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Yacht Brokers Prepare for Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show

October 30, 2015 9:01 am

For yacht brokers like Peter Quintal, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show is the highlight of the year.

“The boat show’s impact is tremendous,” said Quintal, who works for Denison Yacht Sales in Dania Beach. “As a yacht broker, you can make half a year’s salary at the boat show.”

Quintal, who has been in boat sales for nearly 13 years, said he usually sells two boats from the show. His best show was in 2004, when he delivered nine new boats. A licensed captain who knows a lot about boats, and test drives every vessel before he attempts to sell it, Quintal has also built strong relationships with customers thanks to the show.

One customer whom he met at the 2003 Fort Lauderdale show has purchased five boats from Quintal.

“With this industry,” he said, “everything is relationships.”

This year, Quintal said Denison will have approximately 40 new and brokerage boats on display at the show ranging in size from 38 to 110 feet.

They include the brand new Monte Carlo 6 on display at the Beneteau exhibit at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center.

Quintal said the 60-footer from the French boatbuilder is designed to be run by a couple.

“She’s pretty spectacular,” he said. “For the size of the boat, it’s really easy for two people to drive. You don’t need a captain.”

Among the features of the MC6 are joystick controls at the boat’s flybridge and main deck helms as well as in the cockpit by the transom that make docking simple.

But if you prefer to have a captain, don’t worry: In addition to three cabins up front, there is a captain’s quarters at the rear of the vessel.

Quintal said the price of the MC6 at the show, which has already been purchased, is $1.9 million.

“We’ve got something for everybody’s budget,” said Quintal, who expects to work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each of the five days of the boat show.

For Roger Moore, the CEO of Nautical Ventures Marine, the boat show is an opportunity to showcase all the different brands and services his company offers to thousands of potential new customers.

That includes everything from Hobie kayaks, Arimar life rafts and Gocycle electric bikes at the AquaZone in the Sailfish Pavilion at the convention center to Buddy Davis and Century center consoles and Action Craft flats boats inside the convention center to Ribcraft and Evolution tenders on land at Bahia Mar.

Moore said he’ll have a total of 35 staffers dressed in the company’s distinctive orange shirts working at the show. Some of the booths belong to Nautical Ventures. At others, the NVM sales team will work with the manufacturers of the products that the Dania Beach company sells.

“You’re out of business if you’re not at the boat show,” Moore said. “If I don’t write $2 million worth of business, I’ll be disappointed.”

SeaVee has boats 27 to 43 feet at the convention center and in the water at Bahia Mar because the show attracts the type of people who can appreciate the Miami boatbuilder’s products.

“For companies like ours, what the boat show represents is it’s a targeted audience,” SeaVee’s John Caballero said. “Any company would love to put their products in front of the right customers in the right atmosphere.”

Caballero said that because the company has no inventory, and the wait for a new boat is about a year, many people come to the show to design their dream boat.

“Our customer is looking for a more custom boat,” he said. “They sit down with us and they map out their boat. Plus there are competitors there and they can say, ‘I kind of like what Company A did with that’ and we can design it.

“We book a lot of business at the show. I would say probably 25 percent of our business is landed in Miami and another 25 percent is landed in Fort Lauderdale.”

Unlike some exhibitors, SeaVee does not offer boat show specials; that is, boats at a discounted price.

But Caballero said one big advantage of signing a contract for a new SeaVee at the show is several outboard motor manufacturers offer deals.

“Outboard companies run promotions to give you an additional three years on your warranty,” Caballero said. “That in and of itself is incentive enough. You could double the length of your warranty.”

Another boat show benefit is the opportunity to test-drive one or more SeaVees that you’re considering.

Caballero said SeaVee will have five boats in the water at a nearby location and will shuttle customers to and from the venue so they can ride in the boats.

“That is something I always highly recommend to anyone who’s purchasing a boat,” Caballero said.

Source: SunSentinel

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