Another answer to the question of what happened to the under-30 market is the hard-won realization b

On the water on Lake Union, Marine Servicecenter is showing the Slovenian-built Greenline 33 hybrid. Although the model on display is diesel-drive only, the Greenline is designed to run as a diesel/electric vessel, with a 20 mile range on battery hotels on the las vegas strip alone (at a power-sipping 4 knots). A built-in solar array on the cabin top augments the diesel generation and the overall fuel consumption and carbon hotels on the las vegas strip emissions are claimed to be on par with a similar length sailboat and dramatically greener than a comparable powerboat.
Also on Lake Union is the Gemini Legacy 35 catamaran, which is the cutest, most mono-like cat on the water today. With a 14 beam, it can actually squeeze into some slips that have traditionally been mono-hull only, while still retaining the separate cabin space and open decks that characterize catamaran living.
The Oceanis 38 is the most striking of these and the most innovative. Intended as a replacement for the stalwart Oceanis 37 (although Beneteau has not yet announced a date at which the 37 will be phased out), the 38 is designed along modular lines to be a model that can appeal to boaters along the spectrum of experience and ambitions.
Even more importantly, it s designed to be able to grow along with owners hotels on the las vegas strip as their skills and desires expand. The Oceanis is available for south of $200,000 with almost no options as an entry-level day sailer; the vision, however, is for those entry-level owners, instead of trading up after a few years to a different, more advanced cruising boat, to simply add in a few pre-fabricated (and relatively inexpensive) modules from Beneteau instead and upgrade the existing boat to a model more in line with their extended sailing horizons.
This is a radically different way of looking at boat ownership and the design is correspondingly exotic. The forward bulkhead separating the v-berth from the cabin is completely removable. The galley and salon options, likewise, can be brought through the companionway and plugged in place, or removed, as desired.
The Oceanis 38 has twin wheels and twin rudders, a vast cockpit with scads of storage, and a generous anchor locker forward with a thoughtful hybrid windlass design which mounts the device below deck, but allows the capstan to protrude so it is operable and usable with the locker lid closed. A hard arch over the companionway holds the traveller and will serve as a nice, solid anchor hotels on the las vegas strip point for a voluminous dodger if the owner should decide to mount one.
Below decks, the wide-open look of the interior created by the absence of the forward hotels on the las vegas strip bulkhead is enhanced by a series of large windows mounted in the hull. With the galley and salon modules in place, it is curiously hotels on the las vegas strip narrow; the configuration requires room along the hull to install them, which provides additional storage space and makes the interior surprisingly passage-friendly for a modern production boat.
The boat (and its older cousin, the Oceanis 55) suffer from the light and production-oriented build process, with sole boards seemingly designed to fly off in a knock-down, and any number of minor fit and finish issues apparent that leave you wondering what other troubles lurk behind access panels out of sight. But this is par for the course with most production cruisers today and you can t pretend you want a heavily-built, detail-oriented boat if you re only willing to pay for a lightweight, assembly-line model.
The Oceanis 38 can be seen, in some regards, as a response of the industry to some of the issues that Three Sheets Guest Dock contributor Robert Salnick highlighted in a post this week lamenting hotels on the las vegas strip the state of sailing on the Salish Sea. He notes the continuing decline of sailboats as a part of the afloat portion of the Boat Show, and the general absence of small, affordable entry-level cruising boats entirely.
Those observations have to be reconciled with recent data reported by Deborah Bach here on the increasing number of small boat sales as a percentage of total sales. The most likely explanation, although the numbers are not broken out this way, is that most of those sales are not sailboats, but powerboats. Used boats also comprise a higher portion of current sales than in the past; by their nature, such vessels won t see much, if any, representation at a boat show.
Bob Ross, owner of local brokerage Sail Northwest, hotels on the las vegas strip and co-owner of Seattle Sailing Club, also offered some pushback against Salnick in a Facebook hotels on the las vegas strip comment. Ross pointed out that organizations such as Seattle Sailing Club still offer affordable entry points to sailing, and that there are various other economic reasons that make it untenable for exhibitors to show smaller boats at the show.
It s also worth noting that there are still under-30 cruising sailboats at the show, even if they are the sort that traditional sailors tend to look down their noses at. The new Tattoo 26, successor to the MacGregor that Salnick specifically notes, is there and available for $36,000 spitting distance from the ~$20,000 entry level he mentions.
