Indianapolis Boat Show

J

jhayes1068

New member
I went to the Indianapolis Boat Travel and RV Show yesterday and while there were a bunch of really nice boats, there was only one pilothouse boat; a Coast Guard boat (not for sale). Now I know I'm in the mid-west, but, North of me are the Great Lakes (4 hour drive), East of me is 22,000 acre Lake Monroe (2 hour drive), West of me is the Wabash River with access to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers ( I can just about spit in the Wabash River from my home), and South of me is Kentucky Lake, Dale Hollow Lake, and the Tennesse River system (all within 3 to 6 hour drive from my house). All of these lakes and river systems have houseboats and or big cabin boats that have been used for overnight and extended cruises on them for many years. My question to the pilothouse factories and dealers is: Is there not a market for the pilothouse boats in this mid-west region? The money is certainly in this area for purchasing boats. There were several boats at the show (appeared to be at least 18-20 boats) in the $48,000 to $92,000 range that had been sold after only 1 1/2 days of the start of the show on Friday Feb 19th. Just wondering? :D Jim
 
Let me first apologize to the Brats who are probably tired of me beating this dead horse for the last few years regarding boating in the Midwest/Great Lakes states.

About 25 years ago I was a full time editor with Great Lakes Sailor magazine. Before our start-up we really did our homework and found that fully 35% of the registered boats in the country were in our geographical area. Our magazine really took off because the national sailing pubs rarely covered the Great Lakes.

It seems that has also been the case with the marketing of the C-Dory line, for whatever reason. Three years ago when Marcia and I were at the SBS I talked with the power-that-be at the time and gave them some demographics and urged them to focus on this area, which would be to their benefit. I even offered to work shows for them (which I have done for a few magazines and Jeanneau sailboats) if they would cover my expenses. Not much interest from you-know-who (hint: his initials are Tom Latham).

I even had a dealer on Lake Erie, who knew me and loved my boat, interested in taking on the line, but the factory insisted that they purchase one of every model, which was a deal-killer.

Unfortunately, with the economy these days, I don't think that they would be able to do that even if they still wanted to.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
It isn't up to the factory to focus on any area. It is up to a local dealer to take on the line, order some boats and start selling them. That's the model of how the system works right now.

If a qualified local dealer feels he can make money on the brand, and is willing to invest in some inventory, I'm sure the factory would be interested in signing them up.
 
Hey Jim, Have enjoyed your time and search on the site for your "inside passage boat"....or something in the 22' or smaller range. Sometimes the hunt is the best part of the travel and boating experience. Like I stated before, I loved my CD18 angler and for sure the back camper canvas made a much more usable boat "for my purpose" when I owned the boat....but.... I was not looking for an inside passage boat at that time. With that criteria on the decision matrix, I would have to cull out boats that did not have hard sides, hard aft bulkhead walls....which, would have knocked out my CD18 Angler, or the CD19 Angler....unless...you were going to build or have built....a hard aft bulkhead.... like some owners have done. Having said that...I would have to minimize the need for a larger, exposed cockpit area in favor of a larger enclosed cabin area...simply due to the cold waters, air temps, and wetness of the inside passage area. Oh what a beautiful trip and I have truly enjoyed the cyber trips on this site when following my fellow C-Brats on their journey. Thanks to all of those who shared their trips!!!

There use to be a dealer "RABIDFISH" or something to that effect in the Noblesville, IN area. There still is State of Mind in your general area....for a pilot house boat. You can take a quick look and zoom in a bit and see the folks who own some type of C-Brat boat on "The Brat Map." That should represent where a factory "may want to place a dealership."

Now, do not give up. Many, many, many things have changed with several pilothouse boats represented or built by factories that frequent this site. They are changing today even, at a very, very fast pace... and each day new news hit the pages. Just my humble opinion, I feel that these special little pilot house boats are headed back to a time when there was a waiting list for a prospective owner's boat to be built. The good news for you and any one else seeking one of 3 factory brand names are all going to be owned/operated in the Bellingham, WA area. Those 3 are the Sea Sport, Cape Cruisers, and the boat that got this cult site going for us built by the Toland family originally... the C-Dory. And.. toss in the mix that Ben and Dave have a little project still going and about to hit the markets soon too... I feel, in my opinion, that, matched with the fact that most folks who purchase a new boat in America, finance the purchase, and, most...of the traditional boat dealerships... that "again...most" finance the floor planning on the boats... both ends of this are getting hit very, very hard by the folks with the money....the lending institutions. So, the potential new boat buyer, the factory that would like any size dealership network to have a few boats floor planed or on the show room floor for folks to see... are today being greatly effected...in a negative way. So, that send in a deposit, wait for your boat to be built and delivered to you "dealer".... in "your area"... may be upon us. It was a fun and exciting time when the C-Dory boats were built in this manner. I use to love to see folks go by the factory and take pictures of boats being built and posted on the site... The excitement was like watching a new birth. So, the current new guys who are busting their butts attempting to put humpty dumpty back together again...build great high quality boats...and keep us in the loop... and work with some type of dealership network... well...all of these folks just have some things to work thru. It just is what it is. In the end, if you are wanting a new boat, you will be better off....maybe...in my opinion.

Keep up your search for the boat you want for the way...or trip of a life time that you want to take....the inside passage. Awesome trip and on my bucket list too!!!!

Now...for kicks and grins... were the boats that were sold at the Indianapolis show suitable boats for the inside passage trip? Folks had good luck selling boats at the boat shows here in Nashville this year...but, they are simply boats I would not own...as, I have gotten "exposed" to not being exposed to the elements in a pilothouse boat... and I do not see myself going back to the other side... unless it has paddles ...and even then...a small 2-4 hp kicker would more than likely be on mine...just incase of course.

