Boating season looks bright Gas prices push trend toward pontoons, smaller craft
By VICTORIA GUAY
vguay@citizen.com
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Boaters heading to some of the area’s many lakes and ponds this summer may see more pontoon boats and smaller craft on the water as people look to save money on gasoline prices.
Ryan Crawford, whose family owns and operates Winnisquam Marine, said pontoon boats have grown in popularity among boaters over the last two years.
“We used to sell a lot of fiberglass boats, but pontoon boats have taken over our business,” Crawford said.
Because of the increase in pontoon popularity, last year was a good year in terms of sales, he said.
“The year before was challenging,” he said. “It was the biggest part of the (economic) downturn … the fiberglass market was slowing down and pontoon boat sales hadn’t picked up yet.”
He said last year, it was like somebody threw a switch and everyone began looking at pontoon boats.
“This year sales look to be up again,” Crawford said, adding that their business has had success at regional boat shows, including several in Massachusetts and one in Salem.
There are a few reasons why pontoon boats have become so popular, he said.
“You can bring a bunch of people on them; there is room to move and they have smaller engines that are more efficient,” Crawford said.
He added that pontoon boats are versatile — they can be used for leisurely trips with many people; they can be anchored out in the middle of the lake, they can be used for fishing, and the newer engines, some of which have up to 300 horsepower, allow them to go faster.
“You can have a boat now that does it all, instead of three,” he said.
He added that the new outboard engines on pontoon boats are more fuel-efficient.
“They consume probably half the fuel as stern-drive boats,” he said.
He said with a typical stern-drive runabout, a person might spend $100 to $150 on gas for a day of boating, whereas with a newer-model pontoon, a person may spend only $60.
He said most people like to take their pontoon out on the water, anchor and relax.
“It’s like a living room on the water,” he said.
Crawford said that, given the newer, fuel-efficient pontoon boat motors and the fact that Winnisquam Marine only sells smaller to mid-size boats, rising gas prices don’t have much of an impact on business. At least it didn’t in 2008, the last time gas prices topped $4 per gallon, before the economy crashed in October of that year.
Also, Crawford said, most boaters have more discretionary spending power than others.
“These are people who are going out for recreation,” Crawford said. “Whether they are spending it on fuel to go snowmobiling, or for a trip to an amusement park or for boating, the gas prices aren’t as a big a factor.”
Dave Ewing, co-owner of Dave’s Motorboat Shoppe LLC, in Gilford, said because of the economy people are looking for smaller boats and more efficient engines.
He said his company specializes in four-stroke outboard engines and smaller boats.
Ewing said he’s not so much concerned that gas prices will affect boating habits out on the lake; he worries they may affect how often out-of-area boaters will visit during the season, depending on the weather.
“The people who come up here, if they see gray skies or that the weather isn’t pristine, they aren’t going to come; they won’t want to spend the gas money to come up here,” Ewing said. “Once they are here, the boat gas is not exactly negligible, but it’s not a significant factor.”
Ewing said business was slow over the winter, but he thinks that’s because the area received so much snow, and many summer boaters were busy with winter sports such as skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
Bill Irwin of Irwin Marine said he is looking forward to a busy — and hopefully sunny — summer.
“I think that people are excited to get out on the lakes,” Irwin said. “Everyone has cabin fever; they are just real excited to see spring and summer, more so than in other years because of all the snow we’ve had.”
In terms of what’s popular this season, Irwin said he’s also noticed an increase in the pontoon’s popularity.
“Bow riders are always popular,”Irwin said. “Pontoon boats have become popular because they can fit so many people.”
Irwin said while he doesn’t have a crystal ball, he thinks the coming year will be prosperous.
He said the economy the last couple of years has had an impact on everyone in the boating industry.
“We’ve had to become better salesmen, run a little leaner and more efficiently,” Irwin said.
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