Why Marine Insurance is Harder to Find

For years, boaters didn’t much worry about obtaining insurance on their boats, they were mainly concerned with who gave them a better quote. The tables have turned. Prices for coverage have gone up and insurance carriers are pickier about what they will insure. The main reason is the number of “catastrophic losses” over recent years,…

Sailboat Spotlight: First 36 Fit & Finish

We began writing about this all-new model last week, and we will continue in segments going forward because there is much to talk about. She is built in Slovenia, in a plant known for quality builds, as they have been turning out the Seascape line for years—a very popular product in Europe. Beneteau became involved…

Sailboat Spotlight: Thoughts on the new First 36

In this day and age, new performance designs are not introduced anywhere near as often as they used to be. This is even more the case with a design intended to be dual purpose; meaning not only for competitive racing, but also with nice accommodations for cruising or simply spending time aboard. Flat-out racers have…

Trend Report: Industry Consolidation

Consolidation in the industry has always been there, but for years it was a gradual merger of companies as some of them aged out or went belly-up. Often the owners would tire, or be forced to sell for health reasons and the company would be sold. This was hardly unique to the boat business, but…

Top Boat Trends for 2023… and Beyond

Change is constant and the marine industry is no different—and we have a front row seat. Here’s a look at some of the major changes and top boating trends we see coming for 2023 and the next few years. We’ll expand on these in later posts, but for now, a brief overview.