No sailboats Ft. Lauderdale Boat show?

[noworkee]

I know the sailboats shown at the show have been dwindling in past years, but it seems that there really is nothing to be seen. I would be supportive if it was just due to covid, but it seems like motorboats have completely taken over. Any advice on immersing ourselves and seeing some sailboats and speaking to experts and manufacturers would be appreciated.

Might as well cram another question in here. If looking at middle aged production boats like bennys and jennys (mid 90's), would looking at the total weight of relatively the same model line indicate anything (aside from being heavier or lighter lol).

For instance if you start to track where the same model boat became significantly lighter would it indicate where the manufacturer may have started to cut some more corners to become more profitable?

[Spider0804]

Tracking where a boat series or manufacturer switched from a grid structure to a pan might correlate with saved weight.

I have no experience with pan but I hear they are a real pain to fix if something goes bad...there are some youtubers trying to fix one right now too.

[psk125]

Sailboats have to be fairly well built in order to survive the stresses and forces of sailing, so they last practically forever. Sailboat owners are cheap. They buy a boat and keep it for practically forever, too. There are lots of used sailboats around for sailors to buy cheaply - much cheaper than new boats. So they don't tend to buy new. So showing a sailboat at a boat show is a hard sell. Getting a sailboat to a boat show is expensive. If the venue is indoors (and has high enough ceilings) setting up the rigging is especially expensive. Powerboaters like shiny stuff and don't expect to keep a boat for a long time. Engines wear out, the shine wears off, and they move on to a new boat. Powerboats also have a better markup for the builder than sailboats, and there are more customers for powerboats than there are for sailboats. No wonder sailboats are no-shows at sales events. Contacting sailboat builders directly would probably be the best way to get their attention and find things out about their products. Clicking on some of the ads here on Cruisers Forum might be a place to start, too.

[markpierce]

The sailboat market is overloaded. In the 1960s 70s, 80s, and 90s, they were produced by the many thousands. Why buy a new sailboat when one can obtain a used, well-found boat for a small fraction of the cost?

[chovy]

Bay Area boat show was cancelled out here.

[GordMay]

Not directly responsive, to your Q, but:
You can use Carl's Sail Calculator to look up sailboat dimensions in a large database of boats or enter your own boat's dimensions and compare it to the others. In addition, for any boat you can calculate a set of values that will help you measure how it will perform.
➥ Sail Calculator Pro v3.54 - 3200+ boats

For multihulls ➥ Multihull Dynamics, Inc. - Home

[LeeV]

If you’re referring to this upcoming October show, I can’t recall when they last had sailboats, unless Just Cats or the Multihull Co. staged a mini show of their own. I sometimes go for something to do and look at all the shiny stuff.

[bjp447]

It appears that folks over the last 2 generations don't have the interest in sailing. Us older sailors , I am 74, have moved away from sailing due to knees, backs, instability etc. I had a tough time leaving my last sailboat, bought a Ranger Tug and tell myself " well you haven't completely gone to the dark side". Our sailing club keeps getting smaller and the power boats and pontoons keep taking more of the sail boat slips. The world moves on!!

[Chotu]

Just wait for the Miami show. It’s a lot better and loaded with sailboats (relatively speaking)

[noworkee]

Guys thanks for the helpful and constructive comments. And to clarify I wasn't going to research what new boats (as someone mentioned something shiny to look at to purchase, more so to try to immerse myself more in the different brands. I have been trying to see if theres a sailboat/yacht club to join, but the ones I have found seem pretty expensive here in fort lauderdale compared to where I lived before. I will check out justcats and the Miami show as well. Sailboat dockage also seemed prohibitively expensive to the point of i will have to start off with a trailerable sailboat.