Archive for February, 2011

MIAMI BOAT SHOW

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

I have just returned from Miami Boat Show. My only interest was the sailboat part, held at Bayside. I regret to report that it has hit a new low. There were so few sailboats that they didn’t even bother moving the normal berth-holders out of their slips, lest it look woefully empty. To my eye there was only one boat of any interest on display- all the rest were cheaply built, poorly designed mass production consumer junk- the last thing we need any more of!

Morris yachts were in Miami, but not at the show. They had their beautiful, truly valuable yachts on display over in Coconut Grove, as far away from the grind-them-out-cheap crowd as they could get and still be in Miami. If they can stay in business, there is still hope.

The one boat of any interest to me at the show was the Presto sharpie. I don’t love this boat, (too special-purpose) but I know the builders who are fine people and I understand that in a world of 100,000 perfectly good and severely depreciated used sailboats begging for owners on Yachtword.com the only way to sell anything new is to chase tiny unserved niches, like shoal draft in the case of the Presto. When will our wealthy begin paying the vast premium required to buy a new and well designed yacht rather than a used sailboat? If that day ever comes, I’m back in business!