2bucks
Guru
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2007
- Messages
- 698
With the price of fuel going up and no sign of it ever going back down, what do you think the new boat trend will be? During the late 70's early 80's we saw the CHB/Taiwan Trawler movement. Reasonable sized boats with economical power. Since then we've seen*steady movement towards larger and*faster. Witness the venerable Grand Banks twin 350 horse "so we can plane" phenomenon.
Also note the Bayliner "drag your butt in the water & make a wake" foundation movement. Will we see the return of balanced boats*and actually see planing again?
My guess is that Yanmar and the other small high speed diesel engines are going to be the Lehmans of the 70's. While they will not have the longevity of the Lehman, they will deliver the economy that the public will demand. I think after this cruising season we will start to see the change. Watch the boat shows next year and see if the smaller engines are featured instead of brute*power.
Some have postulated that a return to long narrow boats may occur for better economy. I don't think our population is going to stand for that. I think most of us want* r o o m y* interiors that the narrow boats can't deliver. Also I think most would be able to crunch the numbers and figure out that for the same interior square footage they'd have to pay for 10 more feet of dock space each month.
What say you?
Ken Buck
Also note the Bayliner "drag your butt in the water & make a wake" foundation movement. Will we see the return of balanced boats*and actually see planing again?
My guess is that Yanmar and the other small high speed diesel engines are going to be the Lehmans of the 70's. While they will not have the longevity of the Lehman, they will deliver the economy that the public will demand. I think after this cruising season we will start to see the change. Watch the boat shows next year and see if the smaller engines are featured instead of brute*power.
Some have postulated that a return to long narrow boats may occur for better economy. I don't think our population is going to stand for that. I think most of us want* r o o m y* interiors that the narrow boats can't deliver. Also I think most would be able to crunch the numbers and figure out that for the same interior square footage they'd have to pay for 10 more feet of dock space each month.
What say you?
Ken Buck