Shoes piled on the back of boats signified that there were serious buyers at the Newport Boat Show last week, as potential buyers must go barefoot before they inspect boats for sale.
It certainly was good weather for the show, which ran April 15 until April 19 at the Lido Marina Village.
Nicola Delgado of Stan Miller Yachts, based in Long Beach with an office in Newport Beach, said when the sun appeared on the weekend, the show got busy. Stan Miller had about 21 boats at the show, Delgado said.
Boat prices are down as much as 15%, she said. Dealers are looking to sell the 2008 inventory to make way for 2009 models. Manufacturers have cut back on new boat production, so there are fewer new models.
Financing has eased up in the last couple of months, Delgado said.
“We haven’t had any trouble getting any of our clients financed,” she said.
Boat financier Terry Maxwell, representative for Scott Financial Services in Dana Point who was at the show, said financiers are requiring 20% down and good credit (credit scores of 700 or above). Maxwell said she does about 80 to 100 loans a year.
Show attendance peaked on Saturday. The exact numbers weren’t available yet, but the show’s producer, Duncan McIntosh, said the show had a good turnout and boat sellers were making deals.
McIntosh sounded relieved as he folded up the show.
“We were very pleased,” he said. “This would be a good show in any economy.”
The show didn’t duck the recession in its advertising, McIntosh said. Rather, it focused on the upside of the down economy,low prices, cheap financing and good deals on boat slip rentals. Typically, there’s a waiting list to get any slip in Orange County, so slips opening up in Newport Beach could be a selling point to potential buyers.
McIntosh said slip rental costs have decreased, as well. They used to be up around $40 to $50 per foot (boat length). Now, they can be had for $35 a foot, he said.
McIntosh had about the same number of boats showing this year from OC boat dealers and others from around Southern California.
Some of the exhibitors at the show included Crow’s Nest Yachts of Newport Beach, Newport Beach-based Ardell Yacht & Ship Brokers, Orange Coast Yachts and Chuck Hovey Yachts Inc.
The show displayed a variety of boats, including mega-yachts, sportfishers and cruisers.
The most expensive boat at the show was a 79-foot Johnson yacht, displayed by dealer Art Brooks Yachts in Newport Beach. It was selling for $4 million.
The boating industry still has a ways to go until it recovers. Many boat dealers, including the largest, Clearwater, Fla.-based MarineMax Inc., have closed stores and the remaining dealers are fighting for a larger share of the market.
“It’s been a challenge this year,” said Rod Halperin, who was showing off Crow’s Nest’s sportfishers and cruisers.
“It’s letting up a little,” he said.
He expected to sell a few boats from leads at the show.
Crow’s Nest recently sold a $3.4 million new, customized sportfisher boat that was on display at the show. The owner lent the boat to the show so that Crow’s Nest could give buyers an idea of what’s available in new boats.
“In the end, we’ll get a much bigger piece of the pie,” Halperin said. “But it will be a smaller pie.”
Scooter Benefits
New York-based Piaggio Group Americas Inc. officials were in OC recently boasting scooter benefits,low emissions and high gas mileage.
Piaggio recently opened a 12,000-square-foot Piaggio Group Americas Technical Center in Costa Mesa, which trains scooter service technicians for its 500 dealers. The company, which sells Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Piaggio brands, also has a Vespa scooter store in Newport Beach on Pacific Coast Highway.
Piaggio touted that people who buy a scooter this year get to take advantage of a tax deduction, part of the federal stimulus package.
