END PIECE
Prediction by Simon Tytherleigh
We’re all 
doomed!….
It has to be the
new boats will plummet, marina rates.
resulting in some big-name • Modest sailing boats will be in.
gloomiest outlook casualties. We are already
There will be plenty of
for a very long time,
hearing about reduced hours bargains to be had for the
at manufacturers, and the canny buyer in the
so what will 2009
credit crunch will get much secondhand market.
• Among new boats smaller
bring?
worse before it gets any
better. ones will do less badly than
• Boat sales from the London most, and the really big,
Boatshow(s) will be dismal. million Euro cats like the
There are reports of 2008 Catana 62 will probably be
Here are some 
having been a difficult year, less affected by the market
predictions for 2009… and 2009 looks set to be conditions than those in the
worse. £150,000 to £300,000
• As house prices continue to • Attendance at the 2008 Earl’s bracket.
nosedive and debt problems Court show has been • The Pound will continue its
multiply everyone feels estimated at around slide against the Euro, making
like they have the mother 15,000 and its viability looks imported boats about 30 -
of all hangovers. questionable. I think it will not 40% more expensive just on
• Conspicuous consumption open next year. the exchange rate. Exporters
will give way to frugality. • At least one big chandler will will benefit provided they can
• House prices will drop go under. keep their costs under control.
by around 50% from peak • Motorboats will be less • Sailmakers will keep their
levels, with very little activity. popular. The increased cost of heads above water this year,
Mortgages will be difficult to diesel and the credit squeeze as people opt for a new suit
secure. The idea of will combine to make gas of sails rather than changing
mortgaging the house in guzzlers look like dinosaurs. the boat.
order to purchase a boat • There will be lots of emphasis • Berths and moorings will be
will seem like something on minimal cost boating, and easier to find as some people
from another planet. many people will downsize. at the margins abandon
• Yachting is seen increasingly The joys of simple sailing will boating altogether. Prices will
as a luxury to be foregone. be rediscovered. More people be dictated by falling demand.
• The leisure boating industry will use their anchors on their • The ARC will have fewer
will be hit very hard. Sales of annual cruise rather than pay boats and the average size will
44  MULTIHULL REVIEW : JANUARY 2009
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46