New England Boat Show
 

Folks,

The New England Boat Show Commences this weekend in Boston. Please see link http://www.newenglandboatshow.com

New England Boat Show
 

We went to the boat show in Boston today. It was very well attended and compared to the show in 2010 there were twice as many boats.

I went specifically to look at R.I.B.'s for my wife but after viewing them up close she is not sure if that is what she wants.

I really love the looks of Ranger Tugs and Nordic Tugs but realize this is more of an ocean boat and really does not fit a purpose for island life on Winni... I don't think anyway! :liplick:

Anyway, if you were thinking about going to the show, I highly recommend it. Great show this year compared to years past.

Dan

Dan,

If you are looking for something small for her to get around in I saw another whaler rage 15 on eBay this morning, just like the one I had last year which you liked. It is the preferred 175hp version, located in Florida. I loved mine.

A few weeks ago I saw another great one, it was a 12' hard bottom with a poly collar around it, called the Boston whaler Impact 120. I loved it, had a tough time not pulling the trigger myself.

We may head down today, have to run to Bedford nh this morning then will probably go south.

Hit the show yesterday.
 

We went to the show yesterday, screaming kids in tow.

Check out the Floe Craft! What a great boat. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it, but at $219k for a tricked out deck boat I think they will have a tough time getting people to bite.

The boat show was very good, But a lot of kids running around.

kids
 

I know this has been talked about before. what is it with people who bring their brats out in public and let them run around unsupervised? My two boys would be taken aside reprimanded, and god help the person who commented if I slapped them on the ass.

That being said my boat is at the boat show being brokered. Lost interest in boating on Winni over the years. It is just getting to crowded to enjoy it. We are building a new lake front house in Rockwood Maine down the street from Moosehead lake on an adjoining lake.

Yes true, also a few drunken patrons running around too. :rolleye2:
The crowds on Saturday were rather lame- not many people from previous years. New boat prices are sky high $$

2012 New Boat Prices sky high
 

My wife and I were taken aback at new boat prices - My 2003 Four Winns new MSRP for 2012 is almost double that what I paid. I know there is a dealer discount off msrp but many dont. I kept hearing people at the Boston show say do you have any of this model used or left over. One Cobalt A25 was near $100K
a real nice boat but come on. I do not think my car has gone up 2x in 7 years in price. I guess the old saying " you wanna play you gotta pay" holds true.

I'm a big fan of Ranger Tugs. My wife and I fell in love with the R29 at the 2010 show. The boat has all kinds of clever design features that make it unique. Coincidentally, I bought my current boat (2000 Regal 2550 LSC) solely do to its unique and clever design features; imagine my surprise to discover my current boat and the Ranger Tug R29 were both designed by the same person...

The new Ranger Tug 31 is really impressive. It's a flybridge equipped, live-aboard, "fast trawler" that is also trailerable (with some caveats). Imagine having a boat that's (just) big enough for a couple to comfortably live aboard AND being able to hook it to a diesel pickup truck and tow it around the country. That's quite an accomplishment.

Floe Craft
 

That Floe Craft was something else wasn't it. I highly recommend anyone going to the show to check it out. Very cool.

I worked there Saturday and Sunday. Foot traffic was ok, not crazy though, lots of lulls, and lots of unsupervised kids. One lost his cell phone in the boat, we wouldn't help him retrieve it until his parents came over to take responsibility. 45 minutes later, we managed to fish it out... Not sure the parents even cared. Unbelievable...

I will say though, that many of the people through the booth were buyers. Lots of very serious folks, and more in recent history that said, " we're going to buy a new boat this year and ... ".

Hopeful that the industry is starting to turn around a bit...

New boat sales
 

According to a couple of the salesman at the Boston Boat show , new boat sales were slow/low, they are hoping for better results. Used sales one said were another story with many smaller boats 22' and under moving. I still had new boat sticker shock and I currently own 2 boats. I can't imagine the younger family affording a brand new boat in this economy with the lakes region being hit hard as a resort area to boot. I just look at Melvin Village Marina now selling pontoon boats along side the slower moving Four Winns.

floe craft
 

WOW
Just looked up that floe craft 36 party boat
Awsome.Anyone know the name of the dealer selling it
not sure if i will make it to the show but very intrested it that craft

Thanks

It was Moose Landing Marina on Sebago. They have not fully agreed to take on the line, Floe and the dealer are still feeling each other out. They are not stocking them yet, special orders only so far.

Boats are one item I'd never buy new anyway. The initial depreciation outpaces the wear factor significantly, especially on a freshwater lake.

floe craft
 

Thanks codeman671
Just might have to order one with captians call exhaust
I will ltry to see if a deal on the one at the show is possible
think i will be going to the show know just to see it
Real nice boat for winnie pricey thought

Moose Landing Marina is actually located on Brandy Pond (connected to Sebago via the Songo River and a set of locks) in Naples, Maine. They have a large operation right on Rte 302 near the Causeway. They do operate a satellite operation at Point Sebago Resort but I don't believe they run a sales operation there.

Edit: MLM already represents the Floe line of aluminum docks (I own one). If I don't miss my guess one of the YouTube videos on the FC34 was filmed on Brandy Pond and Sebago.

BT

Floecraft
 

We were impressed with the Floecraft as well. I think the one at the show had twin 350 mags. Thats a big boat for just gas motors, hate to be buying the gas for it...

