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20-01-2019, 14:25
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 34
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Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
When is a good estimate of when that will be? What is the average age to retire from boating? The Baby Boomers are a substantial mass of people. Future supply/demand will seem to be out of balance unless there are a large new demographic of buyers. Are boat builders preparing for this?
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20-01-2019, 14:28
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Lake City MN
Boat: C&C 27 Mk III
Posts: 2,647
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
I guess it depends if we help usher in the next generation of sailors
__________________
Special knowledge can be a terrible disadvantage if it leads you too far along a path that you cannot explain anymore.
Frank Herbert 'Dune'
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20-01-2019, 14:35
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 34
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
I'm a power boater. Is there an average age when being tipped on a sail boat becomes too physically grueling? Do most sailors shift from sailing to power boating when this happens? Are we likely to see the demographic of Boomers sell their sailboats and buy power boats, leaving a glut of mostly sail boats? Or generally just retire from frequent boating altogether?
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01-02-2019, 11:28
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Derby
Boat: Classic Fletcher Speed Boat
Posts: 1
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
How old are Baby Boomers then?
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01-02-2019, 11:51
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#5
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Cruising the northern Bahamas until June
Boat: Leopard 40 2009
Posts: 600
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimboj
How old are Baby Boomers then?
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Typically defined as born post-WWII (1945) until early 1960's - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers
Don't hold your breath for great deals on mint-conditioned boats. I know a few 'retiring' sailors in their mid-70s (so war babies) and their boats are on the ragged edge. They've used them to death, and run out of money and energy to keep them pristine. Other than a few recently added winches and such, they're ready for scrapping, not cruising.
__________________
John Trusty
Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt." -- Eric Sevareid
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01-02-2019, 11:52
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,206
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
My prediction is: Yes. In fact, I think we’re already seeing it in the used market. The number of boats available seems to grow each year.
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01-02-2019, 13:34
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#7
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
Quote:
Originally Posted by John_Trusty
Don't hold your breath for great deals on mint-conditioned boats. I know a few 'retiring' sailors in their mid-70s (so war babies) and their boats are on the ragged edge. They've used them to death, and run out of money and energy to keep them pristine. Other than a few recently added winches and such, they're ready for scrapping, not cruising.
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It depends, I was on a guys boat the other day, a 50ish foot Morgan.
He was 70 and seems to be in great shape, he had built a hard top for the boat that was very well done from what I could see and had painted the boat recently himself, and it looked great, he said he was going to redo the deck soon, but it didn’t look like it needed it to me.
I think it was an 83 model boat, but sure didn’t look like it.
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01-02-2019, 14:22
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#8
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running down a dream
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Florida
Boat: cape dory 30 MKII
Posts: 3,115
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
if there is a glut of boats they will be big boats .. 40' and up. big catamarans. expensive.
__________________
some of the best times of my life were spent on a boat. it just took a long time to realize it.
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01-02-2019, 15:40
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, BC
Boat: 1969 30 Mariner Sedan Cruiser
Posts: 760
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
There is another thread going about the Toronto Boat Show and how the number of new sailboats on display has gone down drastically and power boats on display up dramaticlly. It was also commented on that most that seemed to be looking seriously at purchasing boats had silver hair - baby boomers.
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01-02-2019, 15:59
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Vancouver B.C.Canada
Boat: Century Raven 17'
Posts: 436
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
This is the same issue experienced with Motorcycles, and Harley in particular. Their demographic are the baby boomers and they are quickly dying out, leaving lots of used bikes for sale, and limited buyers. The huge used market takes away from the new buyers, and this is hurting HD. This problem is only going to get worse.
Boats at least decay quickly if not maintained, unlike motorcycles, so there is that. It is not so easy to leave your sailboat in the garage for 20 years.
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01-02-2019, 18:36
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Southern Maine
Boat: Prairie 36 Coastal Cruiser
Posts: 3,111
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
I think the bigger question is how many of the younger generations are going to become cruisers, or boaters at all.
I don't see the kids messing about in boats like we used to. They don't take little skiffs out fishing in the ocean, they don't hang around the docks, they don't buy dilapidated runabouts or sailing dinghies to fix up and run. They don't take after-school jobs on fishing boats, or hang out in dusty boat builders' barns. They're ferried to and from structured, organized activities in their parents' minivans.
Are they going to become cruisers? Not likely. Day boats are selling well, and probably always will. Besides, with all the anchorages being converted to paid mooring fields, or anchoring banned outright, where would they go?
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01-02-2019, 18:52
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Lake Ont
Posts: 8,548
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
I'm a boomer; I plan to be sailing to 80+.
I predict that there will be a glut of... old, baffed out boats from the 80s and before. I don't honestly know if the more common boats built after 1990 will last as long, and as already pointed out, they will be larger, and bigger headaches than the smaller boats.
Maybe the millenials will realize (as we did) the simple pleasures of the smaller, older boats and breathe some more life into them.
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01-02-2019, 19:34
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#13
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Port Credit, Ontario or Bahamas
Boat: Benford 38 Fantail Cruiser
Posts: 7,101
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike OReilly
My prediction is: Yes. In fact, I think we’re already seeing it in the used market. The number of boats available seems to grow each year.
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Completely agree. I see it every day.
__________________
If you're not laughing, you're not doin' it right.
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02-02-2019, 04:15
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2018
Boat: 50ft Custom Fast Catamaran
Posts: 11,832
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
The trends seem accurate as described here, but why are all the marinas full or on wait list?
Maybe the percentage of the population interested is shrinking, but the total number of boaters seems to be increasing to me.
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02-02-2019, 05:04
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#15
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,362
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Re: Will there be a glut of boats for sale once Baby Boomers retire from boating?
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Joe.
There may be (I wouldn't be surprised) a future supply/demand imbalance, but I doubt if boatbuilders are preparing for it.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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