HOUSTON BOAT SHOW: After $8 bucks for parking, $7 tickets, one would at least expect to find a Mac on Display. SIGH
But the show was nice, lots of boats on display. Touring the $750,000. 44 ft motor yacht was interesting--but just too many frills. I asked the fella when removing my shoes to board the boat, would he accept a check...I've never heard a "YES" answer so quickly
I toured all the displays...and left with a feeling that if you like 1. fishing, 2. water speed, 3. pricey "cigarette" boats....This is a show for you.
I cant complain...I purchased four 25' lengths of poly rope (50 cents each, and met some very nice boat folks...
The boat show in Dayton Ohio is primarily go-fast bass boats, aluminum fishing boats, and pontoon boats. There are a few bowriders, and one company brings a couple of their smaller express cruisers. No sailboats though.
I find this typical of most "Boat Shows" advertized as such. They reflect the taste of the boating public in general. Lots of power, little or no sail. Most attendees ignore the sailboats completely, so you can't blame the sailboat dealers for not wasting their time and money at a show that is unlikely to generate any sales.
From experience, now I attend only the "Sail Only" shows. The experience is fairly similar, though. Mostly really big, really nice boats I can't afford, very few reasonably priced trailerables.
I believe Roger M primarily counts on his dealers to sell the boats, and it's hard to find fault with what has worked pretty well.
In the heyday of X sales, '00 when I bought mine, Art Reiders of the original Havencraft told me the annual Hartford boat show in February-March (not sail only BTW) usually sold a big portion of his annual allocation of boats and generated quite a long waiting list. I believe in the final years of the X he quit attending that show because it was fairly expensive, the boats were selling themselves anyway, and nobody at the show was interested in hearing there was a six month waitiing list to get a boat.
Anybody know if the factory has maxxed out on M production yet?
Scott wrote: ... Anyone have thoughts on being disapointed by this??
I bet the show is great, assuming you want to be "flying" into Chicago in FEB!
Scan that list a bit, over to Strictly Sail Pacific ... consider April in Oakland?
A strictly sail show, on the water, usually in April sunshine;
and ... the Oakland airport is just 15 mins. taxi ride from Jack London Square;
and San Francisco just another 15 mins. taxi ride across the Bay Bridge.
ETA: There was a recent thread discussing the Strictly Sail boatshows. No guarantees to continue, but Arena Yachts has been at every Oakland show for the past 20 years. They usually show a Mac on-trailer, mast-up, in the center of the main show tent. Of course there are usually a hundred sailboats in the water too, but I enjoy browsing the tents for gear and goodies. (If it's important, PM me and I'll make a phone call to see if they are showing in April.)
Last edited by Frank C on Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My friend, Bob the Boatman, drove from Hermiston Oregon to pick up a new M from the factory(yes it is for sale, anyone interested, PM me?). He decided to go to the San Diego boat show.....his disappointment was suprising....no boats of interest, no hardware......he has said this for the last several years about the Seattle show and the Portland show....MacGregor is represented at those two, but overall disappointment is what he shares with me regarding the shows. Randy
Mac owners may be impressed with a Yacht Dealer's statement when I was touring his displayed 44 ft Catalina. I willingly mentioned that I owned a Mac, he remarked that there are many satisfied Mac owners with the preferences to a power sailer at the reasonable price. HE said thousands have been sold because the Mac meets overall needs especially with the concept of a big engine in case of trouble on the water. And fast cruising can be fun...
I AGREED
Looking over a large sailing Yacht is great fun, but the "frills" just arent worth it...However, if I were interested in a "live aboard" life style....the Catalina mentioned above would be nice--washer/dryer, generator, and too much stuff to list....(some stuff simply non-sense) Consider: 12.5 Macs for the price of one Catalina...yeppers...
Sorry Louis, I was hoping things had changed. Did they have the restored wooden boats (2 or 3 old CCs etc.) in the lobby again? Just Hunters and Catalinas, right, 2 or 3 of each? And Houston/ Texas Gulf Coast wonders why it's not given any credit as a big, sophisticated city/ boating community!!!
Midget...youre right...however, I actually didnt feel too disappointed...looking at boats, talking to boat folks, getting ideas, etc. are always fun. It wouldve been "FUNNER" if a Mac was there...oh well...
I wish I had a digital camera, everyone should see the "Jolly Roger"...a 24' old wooden life boat, converted to a 2 wooden mast open boat with a bow sprit...dedicated for use by the BSA (Boy Scouts of America). One can imagine how many hours of fun BSA fellas have had aboard this old boat....
Enjoyed the Portland Boat show this past weekend. There's a nice display of Hunter & Beneteau's in the 27' to 45' range. And a Seaward 25 with the retractable keel, which is an interesting boat. But at 10,000lbs tow weight, and $75K it isn't exactly a Mac.
BWY has a nicely rigged M on display, too.
Local race clubs, marinas, & yacht clubs are well represented. Good info on the Portland sailing scene. And hundreds, and hundreds of fishing & power boats. I would guess the market for boats is 90/10 power vs sail.
Planned to attend the Seattle show to see a West Wight Potter 19, but the show dates were moved up, and truncated. Something about a football game? Football fan to boater enthusiast ratio is probably 99/1.
I personally like the idea that the Macs are not at many boat shows I go to.
I would waiste all my time selling them to new sailors and telling the dealer what a great boat the Mac is and miss the show.
Besides what would you do if they were? They havent changed much and
we already own one so what would we do? I know we would bond with the rest of the Mac owners hanging out at the booth with our wives saying honey come on lets look at the new hunters and other such boats but I would hang cause im happy with the Mac. The Mac booth would have to have three times the amount of chairs the other booths have so we can all sit down. ...hey thats what we do here.
aya16 wrote:I personally like the idea that the Macs are not at many boat shows I go to.
I would waiste all my time selling them to new sailors and telling the dealer what a great boat the Mac is and miss the show.
Besides what would you do if they were? They havent changed much and
we already own one so what would we do? I know we would bond with the rest of the Mac owners hanging out at the booth with our wives saying honey come on lets look at the new hunters and other such boats but I would hang cause im happy with the Mac. The Mac booth would have to have three times the amount of chairs the other booths have so we can all sit down. ...hey thats what we do here.
And that ALL sounds great to me actually!! BTW unless the weather changes a lot here in Chicago we have been having a very warm winter so expect temps in the upper 30's lower 40's but 4 sure check the weather sites before you leave the house as things could well have changed. I may be down at the house (Cozumel) but if not I hope to see a few of you at the show .
[quote="LOUIS B HOLUB"]HOUSTON BOAT SHOW: After $8 bucks for parking, $7 tickets, one would at least expect to find a Mac on Display. SIGH
---- I spoke with Lance at Sailventure today, and he indicated that the cost of such a display would be over $6,000 plus his time at the show. He didn't think it was worth it.
Did they have the restored wooden boats (2 or 3 old CCs etc.) in the lobby again? Just Hunters and Catalinas, right, 2 or 3 of each? 
And Houston/ Texas Gulf Coast wonders why it's not given any credit as a big, sophisticated city/ boating community!!!
