Annapolis Capital Punishment

With the Greatest Depression upon us, of course everyone was worried that sales would sink at the recent boat shows. Mayday! Mayday! We now turn our attention to how our local and regional newspapers reported on the event, but first I wish to remind everyone of the Capital's newsblog video on October 10. It featured an interview with Annapolis Yacht Sales President Garth Hichens BEFORE the sailboat show saying that in times of economic or market downturns people actually will put money into a boat rather than into the markets because they don't expect a return from the market whereas with a boat...at least they'll have a boat to enjoy. He believes the boating business can do well in such times. A bit of contrarian thinking--but it seems plausible for some folks.

So, the shows came and went. Our local paper told a story not quite of gloom and doom but focused on growing interest in refitting the old rather than buying new. It was headlined "Boat owners fixing what they have-Financial uncertainty pushing upgrades over buying new". Reporter Katie Arcieri interviewed Hichens after the show, noting that his "company is a top seller of Beneteau sailboats" the world's number one boat builder. Arcieri reports Hichens as saying, "Sales may have been better if the stock market hadn't dropped so drastically the Friday going into the show."

Hichens added that, "The boat show was definitely slower - the positive side of the shows was the exhibitors were all there and the customers were there.....We were not surprised when people were not taking their checkbooks out of their pocket."Mr. Hichens also said he does not see this as reflective of problems in the overall boating industry.

CP must ask for some clarification. Is a down market good for boats or bad for boats??? How come CP noticed the two different views from the same person but a week or two apart--both published by The Capital-but its own reporter did not?

On to the regional newspaper which seemed to think the boating business was buoyed rather than sinking. Nicole Fuller wrote, "We all know times are tough. Stock prices are way down, and the credit market is drying up. There's talk of another stimulus package. But the past two weekends at City Dock represented a bright spot in the financial crisis of 2008. Two of Annapolis' premier events - the sailing and powerboat shows - may have seen slight dips in attendance, but boaters were still buying."

Case in point. People in business so rarely will tell you what's really going on-and the reliability factor versus the serendipity factor within the boating business is suspect for the same reasons it is in other sectors. But hard and fast figures are hard to get. So read and judge for yourself at:Boat
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