Also, the salesman said they are developing another version that is more of a live aboard than the current day boat version.

Its alot of cash for essentially a 2 month extension to the boating season.. A heater is available but the guy said that even without a heater, once you close up the power roof and the doors etc, it will heat up fast the same way a green house would.


Still a tall order...
HCG

The Floe Craft also has a bottom similar to a deck boat. Not sure this would give the best of rides in a heavy chop. Cool looking however!

Dan

It's all Sebago to me... I haven't spent much time up there. My wife went to college at St. Jo's but we met when she was leaving.

I pushed the rep on the same topic. He said that it was not very good on the big stuff, and compared it to a premier pontoon as being a similar ride. He said he has 2 premiers himself.

Being that I have a premier my opinion is totally opposite. The premier rides great in rough water, not sure what he was talking about there. I have used mine in some hideous stuff and it does well. I don't think it rides as well as the manitou did but not far from it.

Just trying to define it a bit in case someone like Sunsation Dave wants to grab his wallet and take a ride :D

IIRC, one of the YouTube videos that I looked at said it had catamaran style pontoons. I'm not a pontoon style type of guy but that FC34 looks like a sweet ride.

fc boat
 

As soon as that boat is in water sebago or winni i will be
test driving it . was looking for something just like that / house boat
or a loaded 3 toon pontoon boat with upper deck
going to the show to see it saturday

Based on my conversation with the sales rep from Moose Landing, they were not going to them to start. The rep from Floe took my name and number down in case they got a demo on the lake. I have a feeling with the positive feedback they should be getting they will send one out this way.

I cant find any others for sale on other dealer sites, nor any used ones in existence.

Since my kids were on the go, I did not get a chance to determine what that $219k tag included- single or twins, genset or not, etc. If it is a single/no genset at that price I would think it would be a tough sell compared to cruisers available.

Floe Craft
 

I would like to thank everyone for the great comments on the boat. This is Moose Landing Marina.

Everything said here so far is true. This was an "experiment" so to speak for us to see how the line would do. We currently sell Floe's line of roll in docks and boat lifts. So far, the response to the boat has been tremendous. We have a few really great prospects and a ton of possible buyers.

The boat truly is like no other. You will not find a used one, nor will you find another one. We are in the very early stages with the build of the boats, however, they are not a new builder, just a new design. The boats are being built in Minnesota by a very reputable yacht manufacturer and are built using very state of the art techiniques. The boat at the show is equipped with Twin 350 Mags and Axius Joystick. That boat however, even at 36' still tops out at 50+ and only weighs 10K lbs.


The hull is something a little different. Floe calls it an inverted V design. Most of you may recognize it as a shallow(er) catamaran design which is basically what it is. The ride is much different than expected out of a 36' boat. At anchor the boat is extremely stable as expected, however at speed, there is almost zero bow rise and the boat handles like a sportboat. As some of you have seen in the video, it will bank through a pretty sharp turn at speed and with a SINGLE 350 Mag will easy tow a skiier.

There was a recent boat built with a sinigle 8.2L Merc 425 and with 26 people on board and a tail wind the boat reached 42mph. Incredible for this size boat.

Please if you are interested in seeing the boat at the show, feel free to call the marina at 207-693-6264. We would be happy to arrange a showing here at the show. I ask that only truly interested customers call, we do pay for tickets, they are not free.

As for service, just to ease some minds, we offer a very large service department that is open 7 days a week and to service our customers we have put a mobile service unit on the road 7 days a week. We can be at the lake in a few hours to address most any problems.

Thanks for your interest in the floecraft, we truly appreciate all the great press it has been receiving.

I would have a hard time believing it takes chop as good as your Premier or any decent tri-toon for that matter. The hull just does not seem to allow for that.

Dan

FC boat
 

I would say at 219k
It should have sb twins ac/heat gen set a loaded 35 formula is 350k
my 31 is 190k So a 36 with the options I would buy one if they make it under 200k with twin sb. just looked at the 34 online . I really like this type of boat . hope to see one local to demo.
I wish winni would have a cove to overnight in lake lake george. that 36 is a small house boat sorta

At 219,900 the boat comes with a single 350 MAG MPI B3. If you want the boat at the show, with full electronics, axius joystick, and twin 350 Mag Sea Cores, as well as a few other extras, you are looking at 285,000.00

The FloeCraft will seat a lot more people than a formula with the added fuel economy and a smaller intial investment.

Its all relative though, that formula 350 is a much different boat than the floecraft and the boat was not built to compete with that type of boat. No other boat on the market can offer the space of our boat.

f c 36
 

I was just using the price of a formula to see where it falls with the Fc36
it is a nice concept boat priced right they will sell trying to make it to the show saturday to see it in person and price one out with the options i will want .

Floe Craft 36
 

I think the boat must have Fore AND Aft Thrusters (Maybe retractable) to handle at the dock with a joystick. :) NOPE: See Axius below. NB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY7q9ezfbic

EDIT: Axius Control: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSG-QCIO1gg

Tomorrow!
 

9 AM train out of Dover, and then the T over to the show...at 1. Might have to do an early lunch first.

Not looking for any deals because we got the new Mariah last year, but there's always the accessories and stuff.

Def do an early lunch... One slice of pizza and a water = $10.50


HCG