New-boat sales surge in Missouri, hit record peak

After hitting rock bottom in 2009 and 2010, the sale of new boats and gear in Missouri has made a stunning recovery, riding a wave of purchases that likely set a record for new-boat sales in the state last year.

New-boat sales dropped below $200 million in Missouri during the depth of the recession, but hit a record $339 million last year, according to data from Chicago-based National Marine Manufacturers Association.

That's a 9 percent jump in Missouri sales in one year and represents 5,900 new boats in the state, according to NMMA.

Ed Thomas is a good example why Missouri is now ranked 16th in the nation for the sale of new boats.

He works for the company that produces Learjets and has a second home on Table Rock Lake. As his two youngsters have grown, Thomas has bought progressively bigger boats through Springfield boat dealer The Ski Shack — five boats so far.

On Memorial Day, Thomas picked up his newest and biggest boat — a sleek 25-foot Malibu inboard that's specifically designed for wakeboarding and wake surfing.

Those are water sports his kids, age 16 and 20, love to do on the clean, calm waters of Table Rock Lake.

"As our kids got older and bigger they wanted to do more," said Thomas, during a quick spin on the lake in his $160,000 Malibu. "We've worked hard to create an environment where our kids want to be with us."

Mike and Vicky Bouchard of Manassas, Virginia, have also helped push Missouri boat sales to a record high.  

They are ready to retire and looked at buying a place at Lake of the Ozarks. But they chose Table Rock Lake instead because it is cleaner and quieter than Lake of the Ozarks, known for its party atmosphere and big wakes from huge cruisers during summer boating months.

They bought a lake house in Shell Knob on Table Rock and bought a Crest tri-toon (a three-hulled pontoon boat) sight unseen from MarineMax at Indian Point Marina.

"We went to a boat show in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to get a feel for what we wanted there at Table Rock," Vicky Bouchard said. "We asked a lot of questions, looked at how the boats were made. We looked at a lot of used boats online, but this will probably be the very last boat we'll buy. We didn't want to buy someone else's headache so we bought it new."

Their next adventure will be driving from Virginia to see their $30,000 boat for the first time at MarineMax, get checked out in it, and then cruise their new vessel to a slip waiting at their Shell Knob Lake home.

Vicky Bouchard had no qualms buying the boat without even setting foot on it.

"The MarineMax people were very good," she said. "It was probably too easy of a process, which is probably why we own a boat!"

Missouri is representative of what's happening nationwide, according to Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. 

According to NMMA, the sale of new boats, marine products and services reached $36 billion nationwide in 2016, an increase of 3.2 percent from 2015. There were approximately 247,800 new powerboats sold in 2016, up 6 percent from 2015. 

New sailboats saw a 16 percent increase in sales last year, driven by a 23.4 percent increase in the "20 ft. or less’"category.

And it's not just new boats that are sailing off lots and out of dealer slips.  According to NMMA, 981,600 used boats — valued at $9.2 billion — sold in 2016, up 2 percent from the year before.

"We think this trend is going to continue through 2018 and into 2019," Dammrich said.  "The economy is gaining strength. Consumer confidence is 13 percent higher than it has been in recent years. New home sales are going up. All of these things correlate highly with new-boat sales."

Dammrich said special-purpose boats designed for wakeboarding and wake surfing continue to be hot sellers, despite their relatively high price (compared to small ski boats).

And aluminum-hulled pontoon boats, with comfortable seating for a lot of people, modern digital dashboards, fuel-efficient engines and features designed to lure fishermen, continue to grow in sales, he said.

That's certainly true at The Ski Shack in Springfield, according to owner Greg Mustain.

"We added a line of pontoon boats that have been very popular," Mustain said. "The technology of these boats has changed. They're not your grandfather's boat that can only go 20 miles an hour. You can ski behind these."

But the Ski Shack's most popular sellers are purpose-built wakeboard/wake surfing boats.

"We're really lucky," Mustain said. "What was once a small segment of the market has really grown fast, as people learn how fun wakeboarding and wake surfing is."

Although the economy began to tank in 2007, Mustain said his boat sales hit a low point in 2009 and 2010 — mirrored by the decline in new-boat sales elsewhere in the state during those years.

Although the Midwest didn't see the kind of economic swings other parts of the country faced, he said a lot of people still had that "fear factor" about economic uncertainty and held off buying new boats during 2009-2010.

"It was almost impossible to sell a new boat back then," he said. "But consumer confidence changed and the economic outlook is rosier than it was even a year ago."

Like his customers, Mustain was so confident that boat sales would pick up that he opened a new Ski Shack location in Shell Knob, and also added a cable-powered wakeboard lake to the back of his Springfield store, where visitors can get a feel for wakeboarding before they try it on a boat for the first time.

Optimism also reigns at the MarineMax dealership at Indian Point. On Tuesday, General Manager Terry Perciful was checking out the progress on the newest boat the dealership received — an $884,000 Sea Ray Sundancer 400 that was getting the last bits of shrink wrap tape removed as it floated in the dealer's slip.

Perciful doesn't think he'll have any trouble selling the luxury 40-foot yacht, which features air conditioning, a wide adjustable swim platform on the stern, berths for up to six people, and state-of-the-art thrusters that let the skipper move the boat fore and aft and sideways, making it easier to dock.

"I've got a list of about 30 people who've bought big boats from us before, who might be interested in this one," Perciful said. "We'll do invitations for them to come see the boat."

Perciful said he sold a 52-foot Sea Ray last year. At Table Rock Lake, boaters are looking for comfort and a good way to enjoy their lifestyle.

"Two-foot-itis" — the lure of having just a little bigger boat — is certainly true for many of his buyers.

"I see that a lot," Perciful said. "People will keep their boat for two or three years, then move up to something bigger. It's the same as RV campers. They'll keep it for a few years then move up as their lifestyle needs change."

MarineMax and the Ski Shack don't just sell new boats. Used boats and brokerage boats are also part of their business, though both said it's hard to keep used boats on their lots because they sell so quickly.

The surge of new boats on Table Rock Lake has had a ripple effect on the lake's economy. Fuel sales are up. More houses are being built, and if they come with a coveted on-water slip, a new boat is likely to soon fill that space.

At Indian Point Floating Cafe, where boaters can pull into one of the cafe's 10 slips and grab a bite to eat, owner Andi Mitchell said she has noticed the increase in new boats on the lake.

"Boat traffic has increased immensely — our 10 slips are full all the time during our season," Mitchell said. "A lot of boaters have become regular customers. We have one couple that comes in regularly, but we didn't recognize them at first because they came in with a brand new boat!"

Who sells the most boats?

According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, here are the top 10 states for new-boat sales in 2016:

1.    Florida: $2.5 billion, up 5 percent from 2015 
2.    Texas: $1.4 billion, up 5 percent from 2015
3.    Michigan: $868 million, up 9 percent from 2015 
4.    Minnesota: $710 million, up 9 percent from 2015
5.    North Carolina: $689 million, up 11 percent from 2015
6.    New York: $688 million, up 14 percent from 2015
7.    Wisconsin: $622 million, up 9 percent from 2015
8.    California: $615 million, up 15 percent from 2015 
9.    Georgia: $551 million, up 11 percent from 2015
10.  South Carolina: $544 million, up 10 percent from 2015

Clocking in at No. 16, Missouri accounted for $339 million in sales, up 9 percent from 2015.