Searay goes inboard...

[007]

Interesting! So, its natural that SeaRay would go after the inboard market since its been so hot. They pursued the jetboat market a couple of years ago when Yamaha started taking a big chunk of the runabout business. After much hoopla, their jetboat product failed to make it to market.

Interesting that they went inboard instead of the reverse i/o like some other traditional i/o brands have done.

What do you think about the tab system and what looks like through hull/under hull exhaust (that's an interesting protrusion!).

https://youtu.be/nB3UualLxpk

[dakota4ce]

My guess: their initial ballast and tab setups are not quite there. Not sure why it is so hard...


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[chpthril]

As easy as it is to take out a prop and maybe the strut and shaft while loading the trailer, as compared to running gear damage while loading an i/o, I see that exhaust outlet being a hot moving part number for Searay. Bow missed the bow stop and transom swings past the guides, exhaust is likely gone.

Beyond that, there is no reason they cant build a competing boat. The v-drive components are nothing new, same gear likely they use on their twin screw cruisers, just the left hand setup. They are not new to boat building. The 2 factors IMO will be A) can they convince the die-hard run-about buyers to go with a searay built inboard. In the past 10 years, the in-board builders have done quite well to grab a huge portion of what would have been i/o buyers and got them in inboards, This is due to the larger, deeper inboards with smoother rides and better amenities then past years. B) can they pull over an experienced inboard buyer who likely already has their mind made up about how a searay in-board is going to be. I dont think sear is going to be able to apply the same price matrix this boat, that they do their others. Its going to need to be an upper end boat with a mid-lever price.

[bsreid]

For what you get this is going to be a super expensive boat. Although I'm guessing it will probably compete more with the cobalt, regal, Monterey sort of line up.
The tab system sure does look interesting
IMG_1325.PNG

Edit: here's a different video showing a bit of the boat https://www.facebook.com/SeaRayBoats...6559082358813/

[007]

@chpthril I think your item "A" is why they failed when they pursued the jetboat market. They had spun their sales staff/messaging so hard against that type of boat in years prior, that when they did have a pre-production model to display at the boat shows the sales staff didn't know what to do with it (and in that case I think they had some powerplant concerns).

Don't want to hurt traditional inboard brands brands like Tige, but with the price of boats going through the roof, I think added competition is a good thing. The price difference between my 2 year old Z3 on trade and a new RZX is basically the cost of buying a new tow vehicle. Wondering when we are going to hit the ceiling. You are seeing $250k tow boats out (Mastercraft, etc.), which is the median price of a home where I live!

[chpthril]

@007, your view on their jet failure made me chuckle. One or two i/o makers were happy to proclaim early on, that surfing behind an i/o was just as safe as an in-board, all the while, looking for a safe non-traditional i/o means, to surf. i.e. forward drive. Sometimes you wonder is R&D and marketing have ever met each other

Long story short, there are complaints round hear about the need to build "affordable" (read subsidized) housing in our area, while the high-end apartment market is booming. Someone in the real world stated, why would a developer build units with a 10% profit margin per/unit when he can built units with a 50% margin in a market with a >5% un-occupancy rate.

boat builders feel the same way and I applaud them. Why clog the floor and tie up all the staff on boats with low margins, when boats with high margins are still selling. Its not their job to make sure I can afford a boat, its their job to sell a boat and they dont care who buys it and who cant. No matter the final build cost or MSRP of any single boat, every slot on the floor cost the same. Why fill it with low margin boats. Just like in a dealer service dept. Every bay/lift has a cost. It needs to produce X number of dollars a day, in order to be profitable. Why would i want fill those bays with Kia's @ $65 p/hr flat rate if I can fill them with Audis @ $100 per/hr flat rate.

[007]

@chpthril - My concern is that with boats, as well as homes, the "medium" product seems to be getting further and further out of reach. I don't bemoan anyone good margins, the ability to offer the products they want, or aim at the higher end market. Owning a boat (or a home) is not a "right", but it seems like the "ordinary Joe" has to buck up a lot more percentage-wise than in the past to play. I guess I have champagne tastes, but a more conservative pocketbook, lol. I'm sure the fact that technology is evolving so fast doesn't help the math.

[lee]

They built an inboard ski boat in the mid 90's in two different sizes.

[Bakes5]

Last thing in the world we want is cheap tow boats. Seriously, who thinks it's a good idea to "grow" the sport anymore. Sorry...I'm really don't want any more people on the lake. Pretty soon we are going to be buying tickets to go boating on or favorite lakes like they are already doing in california.

[sandm]

this....
when the market is saturated and people are done paying for high markup boats, manufacturers find a way to adapt aka nxt series or axis.. it'll happen again and kudos for tige with the R series. it'll help them prepare for that time.

it's funny that there's an apartment shortage in green bay but you don't see them building cheap pads. it's all 2-3bedroom $1200/mo places that are going up and vacancy rates are still 0% but yet you can buy a house for 800-1k/mo. issue is no one can qualify or has the means for a downpayment. chp is spot on with his comments on margins.

I see a lot of ads round here for low payment/low mileage leases. keep 'em coming as I believe we'll see a glut of used cars in the next 2-3 years at good prices.

Long story short, there are complaints round hear about the need to build "affordable" (read subsidized) housing in our area, while the high-end apartment market is booming. Someone in the real world stated, why would a developer build units with a 10% profit margin per/unit when he can built units with a 50% margin in a market with a >5% un-occupancy rate.

boat builders feel the same way and I applaud them. Why clog the floor and tie up all the staff on boats with low margins, when boats with high margins are still selling. Its not their job to make sure I can afford a boat, its their job to sell a boat and they dont care who buys it and who cant. No matter the final build cost or MSRP of any single boat, every slot on the floor cost the same. Why fill it with low margin boats. Just like in a dealer service dept. Every bay/lift has a cost. It needs to produce X number of dollars a day, in order to be profitable. Why would i want fill those bays with Kia's @ $65 p/hr flat rate if I can fill them with Audis @ $100 per/hr flat rate.

[boardman74]

I was chuckling thru this thread till I hit lee's post. Having been around tow boats for 30 plus years I knew this was nothing new. Sea Ray built the Ski Ray for years. They were actually a great slalom boat. Being a sea ray they were also very well built. Better than many of the "known" tow boat manufacturers of the time. They are a great find on the secondary market. Nice soft slalom wake.

Funny to me how many "come lately" tow boat owners are calling out "come lately" manufacturers for jumping on board the tow boat bandwagon, when they made inboards in the past. Many might be surprised my some of the companies who put out inboards aver the years. Bayliner, Maxum, Cobalt, Sea Ray..and the list goes on. There was a time when tow boat sales dropped and many companies dropped them for other offerings. Only makes sense that since the market is hot now they are coming back online. Simple marketing….