Strategies : Small Builders’ Custom Boats Making Waves in a Big Pond
Harry Christensen watched from his stand at the Anaheim Boat Show as afternoon customers eyed the merchandise: sleek “California-style” ski boats bearing colorful designs.
Christensen, owner of Advantage Boats of Anaheim, knows he’s just a small player in a market dominated by large, nationally known competitors such as Bayliner Marine Corp. in Seattle and Sea Ray Boats in Knoxville, Tenn.
But he believes his customized ski boats will attract a class of customers that the bigger boat makers can’t capture.
A few yards away, Cliff Lotz, founder of Caliber 1 Boats in Anaheim, was describing how his company competes. “I cater to the person who wants a product individually built for himself,” Lotz said. “The people that buy my boats know what they’re buying.”
Advantage and Caliber 1 are just two of about 35 small boat makers in Orange County operating in the shadow of the larger manufacturers.
Instead of engaging in head-on competition, they have carved out their own niches in the local market by building customized boats.
“What I’m building are the Porches and Mercedes of the boat business, whereas they’re building the GMs,” said Lotz, who described most of his customers as yuppies.
The custom-designed boats also appeal, in Christensen’s words, to the boat buyer “who’s been around the block.”
“He’s owned a couple of boats, so he’s really picked up his own little ways of living--a drink holder right here . . . an ice chest right here. . . . He’s going to individualize the boat.”
Boats produced by the smaller companies are more expensive. Christensen, for example, sells an “entry-level,” 18-foot ski boat with a trailer for $12,995, while Bayliner sells a comparable 19-foot boat and trailer for $10,000.
For the additional money, customers have the opportunity to specify such details as graphic designs, the size of the steering wheel, the color of the interior of the boat and where the seats are placed.
“It really starts from the the drawing of what he wants on the boat to the finished product,” Christensen said.
The local dealers also believe they distinguish themselves with the type of product they offer, such as the California-style speedboats with sharp-angled, jet-fighter contours and brilliant colors. These boats are attention grabbers and crowd pleasers at boat shows, the dealers said.
“The biggest show in the United States is the Chicago show, and every year I see them (customers) buying more and more of the California-style boats.”
The small companies can by no means match the volume of boats sold by the larger ones. Lotz said his company sells about 100 boats a year. By contrast, Bayliner sells about 1,000, according to Scott Flick, national sales manager for the company.
“It makes it tougher for the small boat manufacturer to survive,” said Bob Swan, president of Newport Pacific, a Newport Beach dealership that accounts for about 80% of the Bayliner boats sold in Orange County.
“If they try to buck the big boys--I’m not saying that it can’t be done, but it’s very hazardous with the tremendous buying power that the big companies have,” Swan said.
