December 2003
Boat & Motor Dealer

Written by Erik Ahlgren - The baby boom generation is a demographic most targeted as potential marina boaters. This group of often-wealthy consumers is looking for ease-of-use as a facet of their boating experience. Marina Dock Age asked Erik Ahlgren, president of ShoreMaster, to comment on the latest demographic trends.

Marina Dock Age: What do you see as the predominant trends in the marina industry?

Erik Ahlgren: Generally, the marina industry appears solid. More than 61 percent of the 2002 International Marina Benchmarking Survey respondents reported revenue gains averaging 12.2 percent. The 2001 survey revealed that 74.8 percent of respondents experienced revenue growth. While the national economy as a whole has suffered recently, the marina industry has seen continued growth.

Positive trends should continue through the next several years as well. The main driver behind the marina industry is demographics. In the United States, people between 45 and 64 years old will rise from about 61 million in 2000 to nearly 79 million in 2010 - an increase of 29 percent. This age group is key marina boating demographic, and will be the fastest growing demographic segment for the next several years.

MDA: What effect will demographic changes have on marinas?

EA: Owners of boats moored in marinas tend to be older and wealthier than the population as a whole.

As marina boater age, they are likely to gravitate toward products that provide enhanced ease of use and increased comfort. The middle-aged to older market wants features that make boats easier to use rather than features that increase a boat's performance. They also want roomier heads and more living and entertaining space. This has increased the production of longer and wider cruising boats. It should also change the way marinas provide their services, as they strive to meet the needs of more mature boaters.

The bottom line is that people want to implement the simplest way of using their boats.

Restaurants like this one at Miami's Black Point Marina, are important profit centers at "destination" marinas. Photo by Elizabeth Altick McCarthy

MDA: How will demographic changes affect marina design?

EA: Many marinas are changing to meet the needs of the new "typical boater." The most significant trends are the following:

• Marinas continue to retrofit existing slips to accommodate wider and longer boats. As a result of a trend toward ever-larger pleasure boats, more marinas and boat yards are reconfiguring slip space to accommodate luxury yachts exceeding 70 feet in length. In the process, small boats (under 40 feet) are being relocated out of wet slips into dry stack storage or to marinas and moorings farther outside metropolitan areas.
  
• Marinas are upgrading utilities, especially electricity. Most boats in the future will need at least 50-amp service. While cell phones fill a portion of customers' needs, land-line telephone service is increasingly in demand, and cable television and Internet access are imperative. More power pedestals, pumpout systems and other utilities that make boats easier and more comfortable to use will be necessary. These amenities will make one's boat like a second home.
  
• Marinas are providing larger common spaces. Places for boaters to congregate and enjoy the social aspects of boating and important. Wider, more stable dock areas make them easier to use for groups and, in particular, older boaters.
  
• Marinas are expanding and retrofitting their facilities to meet the needs of the destination boater. Destination cruising is becoming an increasingly important activity as opposed to fishing. Fueling stations, clean and modern restrooms, stores for groceries and basics, restaurants, and laundry facilities are common upgrades.

MDA: Do you see trends, other than demographics, affecting marina design?

EA: Commercial marina developers are running out of waterfront space. This may be due to competition with residential, retail, office development, environmental restrictions, or resistance by organized private homeowners. These existing residents fear that a new or expanded marina will cause traffic and pollution problems, disturb the peace and quiet, and undermine property values.

While extensive regulatory hurdles limit new waterfront development, marinas face fewer obstacles when replacing or expanding existing facilities. Moreover, this reconstruction generates opportunities for growth.

Since the best natural marina sites near populated areas are usually already developed, new sites often require the protection of a wave attenuator, or they may need access products such as a motorized tram.

MDA: How is your company responding to these trends?

EA: Our orientation is to change the industry. When I look at marina construction and design, I see an industry that has moved glacially. The industry is building products much the same way as 20 years ago. Many industry products were patented in the 1950s and '60s, when they represented leading-edge technology, and have not been substantially changed since that time.

Our goal is to find a better way. When we discovered the Rixo connection system in Sweden, we licensed their patents and brought to the United States concrete floating docks and wave attenuators that had been tested by the North Sea. We've created a company that offers a wide range of dock systems to the industry so that our engineers could recommend the best system for the application, not the only dock we have to sell.

The onus is ours, as an industry, to make the waterfront an easier, more comfortable, more inviting place for people to spend their leisure time. As an industry, our competition is the RV industry and, to some extent, the vacation home industry. We are all competing for the recreational and leisure spending of the same group of people. It's imperative to find the best ways to make the waterfront accessible, desirable, and fun.

Erik Ahlgren is president and CEO of ShoreMaster. He can be reached at 800-328-8945.

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