By Madelyn Pegg

Boating Industry left the chill of winter to join fellow industry professionals under the warm Miami sun and on the show floors of the Discover Boating Miami Boat Show .

Our team made up three of the expected 100,000 attendees , and our media experience began at a waterside reception at the swanky Standard Hotel courtesy of Hurricane and its press party the night before the show opened . We celebrated the company ’ s center console SunDeck 3200 and 24CC fishing boat models .

As the new kid on the dock , I enjoyed meeting new industry friends and conversate as we nibbled on seafood and watched boating activity take place on Biscayne Bay .

Following the theme of the press party , it was evident throughout the entire show that the boating industry is comprised of individuals truly on the same team , willing to share their knowledge and expertise for the greater good of the industry .

Boating industry supporter and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis opened the show , along with other officials . DeSantis discussed the value of the boating industry and the changes that he hopes to see regarding the use of renewable sources and boater rights .

Walking into the Convention Center for the first time was nothing less than an exhilarating experience . The sight – sleek cruisers , luxurious pontoons , stylish dinghies , powerful outboard motors and more beautifully crafted boats after beautifully crafted boats .

At some points , we had time to humbly shuffle the floors and appreciate the innovation born from years of research and practical use . Often , we would swiftly navigate our way from product reveals to one-on-one meetings with industry leaders .

“ We ’ re really driven by keeping people in boating , and how do you keep people in boating ? You make it easy ,” he said .

Like Fetcko , the entire industry is working to make marine products more user-friendly , and the boating lifestyle more accessible . “ The goal for us , as well as everybody else in the space , is to get more people into boating and keep them in boating ,” said Ana Denari , chief technology officer and president of Navico Group .

She discussed her expectations for 2025 . “ The good news is , we ’ re starting to see retail become a little stronger . Our expectation for the year on the marine OEM side , we expect this to be the start of the recovery in 2025 .” She recognized that dealers are still working through inventory , so she expects the second half of 2025 to show improvements .

“ There ’ s a lot of unknowns as we go through life , especially at the moment with the new administration and what the role of tariffs are going to play ,” she continued . “ But I think we ’ re feeling reasonably good about consumer confidence around the strength of the economy and around the health of the dealers for the most part .”

Sea Ray President Keith Yunger also addressed the new administration and tariffs . “ We go into this with the new administration and , regardless of how people think about politics , it is what it is ,” he said . “ That challenge is , it ’ s created a lot of noise in the news around tariffs .”

Because of the unknown , he said customers are hesitating to make purchases , so Sea Ray is dedicated to offering the right value proposition and competitive promotions . “ That ’ s our biggest challenge ,” he said , “ to overcome that mindset from the consumer and keep them positive .”

He also discussed the value of dealer partnerships . “ The brand is going on 60 years old . A lot of our dealers are in their second generation , and some third-generation people in the families are coming up too . Those relationships take nurturing overtime ,” Yunger said . “ We tend not to overload a dealer , which has been important for us the last three years .”

The 2025 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show was held February 12-16 .

Perspectives from the experts

Dometic President Eric Fetcko introduced the company ’ s DG3 Gyro Stabilizer . “ We ’ ve launched a truly dynamic gyro ,” he addressed . “ Because of the way my team has engineered it , you can wrap this thing up in 16 minutes .” Likewise , it ramps down in 16 minutes .

“ Like an electric car , we suck the power out of the waves and charge the batteries ,” Fetcko said . “ When it ’ s ramping down , we turn our brushless motor into a generator and charge the batteries with the energy .” The electric gyro responds to a wider range of sea conditions .

8 march / april 2025 www . boatingindustry . com