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BY TOM BELL
MaineToday Media, Inc. 07/01/2008

BY TOM BELL

MaineToday Media, Inc.

High fuel prices and worries about the economy are dragging down boat sales in Maine, particularly mid-priced powerboats. The luxury market, though, appears to be holding its own, and there is strong demand for sailboats.

It appears many boaters are also making changes to save fuel, taking fewer long cruises and traveling at slower speeds. Also, an increasing number of Maine boaters are trading their powerboats for sailboats, said Stanley Russell, a new and used sailboat dealer in Stockton Springs.

"We have a lot of people coming in who own big powerboats that are looking to sail, " he said. "The only problem they are running into is what to do with their gas guzzling powerboats."

A 42-foot powerboat burns one gallon of diesel fuel per mile when traveling at 20 knots, said Chris DiMillo, who runs DiMillo's Yacht Sales in Portland. At 28 knots, the mileage drops in half, he said.

But for the wealthy, fuel use is not a big concern. "The high-end, more-expensive boats are still continuing to sell," DiMillo said. "The less expensive boats are struggling a little."

The trends in Maine mirror what's going on nationally. The number of powerboats sold wholesale in 2007 declined 13 percent from 2006, and the dollar value declined eight percent, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

The declines were not a surprise because they reflect what's going on in the U.S. economy, according to the association's president Thom Dammrich.

The downturn is manageable, said Robert Soucy, president of Port Harbor Marine Inc., the state's largest boat dealer, with locations in South Portland, Raymond, Rockport, Holden and Kittery.

He said sales are down somewhat from last year, which was a record-high year for his company, but volumes are still fairly close to projections.

"There is a lot of gloom and doom out there, but it's not as bad as everyone wants to make it," Soucy said.

Soucy said it's been easier finding buyers for boats that cost between $25,000 and $50,000. Boats costing between $50,000 and $250,000 are a "tougher sell," he said.

At Sabre Yachts, which manufactures high-end, semi-custom powerboats that cost from $400,000 to $1.5 million, sales are healthy, particularly for the more expensive models, said Bentley Collins, vice president of marketing.

He said demand is soft for the middle-range models, which sell for around $500,000.

He said many of his potential customers are couples who are on the verge of retirement and have been affected by a slumping stock market. He said they are delaying purchases.

Lots of people these days seem hesitant about spending money, Russell said. Rather than downsize, many are buying used boats. As a result, while he has sold significantly more sailboats this year, he said, the total dollar value of those sales has not increased much.

Rick Dieffenbach, co-owner of BoatMaine.us, a Web site devoted to boating and sailing on the Maine coast, said that high fuel prices are causing more boaters to switch from powerboats to sailboats.

Diffenbach owns a Macgregor 26 X, which he said is akin to a hybrid car.

The boat under power can reach speeds of 24 knots. But it can be transformed into a sailboat. To do so, one opens a valve and lets in 1,400 pounds of water into a tank that runs along the bottom of the hull, creating enough ballast to keep the boat from tipping over when under sail.

The boat is inexpensive to operate said Dieffenbach, who lives in Topham. "I'm telling you, I have two six-gallon tanks. I just went out on a weekend, and I used a third of one tank."

Sabre, which is located in Raymond, also owns Back Cove Yachts in Rockland, which manufactures power boats that sell for $150,000 to $350,000. Collins said sales are robust because Back Cove is one of the few yards producing boats in this class that have single engines rather than twin engines.

The single engines are far more fuel efficient than their twin-engine counterparts, he said, and Back Cove sales this year are on pace to set records for the company.

He said a 29-foot Back Cove boat burns about $50 in fuel a day. In contrast, a 45-foot twin-engine Sea Ray could burn as much as $500-a-day in fuel.

But Soucy said that kind of fuel consumption would require a boater to operate at a high-speed 10 hours straight.

Boating isn't like driving a car, he said. Boaters turn off their engines to anchor for swimming, fishing or socializing with friends and fellow boaters.

He said the typical boater in Maine runs the engines 75 to 100 hours for an entire season. He said fuel is still a relatively small expense compared to other costs, such as boat payments, maintenance, storage and docking fees.

He said that higher fuel prices appear to be affecting boaters' behavior, though. Many are slowing down, traveling 15 knots instead of 25, and taking fewer long-distance trips. Also, rather than cruising in tandem with friends in another boat, the friends may decide to ride together and leave one boat tied up at the dock.

He said fuel costs are not going to keep people from using their boats on a hot summer day.

"That difference is not great enough for them to say, 'I am not going to leave the dock,'" he said.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at

tbell@pressherald.com

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