Northeast January Boat Show Roundup

Does anyone else feel like January flew by this year? Normally, for me at least, coming out of the busy holiday season makes January feel like one of the longest months but not this year. For myself it was right into boat show season as soon as the crystal ball dropped in Times Square. Usually, the northeast boat show season doesn’t kick in until later in the month and it allows a slow start to the New Year. This year though, the New England Boat Show, was moved up about a month from its historical dates in mid-February to the second weekend of January. These new dates left both manufacturers and dealers with some uncertainty but also excited to get the season started. While the show started off a little slow mid-week it kicked into gear for the weekend. Bosun's Marine had an impressive display of all their brands and a nice assortment of Sportsman models to view. From a Masters 227 to an Open 322, customers were able to get a feel for all our product families. Bosun’s had their first opportunity to introduce the all new 2024 Open 252 to their customers and the feedback was outstanding. This model really fits the customers needs in the New England boating areas and it had a crowd throughout the entire show. As always, the Heritage 231 and Open 232 also showed extremely well with multiple sales happening during the show for both models.

From there I had a quick turnaround with 2 shows taking place the following week. In Connecticut we had Boats, Inc displaying in The Hartford Boat Show and in Maryland, Riverside Marine had a full display at The Chesapeake Boat Show. Both shows were affected by weather to start with Baltimore getting the worst of it. For the first time in two years, they experienced a major snow event. This just happened to coincide with the opening day of the boat show. While crowds were sparse to start there were still a few determined customers who made the trip that day to make sure they secured their new Sportsman. With the weather cleared out and the roads and driveways plowed it was right back to normal for both shows to finish out the weekend. Once again, the newly redesigned 231 and 232 were big hits with multiple sales reported from both shows.

I just got home from the Mid Atlantic Boat Show in Virginia Beach which closed out a busy month. Norfolk Marine had an impressive display of Sportsman models to entice local boaters. The 322, 302, and 261 were big hits all 3 days of the show and the Open 252 again got a lot of attention.

If you missed any of these shows do not fret! All these dealers are still ready and enthusiastic to work with you and get you in the boat of your dreams. Things have calmed down from the craziness of the Covid years and we are happy to report that dealers are starting to replenish their inventories and our lead times are again manageable for most models. There is still time to work with your local dealer to secure your boat for the upcoming season and the sales personnel are excited to talk with you. Although with the pace of sales we are seeing I wouldn’t wait too long. The boat show circuit is busy once again for February and we hope to see many of you at one of the many shows across the country.

See you at the show!