Features

In this Boating Industry Insider interview with David Gee, Below Deck Med Yacht Captain Sandy Yawn talks about her first exposure to boating, and then the yachting world, when she realized she could make a living in the maritime industry, her early struggles with substance abuse, and her industry advocacy and stewardship efforts.

The seventh annual Boating Industry Top Products brings to you 50 of the recreational marine industry’s best new and innovative products and services to recently hit the market, ranging from boats to engines to electronics and much more. To be eligible for consideration, products or services had to have been introduced or significantly updated since January 2019. With over 175 ...

By Adam Quandt A different world nearly every day, sometimes every hour. The evolving novel coronavirus — more specifically known as COVID-19 — global pandemic has the professional, social and almost every other aspect of everyone’s lives changing rapidly. Business leaders have been particularly challenged to implement and try new models at a rapid pace, while others have been faced ...

By David Gee Up. That’s about the only direction the towboat segment has known for some time, give or take a few tough months. Bigger boats. Heavier boats. Boats with more ballast. Boats with more features. Higher price tags. And more sales. And 2020 continued that trend. For a short while anyway. Malibu Boats, for example, reported in February that ...

By David Gee It ended well – and began well; 2019 and 2020 that is.  At the end of 2019, NMMA’s Marine CEO Sentiment Survey found business confidence among marine manufacturer CEOs increased in the fourth quarter with 88% of marine CEOs saying current conditions were stable or expanding. And slightly over half of all marine senior executives at recreational ...

By Adam Quandt Traditional is by no means a word to describe the audio elements going into today’s recreational boats. Though manufacturers are still playing some forms of catch up to features often found and expected in the automotive industry, marine audio providers are working hard to keep the party going on the water. “The expectations of consumers are way ...

By David Gee I like the word community. I use it a lot. In fact, I likely overuse it, and I’m not the only one. It seems these days especially, more and more advertising, marketing and social media messaging contains, and in some cases co-opts, the word community. So, I am attempting to reframe in my own mind what it ...

By Jonathan Sweet What a difference a month makes. The last time I wrote a column for the magazine, the topic was the labor shortage. That is hardly at the top of most businesses’ concerns today. (The long-term trend hasn’t changed, of course, so even now we should be thinking about it.) I have been hearing a surprising number of ...

By Matt Sellhorst Words have power. The power of words can change over time. For example, if I said Corona just a few months ago, what would pop into your head? A sandy beach, a lime and a beer, right? Now, what pops into your head? As a write this, even my 6-year-old girl Emery would say “the virus.” This ...

By Mark Overbye The prophetic lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s Promised Land ring true as we attempt to launch a new boat company in the heart of a pandemic: Well there’s a dark cloud rising from the desert floorI packed my bags and I’m heading straight into the storm Gonna be a twister to blow everything down That ain’t got the ...