retirement/investments. That's quite a big chuck every month. I don't think it was as prevalent to save for those things like it is today. All these items add up to less expendable income every month. Now all of a sudden a trailerable boat becomes much more attractive. Just my two cents on the situation. Still sad for sure.
 
When I saw "Wingle$$ has children", I didn't even need to see who made the post. Glad you are back Gary, even if you only have time for a drive-by.

I can turn in tonite with fond memories of the stuffed toy your pups had de-winged that you then perched on the urinal and photographed.
 
KevinC said:
I think I see whats wrong here and propose a solution:

The Declaration of Independence gives us our "unalienable rights": "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

Since we are all happiest when we are boating (certainly not working for some overpaid CEO) it is our right to own a boat. To this extent I urge the Congress and the Senate to immediately drop work on Tax Reform and pass the ABA - American Boating Act.

Congress should immediately propose funding for the BDA (Boating Development Agency) to establish the production of High Quality boats that can be sold at below market rates and while loosing money on every boat produced and sold the loss of revenue will be offset by increased revenue from additional fuel sales and tax revenues from those new hires producing the boats. Also by selling at a lose it will certainly drive down the market cost of boats since all other manufacturers will now have real competition.

Additionally the Department of the Interior should immediately enact eminent domain to secure enough shoreline to provide free and discounted dockage of all these boats. Additionally this will enhance all American lifestyle by providing beautiful scenic shores with free access by all. Those displaced will have no worries since they too will have affordable dockage.

The only possible way to ensure the success of this project and to secure everyone's "unalienable right" to happiness we also must enact legislation to insist that everyone purchases a boat based on minimum standards that we will disclose later (note: unsafe project boats that do not run will be outlawed for your own well being). For those who already own boats there is no need to worry; you will be able to keep your own boat, your own dock space and mechanic. Only with everyone buying boats will this succeed. For those not perusing the happiness of boating there will be a penalty that will need to be assessed. This is to entice those not particularly interested in boating to acquire one for their own good. This will also ensure that greater good will not be hurt by their lack of participation. This penalty will be collected into the general fund and will bed used to offset counseling for their own good.

The legislation to be enacted will be quite complex because of the nature of all the services and infrastructure required. However you should not be worried about the thousands of pages of legislative rules to be enacted to succeed since they will all benefit your boating needs. All you need to be concerned with it that you will be able to purchase your boats quite simply online via buy.a.boat.gov which will be available 1/1/18 for pre-orders. The first big raft-up of the season will be on 4/15/18 and all boaters will be expected to arrive by that date.

Ok - Sounds Good! Any Nays - Are we all in agreement now! I am certain no-one could see a problem with these facts!
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Kevinc,
They need to pass that bill to see what's in the bill!!
 
Wow. A bunch of luxury boat owners sitting around whining about the down-trodden middle class. You just can't make this stuff up.

Can we get back to boating now?
 
Great to see Gary again, even if it's just briefly. The entire "Wingless" issue kept us glued to CSR for quite awhile.
 
ADDvanced said:
I've only posted in this thread because I was searching for info on Searay, like I originally stated. Then I saw a member repeating bullshit about my generation.
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It doesn't take a genius to see that your troll posts have all been deleted. You ignored every warning and kept posting infographics that served no purpose. Don't try to make your postings about how millennials are being forced into servitude and how income needs to be redistributed....it is a waste of time. If you want to do it....post in The Holding Tank where it belongs.
 
I work for a dealer that has Sea Ray among several other brands. We have had a very good year with several larger Sea Ray's sold/on order (2 on order over 55' this month alone) so this all caught us a little off guard. Sea Ray has several new models and ones in the pipeline which isn't normally a sign of a company in bad financial trouble (R&D is hugely expensive).

I actually worked for two other manufactures who were put on the market and sold. Even with all of the rumors when they were bought by overseas buyers the companies rebounded stronger than ever thanks to a large cash infusion, more freedom to design what they wanted to be market leaders and new marketing that worked. Basically once the large corporate owners they had were gone and the complacency that being a publicly traded company breeds were gone they came back stronger than ever before.

