Upbeat brokers return from the Miami Boat Show

20 February 2009 • Written by Malcolm MacLean

I thought I’d wait until the dust had settled after the end of the Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show before ringing round the brokers to get their reactions to this year’s event. Toby Maclaurin of Ocean Independence says that, “We had a very strong show, with a lot of interest in the yachts we were showing. There were definitely buyers walking the docks and it was a better show than we anticipated – even more upbeat than last autumn’s Fort Lauderdale Show. Now we’re positively looking forward to Dubai.”
Northrop and Johnson’s Michael Nethersole continues the upbeat note, commenting, “My impression is that Thursday and Friday saw good quality visitors and, most importantly, they intended to buy. The market for sportsfishermen and production boats is pretty flat but interest in long-distance trawler yachts and cruising sailboats is strong as ‘empty-nesters’ make plans to take extended cruises together on go-anywhere yachts.” Michael even expects to sell the boat he was exhibiting to one of three prospective clients.
Rob Newton at Fraser Yachts was more cautious: “It was a very quiet show and several other brokers agreed with me that it was the worst-attended that anyone can remember. However, Friday was a good day, with people looking to buy boats but, with an eye to value for money, they’re after very keen prices. Overall, the show was more about quality of visitors than quantity.”

Toby Maclaurin
Tel: +44 1273 831010
Email: toby@osyachts.com
Website: www.ocean-independence.com

Michael Nethersole
Tel: +1 954 522 3344
Email: mnethersole@njyachts.com
Website: www.njyachts.com

Rob Newton
Tel: +1 954 463 0600
Email: rob.newton@fraseryachts.com
Website: www.fraseryachts.com

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