Last Update: 11/20/08

US sales of 14 to 30 foot fiberglass boats down 41 per cent in October; sales down 31 percent for the 12-month rolling period

Brunswick Corp. to close Trophy plant in Cumberland, MD.,115 jobs lost; production of Trophy boats to move to Ashland City, TN facility

Lund cutting 140 jobs at Minnesota plant

MarineMax reports 45 per cent drop in Q4 same-store sales; stock has fallen nearly 92 percent since the start of 2008

Tracker Marine to close Mako boat building plant in North Carolina by year’s end; closure will result in 125 job cuts

Floridians vote in favor of Amendment 6, the constitutional amendment backed by the state's marine industry to change the way marine businesses are taxed on their land value

Fountain lays off 70 employees; 20 per cent of staff

Brunswick’s  marine sales off 28 percent for third quarter 2008

US sales of fiberglass boats (14-30 ft) down 39 percent for the month of September

2008 IBEX attendance down 14 per cent

Century Boats to shut down production in November and December

For the first 8 months of 2008, the average N American boat dealer reported a net profit of $165,440, compared to $398,381 during the same period of last year. That’s a decline of 58.5 percent

Hinckley lays off 49 people at its Trenton, ME production facility

Sealine, the UK based producer of 25’-65’ motoryachts, announces plans to significantly scale back production, resulting in the loss of around 300 staff - almost half its entire workforce

Brunswick accelerates plan to close 4 plants: Arlington, WA, and Roseburg, OR, will be permanently closed, Navassa, N.C., plant will be mothballed and Pipestone, MN., permanent closure is expected for Q1 2009; result will be the elimination of approximately 1,450 hourly and salaried positions at these facilities

MarineMax to become dealer for Azimut in FL

Australian builder Maritimo lays off over 100 workers

14 to 30-foot fiberglass boat sales fell 44.3 percent in August

Fairline Boats announces 90 job cuts at three factories

Key Bank to cease marine lending operations

Genmar plans to re-enter aluminum boat market

Yamaha breaks ground on 220,000sq ft expansion to GA facility

Brunswick Corp offers to buy Olympic Boat Centers out of bankruptcy for US$48 million

US sales of fiberglass boats (14’ - 30’) down 32 percent in July; 29 percent year-to-date

Ferretti buying Allied Richard Bertram Marine Group

Chris-Craft lays off 85 employees - half in North Carolina and half in Florida

West Marine announces plans to close 25 to 30 stores by year’s end; 40 percent staff reduction in Port Supply division

Volvo Penta — which produces leisure marine and commercial engines — reported a 4.2 per cent increase in sales for Q2

US Congress passes Clean Boating Act of 2008

The Landing School in Arundel, Maine to launch Associate’s degree program in Marine Systems Technology

R.I. senator secures federal funding for working waterfront

New York National Boat Show moving back almost two weeks to Dec. 13-21

Wholesale shipments of outboard, sterndrive and inboard powerboats declined 13 percent in 2007

North American sailboat production down 5 per cent (787 boats) in 2007 to 14,158 units, compared to 14,945 units in 2006.

2008 Miami Boat Show attendance down 7 per cent

US boat registrations fell by 1.5 per cent in 2006; Florida retains top ranking. California ranked second, Minnesota third. Other top ten states for powerboat registrations in 2006 include: Michigan (828,529); Wisconsin (635,751); Texas (596,934); New York (497,974); South Carolina (436,075); Ohio (412,256); and Illinois (383,615).

For the first time in history, the European boat market exceeded North American boat market in 2007 in terms of dollar value

‘Aquaholic’ is most popular boat name

Azimut-Benetti is world leader in mega-yacht production (80’+); Ferretti Group ranks second, Sunseeker third

Forbes.com ranks NC the 3^rd best state in the US for business, 4^th for workforce training programs

346 dealerships have enrolled in the Marine Industry Dealership Certification program; 100 have completed certification