[W2ET]

• According to a broker friend we saw there, attendance today was brisk, and the previous day (“VIP Day”) was awful. He also said that the boat market (both new and used) continues to be red-hot. The show itself seemed a bit smaller than in previous years.

• The award for the pimp boat of the year goes to a 40-footer or so with four outboards @ 600 HP each.

• Folks were posing for pics standing beside the outboards of another boat which were more than six feet tall.

• A boat we asked about, a 32-footer with only three of a smaller size, burns 100 gallons per hour at a cruising speed of around 35 knots. This configuration is more expensive than a single diesel in the same boat. Obviously, economy is not the deciding factor.

• There was a single electric boat on display. Maybe 30 feet or so and with a disgusting fake teak rail. Interestingly, the shaft was at least 1.25 inches in diameter, but the prop was tiny. Oh, and it had a small bow thruster.

• Westerbeke did not have its own booth, but one outfit had one on display. Mercs dominated the outboards, and names you would associate with truck engines the inboards.

• A fellow we know who was manning a booth for a marina selling Yamaha outboards told us that delivery time for Yamaha outboards to dealers is now a year and a half. All production is going first to the OEM guys.

Bill