VA Beach Boat Show

[eroller]

Went to the boat show today and talked with several dealers and other boat owners. Here's my take.

With the exception of a few, most of the boats on display were under 25' and it was expressed by more than one dealer that fishermen are not buying many new express/WA style boats. Used, trailerable boats are in demand.

Overall, the show was an improvement over last year and had very good products. The dealers seem motivated and looking to make a deal.

[Jet Ski Brian]

We went today and made some purchases. I wish there was some electronics dealers, never see that kind of stuff anymore. Otherwise it was good and seemed busy. I still do not get all the home improvement stuff at boat shows.

[Fin Fever]

Traded in our 24` Seabird I/O cuddy deep vee last year at the show to a 20` proline center console with a Suzuki DF150. Twice the gas milage and twice the speed when it`s calm enough to run it around 4000 rpm. I miss the ride of the old boat boat but being I run on the inside the down grade hasn`t been much of a factor. Ran from Rudee Friday and trolled for hours, went south to between dam neck and sandbridge, trolled for a while and ran back to Rudee, 12 gallons,
On the ocean I miss the larger boat though.
I`m going tommorow just to update my Seatow and have a looky see.

[Fishboy OV8]

Jan and I went today from about noon 'til 3pm ....... looked at a New Seafox 236 CC ..... talked to them for over and hour, they didn't have any on site credit set up, leave a deposit, we'll talk to the bank on Tuesday, not monday, because we'll be too busy on Monday taking all the boats back, BLA BLA BLA ...... and this "Oh, you CAN NOT finance 100% boat loan" BLA BLA BLA ..... BULL S#*T .... if they would have been on the ball they might have made a sale today. I got home and found that both of my banks will finance 100% if you have the credit to do so. I'm not dying to get into a new boat, but we were there w/ an open mind ..... left there wondering if I'm going back to NC to buy another Seafox like I did w/ my first one. Not impressed at all w/ Lynnhaven Marine .... but I do like the Seafox line, and their prices are good.

The Seahunts are a good brand for the $$ too ...... we looked all around before leaving, good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

[N4ZNH]

Took the wife last night to take a look and attend the VSWFT Awards Presentations. I wasn't overly impressed with the show but did see a few boats that got my intrest up. Just can't justify a new one at this time. The wife really liked the 256 Sea Fox and I got the cold shoulder for not pulling the trigger. She liked the Maycraft in the driveway we got back in 05 and I can't get her out in it more than once or twice a year. None of the salesman seemed too interested in making a sale which surprised me.

[Fishboy OV8]

Huh ?? you too Wally ???

I had a rigging question about the Seafox and they (Lynnahven) were supposed to have a booth w/ their mechanics set up, and they couldn't get the question answered .... the salesman went to get the "finance" guy and he seemed SUPER un-interested , couldn't even get him to work up some numbers for me, they really got turned off when I talked about having a boat to trade in ....... i guess he judged that I didn't have enough $$ or credit to make the sale ....... maybe it was the Washington Capitals shirt and hat I had on.
The "salesman" did all he could to help me scratch through the numbers .... but it was rough figures .... the more I think about it, the more i get.

Oh, and get this ...... It seems unless you have a brief case full of cash money, you can't actually purchase a boat at the show, just put a deposit down. The salesman said they "could" still take offers on the boat even if you did make a deposit, depending on how "serious" you sounded about buying the boat on Tuesday.

Oh, and this ..... there is a sign on the boats that says you get either an extra 2 yrs towards the Yamaha motors or up to $2000 towards equipment on your boat purchase...... the 250 Yamaha was listed in the $1500 range for credit. So I asked, "If I don't want the extended warrenty, can I get this $1500 towards my purchase ?" ....... He acted like because the boats are discounted for the show that you can't get the full $$$ back ......., I told him I thought that was wrong, because it wasn't Lynnhaven's $$ that was coming back to me, it was Yamaha's $$ ....... that turned me off too.

[SeaDooDave]

I did a lot of dreaming over there...lots of nice boats and jet skis. I enjoyed it, but it would have been nice if some of the big boat electronic companies made a showing.

[trnsmaster]

what a joke of a show

[Tideline Boats]

Got to meet a few guys from here on Tidalfish, thanks for stopping by and saying hello. It was not a huge show, but a good mix of boats and some good quality names there. There are certainly not many vendors though, mostly just boats.

We had plenty of interest for our first show up there and will be working with Max King to setup a demo day soon. Give him a call to get on the test drive list if you are interested.

We also want to give a huge thanks to Warefisher from this board for letting us borrow his boat for the show. We don't have any unsold boats at the moment and a bit of a waiting list, so he made this show possible on short notice. Thanks again.

[Gone Coastal]

I thought the show was fine. As mentioned, there could have been a few more customer-service, product awareness factory reps there (electronics, new technology/side scan demos, etc...) for current and potential customers. I had the kido with me, so maybe I missed the PENN, HUMMINBIRD, RAYMARINE, etc. booths if they were there...They should have been there to support their local dealers.