As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

RANDY DAVIS

President, Nordic Boats

How can you attract new buyers when so many are being cautious with their spending?

The main thing we can do is keep our brand out there in front of everybody. We’re not going to do as many boat shows as we usually do. I don’t even know if we’ll be going to the Los Angeles Boat Show this year. We’ve really focused on Internet marketing — it’s helped us get our name out across the States, as well as the world. We also open our doors to potential customers by offering in-house factory tours and sales assistance. Buyers today are much more educated about what they want and we welcome their involvement during the boat-building process.

State of the Industry, 2012: Part VI—Reggie Fountain

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

REGGIE FOUNTAIN

President, Fountain Performance Marine

Do you envision a trend toward smaller boats?

At this time, I see no trend either way, but larger boats are selling better than smaller boats.

Do you foresee more people upgrading their current boats or even buying something used to fix up?

I definitely see more people upgrading their current boats or fixing used boats rather than buying new boats. Today, our service and restoration business is dramatically better than new boat sales.

Dave’s Custom Boats will have one of its latest M35 Widebody catamarans on display at the Miami International Boat Show in February. Photo by Robert Brown Last…

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

ARTHUR BURR

Vice President, Total Dollar Yacht Insurance

Do you expect to see many changes in the world of high-performance boat insurance?

I believe what you will begin to see in the near future is a consolidation of the market in terms of products. Every few years, a few new insurance companies seem to enter the market, which can be both good and bad. It is good in the short term for the consumer as competition keeps rates down. It can be bad as this new player may enter the market, drive rates down and then depart just as quickly as they entered. This could result in a more established insurance company leaving the performance segment due to a decrease in market share, as they won’t compete against the new carrier who has no experience. This in essence could leave the market in a lurch if all the carriers leave and you end up with no competition, which could result in large rate increases.

Total Dollar has been running its own proprietary insurance programs since 2001 and has been active in the performance segment since the early ’90s. We have seen the rate fluctuations from the extreme highs of the ’90s to extremely low a few years ago. They have come up a little in the last few years, but still sit historically under the average of the last 10 years. More importantly, we continue to put more of our focus on improving the policy and warranting certain things that we feel are of importance in safety and keeping claims down.

The Atlanta Boat Show got a late start on Thursday after a 100,000-gallon water tank ruptured at the Georgia World Congress Center. Gary Goodell, the…

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

SCOTT SHOGREN

Owner, Shogren Performance Marine

Do you expect to see positive industry progress in 2012?

We are having a great year — in fact, we are having a record year. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news is the majority of our sales are coming from used, not new boats and we see this trend continuing in performance boating for years to come. Although there is a buyer for every seller, the buyers are buying for a fraction of what a new boat costs, which is holding back new boat sales. We do feel strongly that trailerable boats in the 25- to 29-foot range are going to come back first, and for that reason we have signed up with Checkmate Boats. We also feel more consumers will be looking at outboard-powered sport boats in the single-engine class to keep speed down and enable themselves to have longer warranties with minimal insurance premiums.

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

BOB LATHAM

President, Latham Marine

Is it difficult to develop innovative products, and can you offer a sneak peek at anything new you have in the works for 2012?

The short answer is yes. It costs a lot of money to develop a product, do the testing, and of course the marketing, not to mention actually bringing a product to market. The difficult part is that not every idea is a winner. For 2012, we will be coming out with a variable-speed steering system for the outboard market. For example when you’re driving at low speed or at idle, the system automatically adjusts for slow-speed operation. Then when you get on plane and up to speed, the system responds appropriately and speeds up.

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

SCOTT PORTER

President, Formula Boats

Do you expect to see positive industry progress in 2012?

I am hopeful that there will be some industry progress in 2012. However, I expect there to be plenty of distractions with the elections and continued volatility in the oil and stock markets to cause ups and downs in consumer sentiment. Presently we are seeing several news reports of positive economic movement. The Consumer Sentiment Index was up for November (although still down from 2010), auto sales are doing well and exports have been up, too. If these improvements lift the GDP then the boating industry should benefit in 2012. Interest rates continue to remain low, providing great opportunities for financing a new boat purchase. This is truly a great time to get a fantastic value.

Brand X Hi-Performance’s Jason Ventura (second from left) enjoys the 2010 Miami International Boat Show with Jim Wiley and Reese Lewis (left). Photo courtesy Reese…

As the high-performance marine industry faces new challenges, many companies will be putting their best foot forward to continue to advance the sport over the coming years. There are a lot of questions surrounding our market, so we thought now was as good a time as ever to sit down with nine of the most knowledgeable and respected people in the business to get their thoughts on the immediate future and the most pressing issues facing this industry.

Each weekday from Jan. 9 through Jan. 19, we’ll bring you another panel member’s answers from this nine-part Industry Focus Group feature. Not quite ready to dive into the New Year? Check out our list of the biggest stories of 2011.

FRED KIEKHAEFER

President, Mercury Racing

 Do you expect to see positive industry progress in 2012?

The marine industry will slowly crawl back. Mercury Racing business will improve in 2012, but not by much, and never back to the levels of 2006. The incompetence in Washington and the worldwide economic destruction has changed consumer behavior forever. Those of us who scaled back during hard times, yet retained the capacity to innovate, will endure — even prosper — but not like before.