Originally Posted by Marginmn

My wife and I bought our first performance boat in 1998 - an 18 foot Baja (at least we thought it was a performance boat ). On Friday and Saturday nights we would sit out by the dam on Lake Cumberland and watch 20+ go-fasts pair up and race. It was an awesome show every weekend and fueled my desire to own a bigger and faster go-fast. Back at our Marina it seemed like there were performance boats everywhere. The stock market was roaring, gas was cheap and it seemed like every boat house at our 1200 slip marina had at least one performance boat. In our boathouse alone we had a 38 Fever with big power, a triple 42, and a 42 with huge staggered Cobras.

The first blow was the Tech Bubble crash of 2000. Around the same time gas prices started to climb. Come 2001 the impromptu boat races out at the dam had disappeared. By 2005 I was the only performance boater left in my boathouse. One by one the other performance boats across my marina mostly disappeared. We still had the Poker run on Cumberland and LCM to keep up my interest in performance boats but my neighbors and friends at my marina just couldn't justify owning a performance boat anymore. Some got out of boating altogether, others moved on to houseboats, cruisers and pontoons.

Obviously the final blow was the credit bubble bursting in 2008. Fountain used to build 550 boats a year and I'll wager that the factory hasn't built 50 combined go-fasts since 2010.

I see our hobby now a lot like the muscle cars of the 60's and early 70's. There was a golden era when these awesome machines were mass-produced and the common-man could obtain them, but due to many factors that era is now gone. Unless a lot of things change in Washington the standard of living for the average American will continue to decline. The rich will still be able to afford to buy their toys, as the rich always do, but high-performance boating for the common-man is probably a thing of the past; with it went the mass-production of high-performance boats. However, because manufactures are producing so few new ones, and because they are such awesome toys, the used HP boat market seems to have stabilized. In some cases used performance boats are actually increasing in value, Nothing like muscle cars but bottom seems to be in for good quality used boats.

In the 1980's it suddenly became cool to own an old muscle car. Problem was they weren't building any more 1970 Hemi Cudas. Suddenly the old ones became collectible, as did all old muscle cars. Although it is true that the golden era of our sport is probably gone forever, there are still plenty of people interested in this hobby. Practicality be dammed, driving around in a Tri-toon Bennington isn't as thrilling as skimming across the waves at 100 mph with the roar of a big block in your ears. They have built about as many 38 Donzi ZR Comps since the financial crisis as they have 1970 Hemi Cudas. Although impractical, both are cool ass toys that can offer great thrills and enjoyment for their owners. So our sport has now become a hobby. I still intend to enjoy mine. I hope you continue to enjoy yours.

Originally Posted by BUP

Another way to look at it - We are the problem within itself. How many up here and even in this thread has bought a new boat within the last 10 years ??? And then next how many have NEVER even bought a NEW boat ever ???

Just asking

And if you did buy a new boat within the past 10 years was it a sportboat ???

The sportboat market has no supporting cast for buyers within the past 10 years and even within its own community to support new boat sales. That is the biggest problem.

Originally Posted by vintage chromoly

I say that because Lake Erie can go from 1' waves to 5' waves in an hour or less.