The Seattle Boat Show will not be bigger than ever this year. But for those who make a living selling boats and equipment, the stakes certainly will be.

With a sour economy, shrinking 401Ks, a housing market on the skids and rising unemployment, the region’s recreational boating industry is facing perhaps its biggest challenge in memory.

And the West Coast’s largest boat show, which opens Friday at Qwest Field Event Center and on the South Lake Union waterfront, is feeling the pain.

While the quality of the event will remain high, there will be fewer boats, less exhibit space and probably smaller crowds than in years past.

“For a lot of companies, this boat show is make it or break it,” said Dan Krier, vice president of sales for Seattle’s Marine Servicenter, a yacht brokerage on Lake Union specializing in sailboats.

Many of our region’s boat brokers, gear makers, retailers and service providers depend on the annual show to generate a significant portion of their revenue and to provide the sales leads that fuel business for the rest of the year.

This year—the show’s 62nd—is no different. The 10-day event will feature more than 1,000 boats on display, an extensive line-up of seminars and workshops, and aisle after aisle of gear, gadgets and goodies aimed at every type of boater.

But the economic realities have hit the Northwest boating industry particularly hard.  Over the past year, Redmond-based Olympic Boat Centers, one of the largest boat dealers on the West Coast, closed after filing for bankruptcy. Fuel prices spiked to more than $5 a gallon on the water for a time over the summer. And sales of new and used boats plunged nearly 40 percent compared to 2007.

“It was the perfect storm,” said Mark Helgen, vice president of sales for Lake Union Sea Ray. “Between the economic crisis, fuel costs and the housing market, it was almost like you were getting hit one way or another.”

Boat show organizers have responded to the tough times by downsizing and refocusing this year’s event in the hope of reaching a more committed audience of boat buyers and enthusiasts.

Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA), which produces the Seattle Boat Show in partnership with the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association, has kept ticket prices at $10, tweaked advertising to speak directly to existing boat owners and is being more flexible with exhibitors on payments and deadlines.

“I’ve done everything I can think of to get people through the door,” said Michael Campbell, NMTA’s president and chief executive.

The event has grown every year since 2000, when it moved out of the Kingdome. Last year, attendance was more than 63,000. But this year’s show, Campbell said, will be closer in size to 2004, when the Seattle Boat Show and the competing South Lake Union Boats Afloat show first put aside their long-running rivalry to jointly market the show.

Boat show organizers made a conscious decision this year to aim commercials and marketing materials at committed boat owners looking for something new or something bigger instead of trying to entice people who are merely toying with the idea of getting into boating.

“We said to ourselves that we are less likely this year to get someone who is only tangentially interested in boating, and we are going to focus on the base,” Campbell said. “The TV and radio ads will talk right to boaters.”

It is a matter of quality versus quantity. And to underscore the point, the boat show is hosting an event on Thursday evening so brokers can offer their promising clients a special preview of the show complete with food and drinks.

The NMTA goal has long been to increase the number of boaters. But even in good times, that’s been a tall order. In recent years, the recreational boating industry has faced a wide range of competitors for people’s leisure time, from recreational vehicles and skiing to video games and casinos. Even the rising cost of college has forced many younger families to put off purchasing that first boat.

Boats Afloat in South Lake Union

The industry has weathered bad times before, only to bounce back. Boat sales plummeted in the wake of the dot-com bust and the 9/11 attacks, brokers said, but rebounded with the economy.

Despite the current gloomy economic news, some boat brokers are hoping the industry has finally touched bottom and is poised for a turnaround. And they’re counting on the boat show to prove them right.

If it does, the driving force is likely to be bargains good enough to push nervous buyers off the fence. Brokers with too much stock on hand and manufacturers hoping to reduce inventories are willing to cut prices until it hurts to make a sale.

“Someone who wants to buy a boat right now can make a heck of a deal,” Campbell said. “And the boat show is the place to do that because (the boats) are lined up side by side.”

Krier and his sales staff are ready to negotiate. In addition to bigger dealer and manufacturer incentives on new boats, Marine Servicenter is offering more creative tactics. If you buy a boat at the show, the company will throw in a pair of inflatable kayaks and cover the costs of moorage and boat payments until June.

“It is time to get aggressive,” Krier said. “At times like this, you present the customer with a fantastic deal, eliminate the objections and make the sale now.”

Mike Kirshenbaum, operations manager at Sport Boat Northwest, is counting on good deals and good service to generate sales this year. But he also believes boating is part of the region’s DNA and that buyers won’t-or can’t-wait much longer.

“It has been kind of stagnant for as long as people can take it around here,” Kirshenbaum said. “People have had enough of not buying boats.”

More information:

For a full list of Seattle Boat Show events and activities, visit www.seattleboatshow.com

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