Boat, yacht sales sinking

The phone calls became more sporadic sometime after Labor Day at Newport Beach-based Johnston Yacht Sales — and stopped almost completely after wildfires roared through Orange County last fall, said Johnston owner John Siple.

“We have to hound people to buy, and people who buy luxury items don’t like to be hounded,” Siple said. “It’s been tough, you know that your rent continues, insurance, food isn’t cheaper. Nothing out there is getting cheaper.”

Siple, who specializes in selling center-console fishing boats, said he is selling not only fewer boats, but smaller ones. Last year, customers typically gravitated toward vessels measuring about 23 feet, while this year the average buyer is looking for a 19- to 20-foot boat, Siple said. Sales are off anywhere from $150,000 to $175,000 from the same time last year, he said.

When the economy takes a turn for the worse, luxury items are one of the first things people cut out of their budgets. With whispers of recession and a ruptured housing bubble, yacht sales in Newport-Mesa may be headed for stormy weather. Other dealers said their business remains unaffected by slowed economic growth because their wealthy clients still have dreams of setting sail.

“It’s a little on the slow side, the general thought is that money is a little tight right now,” said Dud Martin, owner of Martin Yachts Newport Beach, who has been in the boat-selling business for 27 years. “It’s a little slow, but we expect it to pick up shortly. There are fewer sales when the economy is bad. ”

Business remains steady but not booming at Costa Mesa-based Len Bose Yacht Sales.

Owner Len Bose, who specializes in sail boats, said his business caters to a niche market that remains unaffected by the problems that have plagued the mortgage industry in recent months. Dealers who sell mostly power boats may have a rougher year ahead of them than Bose, because they have a different client base, he said.

A sail boat is not an impulse buy for most, Bose said. People decide to buy after years of careful planning.

“People are still comfortable spending money,” Bose said. “Boat buyers take two or three years to make up their mind, and they’ve gone around the block a couple of times before they decide to buy.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.