A rising Millenial market?

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  • Hugh Conway
    Banned
    • Jan 2012
    • 9162

    #61
    Re: A rising Millenial market?

    Originally posted by Yeadon
    They'll make more money as they get older.
    They are starting to make money now. We'll see the results.

    I disagree with the notion that handcrafts were lost under the boomers. I'd argue that starting in the 1960s and 1970s there was a broad resurgence of interest in handcraft of all types in the US. Wooden boat building (look at the date WB started publishing), lutherie (prior to the 1960s highend guitars ended with Martin), hand spinning, cane furniture, pottery, printmaking, among just a few. The problem, now, is those who often times wrote the book are aging or dead and the craft needs more younger participants.

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    • ONeillBoatworks
      Junior Member
      • Jun 2016
      • 24

      #62
      Re: A rising Millenial market?

      Being a Millennial, I figure I would chime in. There are a few issues pushing my generation away from boat ownership. Lower incomes and debt are a huge factor. If you don't earn a lot and you have debt it means you can't get financing for anything so everything comes out of pocket. This means no lump sums of money and hence the rise of the sharing market. Many millennials move to the city for jobs which also produces a couple of problems. Space and lack of knowledge. You don't know people out of your age group when you move away from home and boating is generally passed on from generation to generation (like hunting/camping). Millennials are quick to find a meetup for something they are interested in so if the opportunity exists they will join. So if you want the young generation to get involved you have to provide an opportunity that doesn't have large up front costs and welcomes newcomers with open arms (something boating is actually really good at) and getting the word out there because for millennials they want to know something is good before wasting the little time they have on it (hence the love of social media and good reviews). This leads to another issue; time. Boat ownership involves time or money(see above). If you can't sign up in the morning, schedule it for the afternoon and then make it to the bar later that night, you are going to lose people. Of course not everyone is the same and there are plenty of people who are specifically against over scheduled, low investment activities but they are fewer in number.

      Comment

      • Woxbox
        Senior Member
        • Feb 2006
        • 9923

        #63
        Re: A rising Millenial market?

        Originally posted by ONeillBoatworks
        Being a Millennial, I figure I would chime in. There are a few issues pushing my generation away from boat ownership. Lower incomes and debt are a huge factor. If you don't earn a lot and you have debt it means you can't get financing for anything so everything comes out of pocket. This means no lump sums of money and hence the rise of the sharing market. Many millennials move to the city for jobs which also produces a couple of problems. Space and lack of knowledge. You don't know people out of your age group when you move away from home and boating is generally passed on from generation to generation (like hunting/camping). Millennials are quick to find a meetup for something they are interested in so if the opportunity exists they will join. So if you want the young generation to get involved you have to provide an opportunity that doesn't have large up front costs and welcomes newcomers with open arms (something boating is actually really good at) and getting the word out there because for millennials they want to know something is good before wasting the little time they have on it (hence the love of social media and good reviews). This leads to another issue; time. Boat ownership involves time or money(see above). If you can't sign up in the morning, schedule it for the afternoon and then make it to the bar later that night, you are going to lose people. Of course not everyone is the same and there are plenty of people who are specifically against over scheduled, low investment activities but they are fewer in number.
        Speaking as a baby boomer, everything here fits what I've seen over the past decade. I'm very active in our local kayak and canoe club, and we're seeing a big growth in membership without really trying. And it all goes to what's said here. Facebook, Meetup and club website posts make it easy for anyone to find the group and make contact. Kayaks are cheap and much easier to transport and store than about any other boat. And you can get out on most any body of water quickly and easily.

        About 8 years ago I got involved in the club sailboat races on the Chesapeake Bay. The cost and complication and work involved in that are far, far above what it takes to get on the water in a kayak. Participation in those races is dwindling, and it does not surprise me at all that younger people don't have the money, time, knowledge and experience it takes to get to the starting line for one of those events.

        Perhaps I'm making an apples and oranges argument here, but it's all boating, some of which is a good fit for the current generation, and some of which does not fit at all.
        -Dave

        Comment

        • ONeillBoatworks
          Junior Member
          • Jun 2016
          • 24

          #64
          Re: A rising Millenial market?

          Dave - I agree about club sailing being intimidating. People who don't spend a lot of time on the water just want to have a good time but club sailing tends to quickly push for competition and when you aren't experienced in something the last thing you want to do is try to do it competitively. I think sailing groups could entice the same groups showing up for canoes/kayaks if they can build confidence quickly and then just let them cruise around for the fun of it.

