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www.BoatingIndustry.com 16 | Boating Industry | May 2017 MARKET INTELLIGENCE BY JONATHAN SWEET Boating Industry readers are optimistic about most segments of the market based on the early months of the year, but expect outboard- powered vessels to continue to outpace the rest of the market. That's according to the latest Boating In- dustry survey, which polled the readers of our print and digital products on their outlook for the rest of 2017 after a strong fi rst quarter. The poll was conducted via email in April and re- spondents were a mix of dealers, manufactur- ers, distributors and others in the industry. Outboard power Outboard engines have dominated engine sales for the last several years, and Boating Industry readers don't expect that to change in 2017. (For more on the outboard engine market, see this month's Market Trends on p. 40.) The vast majority of survey respondents – 87 percent – expect outboard sales to be up this year. Half of those expect sales to in- crease by more than 10 percent in 2017. Only 4 percent of readers expect outboard sales to decline. That was the only propulsion category that more than half of respondents expect to grow this year, although 48 percent did call for increases in both the jet and inboard engine markets. About 15 percent of readers expect inboard sales to decline this year, while 14 percent expect jet engine sales to decline. Readers are more optimistic about stern- drive sales this year than they were in 2016, with 39 percent expecting sales to increase for the segment – a signifi cant increase from the 25 percent who expected growth for the seg- ment in last year's survey. At the same time, 32 percent of readers expect sales in that cat- egory to decline this year, the highest number for any category. About a third of readers expect the electric propulsion segment to grow this year, while more than half expect it to decline. Sixteen percent expect it to decline. Respondents also think the sail market will continue to struggle this year, with only 16 percent expecting sales to grow, while 20 percent predict they will decline. Sixty-four percent expect it to be fl at from 2016. Pontoons, fi shing boats stay strong Readers are expecting the same segments that were strong in 2016 to continue to grow in 2017. Outboards key to 2017 growth Pontoons, fi shing boats strongest segment this year, survey says CURRENT CONDITIONS April 69.7 February 57.6 FUTURE EXPECTATIONS April 86.2 February 75.1 We also asked readers about their views on the current health of the market as we do every month. In this regular monthly feature, we track the optimism of Boating Industry readers to help us get a read on the industry. A reading of zero means equal numbers of people are expe- riencing or expect growth as contraction, so any number above zero is a positive. April's results indicated continued year- over-year growth for Boating Industry readers, improving on February's numbers. Readers also continue to be very optimistic about the future, again at a better rate than in February. BOATING INDUSTRY INDEX PREDICTED GROWTH BY PROPULSION TYPE Sales expectations for 2017 INCREASE FLAT DECREASE Outboards 87% 9% 4% Jet 48% 38% 14% Inboard 48% 37% 15% Sterndrive 39% 29% 32% Electric 33% 51% 16% Sail 16% 64% 20% Source: Boating Industry survey, April 2017 PREDICTED GROWTH BY BOAT SEGMENT Sales expectations for 2017 INCREASE FLAT DECREASE Pontoons 83% 16% 1% Saltwater fi sh 80% 16% 4% Freshwater fi sh 78% 17% 5% Ski/tow boats 74% 22% 4% Deckboats 67% 24% 9% Runabouts 60% 30% 10% PWC 50% 38% 12% Jet boats 49% 49% 12% Cruisers 48% 35% 17% Source: Boating Industry survey, April 2017 » expect outboard engine sales to increase this year. 87%