Bet these "
Facts & Figures" I copied off the net are in no way applicable to this sad 2020! -
Taking excerpts from this study: "95% of boats on the water (powerboats, personal watercraft, and sailboats) in the U.S. are small, towable boats under 26 ft." ... which equates to... of the "12 million registered boats in the U.S. in 2017" that in reality there are only 600,000 of the size boats that are on TF.
Therefore, clearly shown: We [big enough boat to live aboard when desired] pleasure boat owning folks [having boats over 26'] account for less than .002% of the U.S. total population of 330,000,000 persons.
In context: Youngsters coming along have only 600,000 pleasure boats such as we enjoy to chose from. Soooo... if we want our dear ol' boats to continue selling we'd better make sure they are kept in good enough condition to resell. Otherwise - to the scrap heap, or blub, blub, blub they will go!
Facts & Figures b
Recreational boating by the numbers ...
Total recreational marine expenditures reached a high of $39 billion in 2017, up 6.5% from 2016.
An estimated 262,000 new powerboats were sold in 2017, an increase of 4.7 percent compared to 2016.
Annual U.S. retail sales of new boats, marine engines and marine accessories totaled $20.1 billion in 2017, an increase of 9.5 percent.
Americans are taking to the water: 141.6 million Americans (adults & children under the age of 18) went boating in 2016.
Boats are made in America: 95 percent of powerboats sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S.
There were an estimated 12 million registered boats in the U.S. in 2017.
95% of boats on the water (powerboats, personal watercraft, and sailboats) in the U.S. are small, towable boats under 26 ft.
It’s not just new boats Americans are buying; there were an estimated 988,200 pre-owned boats (powerboats, personal watercraft, and sailboats) sold in 2017, an increase of 0.7. Boating is primarily a middle-class lifestyle as 62% of American boat owners have an annual household income $100,000 or less.
Source: National Marine Manufacturers Association, 2017 U.S. Recreational Boating Statistical Abstract, 2016 Recreational Boating Participation Study.