          Comment

          • wsgilliam
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2015
            • 262

            #65
            Re: A rising Millenial market?

            Going back to the way we source information now, I do not think the traditional method used to pay writers and content producers have kept up with the times or the way media is transmitted nowadays.(Insert monetized celebrity youtuber) As for me I will pay good money for a book or good quality content, like a good tool it is worth it, but you have to acknowledge a lot of little things are going on all at once.

            The price of text books in college are atrocious and to then not use them for the content of the class has driven many to source as many work arounds as possible. Outright copyright infringements in the form of copying or other means are all in play now. Once the content is proven to be of no use, the price then gets drawn into question and this makes many skeptics. So they do not even begin with an honest position.

            This has carried over to personal hobbies and the internet feeds this mentality. Free content is everywhere and free is better than costly because of the perceived lack of monetary risk involved to vet the quality first. But as we all know, nothing is really edited or screened much on the internet like true publishing editing use to guarantee in some small and large way the content was good.

            As this applies to the original topic, its exceedingly more difficult to obtain and care for a boat today then it was 30 years ago is my position. Just like its much more difficult to obtain and care for water front property. Add in all the extra diversions now and the lack of interest passed on during childhood and you have the result. I am sure we could find a modern cultural reason such as fewer people earning a living being a boaty, but cheap boats mean demand is down. It may just be that boats are cheaper to buy and more expensive to own.
            Originally posted by isla
            It's difficult to explain virtue signalling, as I was just saying to my Muslim friends over a fair-trade coffee in our local feminist bookshop.

            Comment

            • rbgarr
              43.50.918 N, 69.38.583 W
              • Apr 1999
              • 25479

              #66
              Re: A rising Millenial market?

              Perhaps already posted but here's Lin Pardey's take on millennials and sailing: http://hookedonwoodenboats.com/howb-...-fun-cruising/
              For the most part experience is making the same mistakes over and over again, only with greater confidence.

              Comment

              • Ted Hoppe
                Irritant, Level 2
                • Nov 2006
                • 21933

                #67
                Re: A rising Millenial market?

                Originally posted by rbgarr
                Perhaps already posted but here's Lin Pardey's take on millennials and sailing: http://hookedonwoodenboats.com/howb-...-fun-cruising/
                I like Lin but she doesn't know millennial as a group. She has been brilliant and lucky to getting to write, sail the world and postulate the lifestyle during the golden age of sailing but here her conjecture is tenuous.

                i do like Lin last comment to those who are in the states of building and repairing boats rather than sailing them.
                Last edited by Ted Hoppe; 12-23-2017, 09:37 AM.
                Without friends none of this is possible.

                Comment

                • Stōs
                  Member
                  • Mar 2018
                  • 70

                  #68
                  Re: A rising Millenial market?

                  What I've seen in Rhode Island (and southern New England I guess) is young people crew in races for older guys with bigger boats or sail smaller dinghies like 505's that they own. Most of these people also had parents who were sailors. Crewing on bigger boats is perfect for someone with little expendable cash and no interest in maintaining a boat (they can come and go as they please). They get to sail, get free beer and maybe even lunch, never have to wash or paint the bottom, don't have to maintain a mooring or pay for a slip....it's easy. I've sailed on a 40' boat with an entire crew under the age of 30. Not to mention to get a good mooring in Rhode Island you have to wait on a waiting list for about 10 years before a space opens up. I own a 19' boat and have a mooring at 33 and I'm not the only one around my age who does, but we make up a small fraction of the boating population around here.
                  Last edited by Stōs; 04-04-2018, 04:45 PM.

                  Comment

                  • donald branscom
                    Senior Member
                    • Nov 2004
                    • 5197

                    #69
                    Re: A rising Millenial market?

                    Now the cycle starts all over again.

                    The "tiny house thing" is going strong but the TV programs only show the tiny houses being built with house size materials,
                    so the "tiny house needs a 1.5 ton truck to move it. It is supposed to be a travel trailer that is warm and safe as a real house.
                    But many counties and cities do not like them. Sewage concerns and all.

                    Live aboard on a boat is worse than a tiny house owner.

                    Please do not say price point!! Just say price. Thanks.
                    I love the smell of fresh cut plywood in the morning.

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