My livelihood is with Sea Ray so of course I hope for the best and with my experience in the past I truly think this will be best for the brand as new stewardship is found.
 
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Florida Time said:
I work for a dealer that has Sea Ray among several other brands. We have had a very good year with several larger Sea Ray's sold/on order (2 on order over 55' this month alone) so this all caught us a little off guard. Sea Ray has several new models and ones in the pipeline which isn't normally a sign of a company in bad financial trouble (R&D is hugely expensive).

I actually worked for two other manufactures who were put on the market and sold. Even with all of the rumors when they were bought by overseas buyers the companies rebounded stronger than ever thanks to a large cash infusion, more freedom to design what they wanted to be market leaders and new marketing that worked. Basically once the large corporate owners they had were gone and the complacency that being a publicly traded company breeds were gone they came back stronger than ever before.

My livelihood is with Sea Ray so of course I hope for the best and with my experience in the past I truly think this will be best for the brand as new stewardship is found.
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I agree and also hope for the best. Maybe without the shackles and constraints from the mother company they can unlock talent and resources to take the brand to the next level. Sea Ray did however have a banner year in sales this year....
 
AKBASSKING said:
WOW! I leave CSR for awhile and look what happens! West Marine is sold off, .....
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What? Tiffany's for boats sold off?

If I needed a fitting or even a bulb, West Marine never had one that fit.......but I digress
 
Florida Time said:
I work for a dealer that has Sea Ray among several other brands. We have had a very good year with several larger Sea Ray's sold/on order (2 on order over 55' this month alone) so this all caught us a little off guard. Sea Ray has several new models and ones in the pipeline which isn't normally a sign of a company in bad financial trouble (R&D is hugely expensive).

I actually worked for two other manufactures who were put on the market and sold. Even with all of the rumors when they were bought by overseas buyers the companies rebounded stronger than ever thanks to a large cash infusion, more freedom to design what they wanted to be market leaders and new marketing that worked. Basically once the large corporate owners they had were gone and the complacency that being a publicly traded company breeds were gone they came back stronger than ever before.

My livelihood is with Sea Ray so of course I hope for the best and with my experience in the past I truly think this will be best for the brand as new stewardship is found.
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Great points! Look at auto brands like Aston Martin and Jaguar/Land Rover. Once Ford sold them off, they all rebounded with a vengeance.
 
PlayDate said:
It doesn't take a genius to see that your troll posts have all been deleted. You ignored every warning and kept posting infographics that served no purpose. Don't try to make your postings about how millennials are being forced into servitude and how income needs to be redistributed....it is a waste of time. If you want to do it....post in The Holding Tank where it belongs.
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Just ignore him and he will go away.
 
I had a SR. It was an older one. We bought our Taiwan boat based on what was out there at the time and the life style we wanted to live. When we bought the used yacht market was rock bottom. We did look at new and used SRs. Even for us, those used SRs were out of our price range. Brokers were begging for used boats due to the low market. The used yacht market is starting a good rebound. Some boats that were for sale for 120K a few years ago are now 170-200K or more.

Since we have bought our Taiwan, we have done the Inside Passage twice. This year we put over 3700 miles on our non-SR boat. We have had a lot of fun. I have always respected SR and the quality and innovative design, until they went with "European Styling." It would also seem the hot market today are the 30ft or less go-fast fun boats. They are more affordable. Not a lot of those 30 something workers can afford a 800K-1.4mil........Quality is important, but pricing is more important.
 
Great Lakes said:
I personally can't stand the new Euro look. Awful business decision for SeaRay
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^^^ What he said!

Also, new Sundancers have such limited cockpit space that's open to the elements. I found sitting back there to be tight and confining because you have the salon door and structure completely overwhelm your view. Maybe great for colder environments but they've lost me as a future buyer of a used one.

Speaking of buying used, used boat buyers are critical to Sea Ray's future. It's this secondary market that makes it more affordable (kind of) for the new boat buyer to sell his old boat and move up. Without this strong resale the cost for the new boat even escalates more and is a barrier to the purchase.
 
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