A couple years ago, anchored off the Chained Islands just north of Seymour Narrows, in an area where we see few cruising boats of any size, a lowly MacGregor putted up to us one afternoon to ask about the anchorage, and then putted off again to explore. Say what you will about the boat, it was providing an introductory cruising experience in the affordable range in a place that no sailor would soon forget.
Another answer to the question of what happened to the under-30 market is the hard-won realization by builders that building large boats is more profitable than building small boats. Many of the affordable models Salnick cites as having been available when he was first entering the market were built by manufacturers who went out of business in the process.
But it s a common lament at boat shows and among sailboat dealers that there is no new generation of buyers coming in to replace the expiring and retiring bunch of current vessel owners. A popular and frightening statistic you re likely to hear at the show is that every year, the average age of boat owners increases by six months. Today, the average age of a first-time sailboat buyer is 51.
Though he s drawn the ire of at least one sailboat broker in doing so, all Salnick has really hotels on the las vegas strip done is to point out the reality of that market, and question what dealers and vendors are doing about it. The Oceanis 38 may be one of those things, but it s unlikely to be enough.
Research has shown that participating in boating activities as a child is a key commonality fueling boat ownership later in life. And there are any number of programs designed to get kids sailing, as Ross points out.
But most youth sailors stop sailing by age 25. The ladder that Salnick climbed in the 1970s has had rungs broken out of it since. Understanding the economics behind those missing rungs can only be cold comfort to dealers and manufacturers who are looking at a disappearing future for their businesses. Sailing clubs may be one way to help address the issue, but there s no real replacement for ownership hotels on the las vegas strip in introducing folks to sailing and cruising, and certainly not enough demand from clubs to sustain sailboat builders.
The show this year has been the busiest in recent years, and the impression you get from the vendors is that, for the first time in a long time, the attendees hotels on the las vegas strip are primarily boat owners rather than gawkers. But perhaps what the industry needs is a way to keep bringing in the gawkers, and to make it financially feasible to turn them into sailboat owners as well. Innovative ideas like those incorporated in the Oceanis 38 is an encouraging sign that at least some manufacturers are attempting to come to terms with the problem.
Scott Wilson lives aboard his Freedom hotels on the las vegas strip 36 with his doting wife Mandy. He works as a consultant in the information technology industry hotels on the las vegas strip and occasionally scribbles out an article for Three Sheets Northwest. From time to time, he even goes sailing.
The only real starter boat at the show was the Beneteau first 25; quite a remarkable piece of kit but still $89K. the selection of used boats and boats in smaller sizes was completely hotels on the las vegas strip missing outside of this. if you take out the marine service center selection of boats the sailboat collection was terrible. as a sailor and not a powerboater the show just isn t worth it. Seattle and the PNW is arguable in the top 5 places in the world for cruising. I don t think the Seattle boat show is in the top 5 of the world
Is the issue that we have too many smaller shows spread across the region? would it be better to consolidate? perhaps the show should hotels on the las vegas strip offer a used section and have cheaper berthing for potential hotels on the las vegas strip sellers? I keep hearing from the brokers that it just isn t worth bring boats to the show as its too expensive. You have an on water experience that is 5 minutes from the downtown of a major fairly rich city. what an opportunity squandered.
I think a lot of younger (30ish) folks are getting into smaller boats- kayaks, hotels on the las vegas strip rowing shells, and increasingly home-built small sailing boats. Things that can go on the roof of a car or be towed with a small car. Young people are too mobile to own something like a cruising yacht that they can t take with them.
The younger generation of sailors would need to win the lottery to afford a $200K day sailer and all the costs associated with it. The fact, is that young people are poor, and they are getting poorer with each new generation while sailing keeps getting more and more expensive.
Well, I never realized (and am a little dissappointed) how ‘typical’ our family is! We started with a Mac26m eight years ago -enjoyed it and loved it for what type of boat it was. We averaged about 24 nights a year on it as a family of 4. It allowed my wife to find out that she enjoyed sailing (grew up on power boats) and being new to family boating, we didn’t have to worry about vessel condition at the same time as figuring everything else out. As we still boat (even more) a