Whole report is here.

An excerpt:

Except for Hobie USA product... We are up... again.

So what does that say for the rest of the industry? Yikes.

The Infusion debuted last year.

Its old hat now.
</purespeculation>

Those Adventure Islands must be flying out the door. Maybe the guy who said they were the future of sailing was right. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

The Island is a kayak... not included in the numbers.

Matt,

When you say the Hobie USA #'s are up, are you referring to both glass and plasitc cats, or just plastic cats? Id be curious to know how the sales are of each group are doing. Im reaching here, but maybe that might reflect on the racing vs resort/pleasure sailing scene. (I know Rick is going to get get mad at me for lumping the Waves into the pleasure sailing group, but I have to think from a majority stanpoint thats true.)

Either way that doesnt sound good for catsailing.

I didn't see it in the article but did powerboat production go down? I would think this is the case for most receational products with gas continually increasing in cost and growing concerns over the environment, I would think sailboats might become more popular. I know that I have read about bicycling becoming more popular.

Other than the Wave, Bravo, and Getaway, what Hobie USA products still in production fit into the catagory as described in the article?

>>Either way that doesnt sound good for catsailing.


The largest beach cat mfr in the world has an increase in boat sales while the rest of the industry has a decline and that's bad for cat sailing? Granted, most people on this board would hope that it's the glass boat sales that increased (it almost certainly is not). But, if the rotomolded boat sales can sustain the company and allow them to produce/import/support the glass boats how can that be bad? Besides the fact that the rotomolded entry-level boats are likely to lead some of these sailors to eventually buying high-performance boats.

sm

And for the F16 builders !

Granted we are tiny in comparison to Hobie USA but hey we're up from last year never the less !

Wouter

We build the Hobie 16 here in Oceanside as well. That is included in the numbers.

There is no doubt that recreation is leading the increases.

No doubt that this has pushed sales to us in the past. I believe we are seeing this again and it will get "better"!

We have the right product at the right time.

I did not think the H-16 was still built by Hobie USA. My bad.

Not knocking you, but both polyester and epoxy are based on oil. Glass and other fibers are energy intensive to produce. How is the rotomoulding process compared to fiberboats? Oil based raw materials? More or less energy demanding?

Sailing is viewed as a clean pasttime, but perhaps we better go back to lapstrake boats and cotton sails <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Let's go back to wooden boats, like the older A cats or Wouter's boat! They sure can take a beating.

How many people want beach cats?
How many places are there to keep them or launch them?
How long is the life of a second hand boat?
How much is a second hand one to a new one?
How many people have 15K for a new one?

Self evident result. The industry had to hit a high and then hit a slope.

A perfectly good 25" trailer sailer in this country, ready to go is 5K.
A brand new one would be????

Its not the production but rather the use of the products that is less oil demanding for people. They can sail all day without burning gas.

I understand that, but I was wondering about which process left the least "print" on the environment. Traditional glass or rotomoulding? I dont have an agenda, just a thing it would be interesting to know about.

I am no expert on that. Would relate to the production of the materials as well as the production of the finished parts.

I think the rotomolded boats probably make a smaller impact, simply because they might be recyclable?????? Maybe.



hmmmmm.....perhaps a biodegradable boat. Then you guys can smoke it when the hulls get delam. All kidding aside, I was reading in an automotive magazine about these two guys who were trying to get a patent on a biodegradable jeep body. I can't find an online article, but seem to recall that they had planned on using industrial hemp fibers in place of glass.