Atlantic City Power Boat Show coming

ATLANTIC CITY - To Bob Hazard, the boating industry is a lot like the sea.

Some days, the waters are calm and bountiful for the vice president of Egg Harbor Yachts, an Atlantic County boat builder that's among dozens of dealers offering vessels for sale through Sunday at the Atlantic City International Power Boat Show.

But on other days, the waves are rough. Sales ebb, and interest in the boating "lifestyle" - because, really, this isn't just about product, Hazard insists - declines.

Egg Harbor Yachts is among a handful of boat builders in South Jersey's "fiberglass belt" that have laid off workers during the last year as boat sales flagged nationwide for a third year and the U.S. economy spiraled downward.

"It's a cyclical market. You just have to ride out the wave," Hazard said yesterday as he readied a beauty of a boat - a 34-foot red, white and blue Buddy Davis Edition center console - for the show's opening today at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

The gleaming boat is a symbol of his firm's optimism, said Hazard, who oversees sales and marketing. Egg Harbor Yachts acquired rights to the Buddy Davis line last year from a North Carolina company. It has generated considerable interest from overseas clients in Italy and Dubai, he said.

"There's been downturns before, but [there's] a long tradition of boat-building here in South Jersey. This used to be known as the cedar belt when boats were made of wood, but now it's the fiberglass belt," said Hazard, 64, who has spent more than 25 years in the industry. "We've been here a long time."

While there could be more rough seas ahead for the $37.5 billion recreational boating industry - which experienced a nearly one-third drop in nationwide sales last year, according to the trade publication Soundings - Hazard and others are looking forward to Atlantic City's five-day show. The event's promoters say they expect to attract 40,000 people, about 11 percent below last year.

Recreational boating in New Jersey accounted for $2.1 billion in spending in 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available, according to the state's Marine Trades Association.

About $1.1 billion was in trip-related expenditures and the rest went toward boating purchases, helping to support an industry that provides approximately 18,000 jobs, according to the study. The association said it is likely that the last three years will show declines in all categories, as fuel prices have increased and the economy has plummeted.

Viking Yachts, in New Gretna, laid off 70 people in August and put another 75 workers on six-week furloughs. Ocean Yachts in Egg Harbor City laid off 40 production workers in July and Egg Harbor Yachts, also in Egg Harbor City, cut its staff by about a half-dozen over the summer.

Last month, Silverton Yachts in Millville announced that about 200 employees would be let go by March. Company owners blamed declining attendance at boat shows, lack of available credit for potential buyers and bankruptcy filings by a number of dealerships.

But Al Mury, vice president and general manager of Waterfront Marine, of Somers Point, said that going into the crucial show season - when the average boat dealership does as much as 60 percent of its annual sales - his company refused to be influenced by the industry's doldrums.

"Instead of cutting down the size of our space at the show, we doubled it this year," said Mury, who rented 14,000 square feet to bring in 33 Chaparral, Robalo and Edgewater models ranging from a 21-foot center console that sells for around $30,000 to 40-foot yachts that go for $750,000.

Between floor space and personnel, Mury said that his company has sunk about $170,000 into exhibiting its wares at the show.

"Many of our competitors have taken a smaller space," he said, "but we feel that by having a larger presence in the marketplace, we can attract more buyers."

When you're selling boats, you're selling a mindset, said Jon Pritko, who manages the Atlantic City show and similar events in New York and Connecticut. "We try to promote the show as a lifestyle show rather than just a boat show," he said.

Pritko said the Atlantic City show this year will debut an "Affordability Pavilion" to introduce casual attendees to the prospect of ownership on a monthly payment plan.

"A lot of people come here just to look because they think they could never afford to own a boat of their own," he said. "We're going to show them that even on a tight budget, they may be able to afford a boat."

Pritko said dealers are offering everything from a 15-foot Boston Whaler for $171 a month to a 21-foot Tahoe for $239 a month.

Also premiering at the show, Pritko said, is a "Green Boating Zone," where recreational vessels such as the Scout 145 Hybrid, the industry's first fiberglass electric battery-gasoline hybrid, is on display, as well as "green" products including clamp-on solar-powered running lights, environmentally friendly fuel-storage devices and a backpack-sized portable electric outboard motor.