Info-Link: October boat sales show year-over-year growth

Boat sales continued their upward climb in October, with sales up about 8 percent according to the latest Inf0-Link Bellwether report.

The report tracks boat sales across the country based on new U.S. boat registrations on a rolling 12-month basis. Bellwether states are geographically dispersed states representing roughly half of the US boat market (varies by market segment and time of year).

Sales were up in every category in October. PWC sales continued their strong growth, with sales up about 15 percent for the last year. Sales in the sportfish and ski boat segments were up just over 10 percent. Outboard sales were also up about 10 percent.

Even the sterndrive segment saw gains of about 1 percent for the previous 12 months. That was the second month in a row of growth, albeit tepid, for the category. Before September, sterndrives hadn’t posted a gain since mid-2013.