Pushing the pause button in new-boat sales and charters

In Ireland, it seems that all aspects of life are dependent on the weather. That’s particularly true of boating, when a bad spring and summer, such as this year’s, are having an impact on the industry’s bottom line. While the Irish Marine Federation doesn’t report annual revenues, different sectors are reporting slower sales. But it’s nothing compared to the downturn of 2009-2011, when the industry passed through its most challenging period.

Ireland

“We’re experiencing probably what would be the same levels as 2017 and 2018 when we were finally coming out of the recession,” says Gerry Salmon, managing director of MGM boat sales, a dealer for Jeanneau sail and powerboat brands as well as Prestige, Lagoon, Bayliner, Zodiac and used boats.

Salmon, also the current chairman of the Irish Marine Federation, sees similar conditions with his competitors as well as in the used-boat market. “We’ve clearly moved into a new post-covid cycle, as has the rest of the boating industry in Europe,” he says. “Sales of new boats haven’t come to a stop, but the foot is on the brake.”

Irish consumers, bitten by the last recession, haven’t accumulated the same levels of debt as 2010, so boat owners tend to be more financially prudent, without large loans in their boats. Elections in Ireland, the UK and the EU have pushed a “pause button” for most buyers, says Salmon, with the result that the used-boat market is also slower than usual. “But we’re not seeing a glut of people selling their boats either,” he says. “We’re just seeing a slower cycle.”

The slower cycle, bolstered by the poor seasons, has also hurt the Irish hire-boat sector, an important part of the industry. Steve Conlon, executive secretary of the Irish Boat Rental Association, a consortium of Ireland’s largest companies, says the poor weather impacted the number of weeks in January, but he is expecting “a pretty good” season after a pick-up in April and May. Last year, total weekly charter rentals were 4,247 across the industry, compared to 4,193 in 2022.

“It was a small but decent increase, representing 20,462 people who enjoyed the holiday,” says Conlon. “That’s equivalent to 142,32 bed nights, or a small to medium-sized hotel. Considering these boats are in rural Ireland, it had a €19m impact to the local economy and €11m for the charter companies.”

About three-quarters of the fleet is currently running on HVO biofuel, which cuts fuel emissions by 90%. “As far as we know, we’re the only fleet in Europe that has gotten to this point,” says Conlon.

Carrick-On-Shannon’s public marina on the River Shannon, Ireland

Despite the slowdown in new-boat sales, marina occupancy rates seem to be holding steady, another indicator that Irish boat owners are not selling their boats. “We expect a five percent turnover rate every year, but occupancy rates haven’t dropped,” says Salmon. Jonathan Moneley, general manager

of Carlingford Marina, increased the number of pontoons in his County Louth marina last year. “We’ve still getting new entries, but we’ve seen activity regularised a bit,” he says. “We’ve found that by developing a marina community and offering events, people will keep coming back. If they remember the fun about boating, and not the negatives, they tend to keep their boats.