the issue I am wondering about is whether it will curtail powerboats this summer. Can you imagine how much it would cost to drive a large powerboat around for a day!?!?!

I don't know if it will drastically change the total number of boats that are out, but I think you'll see a lot more small boats out.

When we're at our cabin, more and more we take out the 17' boat with the little 4 banger i/o. The 23' with the 225 merc on the back stays tied at the dock a lot more than it ever used to.

It used to be that if people were over and we were just taking them around to see the place, we would always get in the big boat. Now we find ourselves piling in the smaller one. Easily costs less than half the price to drive around.

Yes, powerboats are taking a hit. I saw far fewer of them on the water last year in Newport than normal. I have some friends that have power boats and spend time in marinas, and they say the number of boats that are for sale is shocking. That may not all be due to the gas prices, but it certainly isn't helping.

Mike

I have two vehicles, a 07'F150 4x4 for work and pulling the trailer w/ catamaran (16mpg) I also have a 91'Saab 900Turbo Convertable as my "Sunday go to meeting" car (30mpg). I have resisted putting a trailer hitch on the Saab to date. This year I have put my boat at a YC and will drive back and forth, w/ the top down ... The truck is sitting more and more, even for work I take the Saab whenever possible now.

Next week I volunteered for "Race Commitee" so I do not need to bring my boat, the regetta the week following I don't think I'll be able to attend as the hosting club has implimented a policy of NO RV's or car/truck camping staying on-site overnight. (a member of the Board of Directors owns the closest hotel/motel) Quess I will not be going to that regetta this year!!!

And last week I was "discharged" from my job ...

"Economic Pressures" can come from many directions at once ... it's not only gas costs but ... food ... home heating oil ...electric ... etc,etc. Everything is mounting up, it's like the "Death of a Thousand Cuts". One cut doesn't kill you, but you still end up DEAD!!!

HarryMurphey
H18mag/#9458, Fleet54/Div11
P19mx w/spin /#86, CRAC

And the Chesapeak Bay is quite at night now ... no Cigarette boats running around anymore going from Bar-to-Bar.

HarryMurphey

One I haven't seen here is to carpool. Last year, I did two events with a motorhome, where there were four of us in the motorhome, with a doublestack trailer. 8 mpg sounds pretty bad, but if you divide by 4 people, it's 32 mpg, which isn't too bad on an individual basis. Considering I would have to take my truck or van anyways, you are automatically looking at 15 or 20 mpg. Plus, you have to sleep in a tent when you get there.

I guess it's like anything, you have to pay to play...

I paid 119.9GBP / L for V power 98 Ron a couple of weeks ago. I run all my Turbo Cars on 98.

The WR1 needs it, 320BHP from a 2L flat four is a fair grunt IMO

Word is gas is on it's way to $7 - $10 a gallon, so you might as well hit the events while gas is still cheap.

First they told me that P/E ratios mean nothing anymore, so I bought a lot of tech stocks. Then they told me that house prices never go down, so I bought houses to flip. Wish I had money left to invest in oil futures, they're telling me that's the new "sure thing". <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

$7-10?

If that doesn't kill the economy, nothing else will...

Mike

Why would gas go to $7-10 in the near future?

I won't do any regattas far from home, but I don't see gas prices stopping me from doing the ones close to home. A 2 hour drive for a weekend regatta is still cheaper than going out of town or vacationing.

At 3.50/gal my parents dropped $150 in a few hours of waterskiing with their power boat. Needless to say it's for sale and they want to buy motorcycles.

Get used to the prices guys were paying $1.698 per litre and travelling distance for everything. Last weekend I went for a sail in Adelaide 700km round trip at 20litres per 100km, $237 for a social sail and it was worth every cent.
regards

So what oil price does that imply? - $117/bbl crude works out as $2.78/gal - so do you think Crude is going to double?.

Or do you see the dollar devaluing by 50% relative to other currencies? Otherwise I don't think $7-$10/gal gas is on the cards any time yet.

Gasoline inventories in the US are at the highest levels since the 1990s and gasoline demand has dropped for the first time in nearly two decades.

I'm not saying it won't go a bit higher this summer, but not $7-$10 unless something radical that affects global crude supply happens.

Attendance at the first event of this year in our locale was up on last year (31 boats), but it was the most central event in our region. We'll find out what happens at the peripheral events where some people are making 200-300 mile drives.

Chris.

Chris.

Well, the longest I'd consider driving for a weekend regatta is about 800 miles round trip. At $7 a gallon, 7 MPG, that comes out to $800 just for gas in the RV. If I take the Explorer, that would be about $400, leaving $400 for a hotel (which would more than pay for the hotel). Of course, there's no room in the Explorer for 2 adults, a baby, a babysitter and all our stuff to be comfortable for an 8-hour drive each way.

So, at that point, it gets extremely hard to justify for a weekend regatta without getting sponsors involved (good luck with that since the economy will be in the toilet at that point, food prices, etc.).

Mike

I suppose that I'm not the best reference. Even if gas prices were to see a significant decrease, I still wouldn't travel more than 150 miles for a regatta.

I've been a rower for a long time and have grown to dread the out of town regattas. In my teens I had no problem driving 8 - 10 hours to row.....this year I probably won't even attend any out of state regattas, rowing or sailing. I work all week and the last thing I want to do is drive all night for an early morning race.

The gas prices just help to back up my reluctance to travel long distances. I'd be perfectly happy if I never left Ohio again.

Now if I were to crew for someone, and not have to haul my boat and gear, and split the driving and gas...I might be persuaded to travel further.

I predict that regatta attendance will remain steady, for the following reasons
1) More power boaters will switch to sailboats, because they will still want an affordable way to get the family on the water.
2)More people will team up and split the costs (double stacking or taking turns crewing)
3) The smaller local regattas will see higher numbers when sailors who would normally pass the lack of competition up begin to look for things closer to home.

So, will gas prices affect regatta attendance? I think the number of entries will see a negligible change while the demographics change.

I have heard several angles on this topic lately (from and economic side)....
1 that opec is not increasing supply because they cant... they are at full production..
2 I heard we could easily go to 3 or 400 a barrel in the next few years..
3 and lastly i have heard that even though china and india are huge markets, US and even world demand is down a bit and the current costs are all speculative and unjustified ($119 barrel.

All i know is i am glad i dont have to drive to far for work, live near the beach and my passion involves wind....
How bout those poor golfers and their polyester pants!

No, I'm not predictiing $7-$10 this summer, but global demand is higher than ever and on the rise and we haven't started burning the $117 a barrel oil yet.

We also have to get through hurricane season.

If you drive smart, you can more than save the increase in gas prices with efficiency. Most people that drive my size RV (a 33ft class A with a Ford V8 460) get about 5-7mpg. If you limit your speed to 50 mph on the highways and time traffic lights so you don’t come to a full stop, start slowly, etc., you can get the 12 mpg I got on a trip.
Works with cars/trucks pulling a trailer too.

As it stands, there's no reason for them NOT to keep raising the prices. The laws of supply & demand do not apply here. We'll all grumble about it, but still pay it. Just look at the people lined up to pay $3.75/gallon.

The real terrorists aren't the lunatics who build bombs; the real terrorists are the ones who methodically attack each and every one of us, in the wallet! And it seems they're winning...