Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/807903
44 | Boating Industry | April 2017 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// compact size and light weight. It's easy to store, and you don't need an F250 to tow it. But most of all, it's just a whole lot of fun to drive. Honestly, it doesn't matter what price you put on a personal watercraft, no one is going to buy it if it isn't fun to ride. But the Spark is small and light, with an excellent power-to-weight ratio. It's very accessible, so it opens the door to a whole new generation of consumers." That new generation of personal watercraft buyers is already making its presence felt on the sales fl oor. Where Baby Boomers remain the largest buying cohort in the personal watercraft category, they're steadily giving way to Millennials. "Before the Spark the average age of a personal watercraft buyer was 48 years old," said McKercher. "When EPA regulations drove the move to four strokes, the engines got bigger and heavier, and the units got bigger and heavier. Comfort came more into play, and the prices kept getting higher. That was fi ne for serious riders who have the means, but it was making it more and more diffi cult for new riders to get into the sport. The Spark changed all that, by allowing us to offer a product that Millennials could see themselves owning and riding. It's built and looks the way it does because it had to be different, it couldn't just be a smaller version of what we already had. It needed to catch the eye of new buyers, because the buyer of the Spark is much younger than the buyer we had before." The performance segment While much has been said and written about the need to make boating more affordable, it still has to be fun. From the moment that Kawasaki let it be known that the company was bringing back its iconic stand-up Jet Ski, the personal watercraft community has been buzzing with rumor and speculation. The buzz reached a crescendo in October, when the company publicly debuted its 2017 Jet Ski SX-R stand-up at the IJSBA World Finals on Lake Havasu. "We're really excited about the SX-R," said Dave Oventhal, Kawasaki's senior manager, market and product strategy. "We feel that it's going to bring back a lot of experienced watercraft riders, and we can see it's draw- ing a lot of enthusiasm from new riders who just aren't excited by any 7.4% » Growth for the PWC segment in 2016 "Honestly, it doesn't matter what price you put on a personal watercraft, no one is going to buy it if it isn't FUN to ride." —Tim McKercher, Sea-Doo