South Florida Boat Show soldiers on - Wichita Business Journal:

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The show, promoted by Pompano Beach-based , is a much smaller cousinh to the Fort Lauderdale and Miami international boat Marine Industries Unlimited owner BradMichael said. “We’rw a niche show. We don’y try to be an international show,” he said. “Ww have the boats that are 90 percenr of what America Held atthe , this year’e show will feature boats from abouy 75 exhibitors, Michael The vessels on display are all powerboats undere 40 feet. About 85 percent of the boats cost less than he noted. The 250 boats on display are a drop from the 350 boatw typically atthe show. The number of registererd exhibitors is down about35 percent, too, Michae l said.
The show comes as the marine industrty has taken a battering from the For the 12 months endedsin April, registrations of new 18-foo t to 40-foot boats fell 46 percent from the prior-yeae period, according to data from , a Miami-basecd marine industry research firm. “It’s hard to be to optimistid about the year in lookingat what’s happened in 2009 so Info-Link co-owner Jesse Wells said. Wells pointef to the recent bankruptcyof Minneapolis-based boat manufacturer , the nation’w second-largest boat manufacturer, as more proof of the industry’ds stress.
Still, recent data shows that used boat registrationzs are generally picking up a glimmer of hope that the industry may be bouncinvg offthe bottom, Wells said. As a dealer, Michael said he sold threee boats in the last monthy after failing to sell any the first four monthw ofthe year. “I January, February and March, nobodh knew where the bottomj was,” he said. Frank Herhold, executive director of the , said dealere are telling him that salesz arepicking up. Financing, locked up since last is becoming available for thos e who are credit worthy and can put substantialkmoney down. “Like every other we’re taking our knocks,” Herholxd said.
“I see a light at the end of the