Boat Show 2019

[kens]

I went to the new boat show today. I go each year because Sea-Tow offers a membership discount at their booth. The Sea-Tow discount equates to the cost of admission to the boat show, so why not?
All this board followers already know I am not a big fan of the outboard motors, particularly the bigger ones. i like the inboards as much as all the builders of the Mahoganies. But this year there was not even 1 example of a ski boat, Mastercraft, SkiNautique, nor any other. Not even a stern-drive example of anything. Not even Mercruiser with a stern-drive booth, nor Cummins with their diesels. Nobody-nothing as far as inboard goes, not even stern drive.
Am I (are we?) getting this old? Why are we (I) still using inboard engines in our boats? It has become quite obvious that outboards are THE way to go, has it not? I saw boats with triple 300hp outboards. I saw a 400hp outboard. I saw a boat with triple 350hp outboards.
One of the most common ones seemed to be twin 200hp outboards, lots of those. OH !!! And they are all Yamaha's. What happened to Johnson and Mercury? Are they outlawed now?
Yeah, yeah, I know there is the Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge trilogy around the campfire as well as the Johnson vs Mercury vs Yamaha thing, but there was not anything to be seen but Yamaha. Why? Where have I been? They are all Yamaha 4-strokes too. Where the 2-strokes? emissions???

Sometimes a salesman come to me to sell me, I ask about the weight of his 4-stroke outboard. The look on his face was almost priceless. His look back to me was as if I had the gall or the nerve to ask the weight, as if he was offended for someone to ask the weight.
I see now that the giant outboards are THE way to go. Don't ask why, just accept it.

[billy c]

Up north we run many ETEC’s in freezing conditions and extend our boating season from ice out to ice in. Still a 2 stroke but not a bug killer like those of old. ...Of course I still have the inboards too. Often see the Yamahas rigged on pontoon boats.

[Bill Edmundson]

Why do you need over 1000 HP on the boat that is pulled by a truck with maybe 200 HP?

Bill

[kens]

Why do you need over 1000 HP on the boat that is pulled by a truck with maybe 200 HP?

Bill

One of the boats was about a 38 footer with triple 350 outboards. The classic 'rug boat". All the cup holders, wine tables in the lounge, et al.
I got some pics of it, I thought was interesting all the stuff designed in for modern salesmanship. The transom bracket, trim tabs, bow pulpit, et al.
the 350 motors will come in approx 700lbs each, plus transom bracket, that is about 3000lbs hanging aft of the running bottom. At $35k each that is $120k all in with props and wet ready to run. Boat not included.
The 38' boat had about 24' of running bottom on it after you deduct the transom bracket, pulpit, and bow curve extending forward.
Makes no sense to me, but then, maybe I am just too old to understand.
Bill would love it, it is the boat that such a smooth wake when off plane.!!!

[vupilot]

I was also amazed at the sheer size of outboards here at our new boat show also. Most of them on $100,000 PONTOON boats! But up here absolutely everything was Mercury. The only inboards were the wakeboard boats. I saw several 400hp outboards on bass boats. The comical thing about that is our largest lakes are what, 12 miles long here in Indiana?

You can build a decked out Glen-L inboard mahogany runabout for the same price as a new base model 18ft ugly pontoon boat with 60hp.

The only woodies at our boat show was a neat kid from northern Indiana making handbuilt wooden stand-up paddleboards and skateboards.

[283]

Why do you need over 1000 HP on the boat that is pulled by a truck with maybe 200 HP?

Bill

You haven't been truck shopping lately.

[kens]

I was amazed at the stuff that scared me. Nowadays it is popular to have a 'tuna door'. That is a door in the transom supposed to let you drag a big fish up into the boat. I haven't figured that one out yet. I done a lot of blue water fishing, and have as yet to catch something so huge that I couldn't haul over the side. The tuna door is supposed to solve that problem.
Now I worked several years down in the 'fishing capital' of Florida, Stuart, Jupiter, West Palm Beach. I took my boat down there also. I was deck hand for a seasoned charter captain as well. I hung out at the boat launches and marinas. I never saw anybody haul in something needing a 'tuna door'.
I talked to the skippers, and they all agree that those big fish are on the Bahamas side of the Gulfstream. Yellowfin Tuna. The Bahamas side of the Gulfstream, thats where you go to start.
So bringing this topic back to the boat show, all these 19', 22', 23' 25', boats with the so-called tuna door, are the exact boats with those sloped transoms, outboard motors, cup holders, et. al, and I would be afraid to go out of sight of land in one of them; much less do a Bahamas crossing to where the big fish are !!! Why do they build boats like this ??? Are people really buying these things?
Personnally, I have been running offshore, on plane, and get off the power, then your wake comes in behind you, PLUS a big wave of it's own, and SLAMS the transom. that will push the boat out from under your feet, been there, done that.
And now these boats got the sloped transom just waiting for that big wave to climb the transom to flood the cockpit. And that phoney tuna door has but 2 #6 screws holding it shut ( yes, it opens to the inside). OMG !!! anybody that takes one of these offshore must be sitting in the hand of God.

[Bill Edmundson]

Ken
Yes! I Agree.

Bill

[jenko]

OMG !!! anybody that takes one of these offshore must be sitting in the hand of God.

Amen

[hoodman]

I'm sure it's just cheaper to pop a boat out of the mold and bolt an outboard to it than installing an inboard. I would bet that the outboard brands have some kind of exclusive deal with the boat shows to only showcase their products. I'm really happy with my new Evinrude 2-stroke. However, sometimes I wish I would have built a small, slow cruiser or sailboat. We're so caught up with go go go in our lives. It's good to take it easy now and then go slow and take in the world around us.

[kens]

I'm sure it's just cheaper to pop a boat out of the mold and bolt an outboard to it than installing an inboard. I would bet that the outboard brands have some kind of exclusive deal with the boat shows to only showcase their products. I'm really happy with my new Evinrude 2-stroke. However, sometimes I wish I would have built a small, slow cruiser or sailboat. We're so caught up with go go go in our lives. It's good to take it easy now and then go slow and take in the world around us.

A lot of what you said is true. No doubt the engine makers pay some sort of premium to get an exclusive show.
Salesman can easily sell horsepower.
Salesman can easily sell speed.
Salesman can easily sell shiny boats with cup holders & carpet.
There was 1 boat maker than was front & center as you walked in, at first I thought it all about this boat make only, I had to walk around to get outside of this one display, and it was 1/2 the whole show.

There was not a single fishing boat with a 'shotgun' rod holder. Shotgun is the center rod on transom, and usually way far out there behind the rest of your spread. With so many outboard transom brackets, plus huge motors, it would hard to fish the shotgun, not to mention peeing off the transom.
You would pee on your motor !!!!!

[hoodman]

You would pee on your motor !!!!!

Sometimes it happens. Gives you something to lean on though.

[chugalug]

Up here,I 've heard -the #1 cause of drownings is peeing off side of boat.Get an odd wave and over you go.Gotta have a boarding ladder to get back in.Speaking of which ,I gotta get one for each of my two boats.Crawling up side of running out board sounds a little risky.I use an ol' coffee can.

[kens]

I almost went overboard one day. I was offshore by myself and trolling a 5-line spread. I took relief over the side and a rogue wave hit me, I nearly went over. The thoughts going through your mind at such times are awful.
What if I got hooked in my own trolling lines?
Would anybody ever find me like this?
How long would the boat troll me along at idle like this?

[Bill Edmundson]

Maybe going out by yourself, you should consider a safety tether.

Bill