Byrdman
 
Matt Gurnsey":2szcfcaq said:
It isn't up to the factory to focus on any area. It is up to a local dealer to take on the line, order some boats and start selling them. That's the model of how the system works right now.

If a qualified local dealer feels he can make money on the brand, and is willing to invest in some inventory, I'm sure the factory would be interested in signing them up.
Click to expand...

Matt,

I understand that's the way that it is currently done and that is my point. In following this model, they are pretty much ignoring a third of the marketplace. C-Dory's are pretty much unknown in this area and I've even had dealers come up to us and ask what kind of boat Valkyrie is.

When I was in business we actively sought new markets that we could tap into to expand our business. Why not seek out established, respected dealerships in a potentially lucrative area so they can offer a great niche boat where there is no real competition?

Respectfully,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Breath deep Nick.... give them a month or two to sort out things.. who knows what will end up as a National footprint of dealers. I had a local dealership at one point in the Nashville area looking into the C-Dory boat line due to the interest we had stirred in the area...but, back in the Scot Reynold/Lathum days... they wanted folks to stock/floor plan "less than perfect moving hulls"...rather than the ones that fit the local market trends and abilities.... and, like some other much missed dealerships like EQ that dropped them... and the lack of dealers wanting to floor plan a lot of boats... it will be an interesting 2010-2011 boat building year. New hull years roll out now in less than 6 months... and not sure what the response time is going to be on "build me one-ship me one- it has arrived on the lot time frame" (or two to dilute the cost of shiping hulls cross country) with the new builders...but, folks do not want to get hung out with a "birthday" boat year model going thru the winter months. May be just another year of just hang in there... make some slow, solid plans... and shoot for a good 2011. Time will tell. It is not good for dealerships to have to dump prices to move boats when the new year rolls out....as that just takes away the minimal profits on new hulls anyway, and, depreciates the boats other folks own.

Now...when you heading south?

Byrdman
 
In the Fluid Marine days there was a sales manager whose job it was to find new dealers, and be the dealer contact for sales related issues. Triton Marine Indsutries doesn't have similar position at this point, so it's up to dealers to find them.

It is incredibly difficult to pioneer a new, or new to the area brand. It takes a fair amount of marketing money and investment in product to put on the showroom floor.

We had a line of boats that was an outgrowth of the builder of a well known local brand. We spent five years at the boat show with people asking what a "Brand D" was. When we explained it was built by the "Brand T" people, they all knew exactly what and who that was and the legacy that "Brand T" had. The biggest mistake that builder made was to drop the brand name that everyone locally knew in favor of building up a new brand.

While I'm sure that C-Dory's get tons of attention everywhere they go, and their owners are inundated with queries about "what is it- it's so cute!", part of that may be because it is an unknown brand in the area.

This interest does not necesarily translate into sales for the dealer. And bottom line, sales is what the dealer is after. It's how he pays his bills. If a line of boats doesn't sell, or doesn't sell with a big enough profit margin, the dealer may drop the line.

So taking on an unknown (at least locally) brand of boats, no matter how long they have been in business or how stellar their reputation is incredibly risky. Dealers aren't into risky right now, and they may want to see what Triton Marine Industries will be doing before jumping on a boat line that has had three different owners in under 5 years.

Not saying it can't happen, just saying that the economy right now makes it really tough.
 
Matt,

Very valid points. Thanks for sharing the dealer's point of view.

Byrdman,

Hey, Brother, good to hear from you. No deep breaths needed. I'm not upset or worked up over the situation and have not succumbed to some of the "mid-winter tension" seen here of late. I have always supported the brand and just hate to see any of the brand's owners miss a chance to sell more of my favorite boat. I know this area, see the reaction of people when they encounter Valkyrie and just wish there were more around here.

I'm heading out on Thursday and will make it to Mobile East about 12 hours later and spend the night on Valkyrie. Friday will be an organizing, stowing and clean-up day with weather forecast for sun and temps in the 50's! I'll then spend some time with my in-laws on St. Helena Island, visit some friends in FL and probably be in Marathon at the end of next week!

Do you still plan on heading south? I'll give your brother a call when I get into FL.

Regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Hi Patrick, out all of the boats I saw at the show there were two that would have been suitable for the Inside Passage trip, if they had a full camper enclosure installed. These were cuddys, with very nice v-berths, stove, fridge, table, head, and other options on board. Now the down side: because they didn't have a hard top cabin structure, there wasn't a suitable place for a radar antenna mount. I don't see how an arch mount could be installed without interfering with the camper enclosure. Due to the weight of the boats, they had either V-6 or V-8 inboards for power and can't be nearly as fuel efficient as a light weight boat like the C-Dory.The helm stations were short on room for mounting electronic displays in a size that this old man can see, with ease. :D And finally, by the time you added the expense of modifying the boats and the high initial price tag, it makes more sense to buy a pilothouse boat.

I agree with Nick; I can't see any reason why a pilothouse boat like the C-Dory wouldn't be a profitable venture in the mid-west, if the manufacture/dealer network is set up properly. I know the manufacturer of a boat line has to make money to stay in business, but, it doesn't make much sense requiring a dealer to take boats that he/she can't possibly sell in their area. All I'll say is: some pilothouse boat manufacturer is missing the boat :D (darn that's good!) if they don't include the mid-west in their initial planning for selling boats! That's just this old man's opinion. :D Regards, Jim
 
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