PDA

View Full Version : For those of you that went to the LA Boat Show....



Mattman
02-04-2007, 06:54 AM
After seeing all the deckboats, who do you think will come out on top this year for sales, Powerboat Awards etc.??

Coach
02-04-2007, 06:56 AM
I really like the DCB 26 Sport Deck. A close second to that is the Howard Deck.

gmocnik
02-04-2007, 08:11 AM
opinions are like aholes, everyone has one and here is mine...
everyone jumped on the deckboat bandwagon in the recent years and there certainly are a lot of choices.
the winner to me at the show this year was cobra...a 26 and a 28. both had nice lines and some great features. not the boxy looking stuff that howard, shockwave, lavey have put out. magic has always had nice lines. conquest also is a nice looking boat and has been there for a while.
the loser was dcb. a mach 26 chopped up and thrown together, not dcb's best effort. how about that billet plate on the front...that would get hot enough to cook pancakes on :confused: ...the plexiglass door between the bow section and the cabin???? there was also some bath tub looking thing downstairs behind the caliber 1 boats...
seems that the insurance companies are also catching on to what once was a nice way to get pontoon capacity and cat/tunnel performance.:mad:
theres my two cents....not an in depth rd review but my opinions from yesterday...

INSman
02-04-2007, 08:26 AM
The Howard and the Cobra are both VERY nice, yet quite different. This is the first time I have seen a Howard with some really nice graphics and colors.

Daytona100
02-04-2007, 09:35 AM
I thought the NEXT custom deckboat was pretty sweet. If I was in the market for a deckboat they would be on the top of the list.

riverroyal
02-04-2007, 09:43 AM
just by production numbers alone.I really liked the cobra deck they had there,almost wrote a check.

Not So Fast
02-04-2007, 10:00 AM
just by production numbers alone.I really liked the cobra deck they had there,almost wrote a check.
In total numbers I doubt any one will match Magic, and the REGATTA grows :( NSF

framer1
02-04-2007, 10:08 AM
I really like the DCB 26 Sport Deck. A close second to that is the Howard Deck.
Any pictures? Like to see the DCB.

riverroyal
02-04-2007, 10:16 AM
Any pictures? Like to see the DCB.
care for the DCB.It was expensive,no surprise there,119k with no power.It looked rushed,Im sure its a great boat,just looked out of place maybe in their booth

Concept1
02-04-2007, 10:24 AM
I thought the NEXT custom deckboat was pretty sweet. If I was in the market for a deckboat they would be on the top of the list.
Im a little partial to the Next as well, but I should be now. :-)

JB in so cal
02-04-2007, 11:00 AM
Having dogs on my boat, I really like the steps of the Next at the stern that lead down to the water. Save my back some pain, fo' sho'!
I also like how deep the Next was.

Hardly Satisfied
02-04-2007, 11:38 AM
just by production numbers alone.I really liked the cobra deck they had there,almost wrote a check.
Steve, What was holding you up :confused:

riverroyal
02-04-2007, 11:41 AM
Steve, What was holding you up :confused:
of having 2 boats!

Hardly Satisfied
02-04-2007, 11:42 AM
Did anybody notice that there were a lot of boat builders that capped their boats

Phat Matt
02-04-2007, 11:43 AM
The Powerboat award winner wasn't there. :D

River918
02-04-2007, 12:05 PM
Wife and I went to the show expecting to possibly pick up a new decker. after looking at all the rides, and there were some nice ones, we made our way to the Ultra booth. She fell in love with the 26 deck, then saw the 27 Shadow open bow cat next to it. Story was over at that point, that's the boat she wants. John and Barry were great to deal with and looks like we are leaning in that direction. Now, we just need to make a final decision so we won't be boatless this summer.....

INSman
02-04-2007, 01:00 PM
The Powerboat award winner wasn't there. :D
Hard to make your "presence" known or simply to "reinforce" if you are not there and in it to win it !!

Jbb
02-04-2007, 01:29 PM
All you deckboat lovers....I just have to ask......would you have gone in the basement to check out Froggy's ride......or not.....?

ULTRA26 # 1
02-04-2007, 01:36 PM
All you deckboat lovers....I just have to ask......would you have gone in the basement to check out Froggy's ride......or not.....?
Ultra's booth was getting alot of attention and it was on the lower level.
Had Trident been there it would have been seen by most at the show as it seems that almost everyone tours both floors.
JM

Jbb
02-04-2007, 01:41 PM
Ultra's booth was getting alot of attention and it was on the lower level.
Had Trident been there it would have been seen by most at the show as it seems that almost everyone tours both floors.
JM
Sorta what I figured....

Jrocket
02-04-2007, 01:41 PM
How could one go to the boat show and not look for Ultra's booth,they're one of the most known manufactures out there.

Phat Matt
02-04-2007, 02:00 PM
All you deckboat lovers....I just have to ask......would you have gone in the basement to check out Froggy's ride......or not.....?
I personally thought the "basement" was more fun. There were a lot of boats down there. There was even a Fountain. The Ultra set up looked great. I see no reason why he shouldn't set up down there.
Teague had a bunch of engines on display that looked real good also. I think he will reconsider his opinion next year on whether or not he should display something down there. In my mind setting up down there didn't take away from the boats at all. Your product should speak for itself upstairs or down.
Now somebody go down stairs and pick up the "living room" towable. That thing was cool! :D I expect to see it in Havi this summer. :D

Phat Matt
02-04-2007, 02:00 PM
Hard to make your "presence" known or simply to "reinforce" if you are not there and in it to win it !!
Hey, I was there and I had a E-ticket shirt on. :D

TCHB
02-04-2007, 02:02 PM
1. Howard
No Bling and that is ok
Clean, neat and simple.
It looks more like a sport boat than deck boat. It has much higher sides than the conquest.

Kilrtoy
02-04-2007, 02:16 PM
I cant believe all the crappy boats down there in the basement
Ultra, Skater, Fountain.
I mean the top floor had all the real boats
Bayliner,SeaDoo and bass boats

Jbb
02-04-2007, 02:20 PM
I will take it a step further...I will bet that EVERY person that went to that show,....who had a genuine interest in buying a deckboat this year, ....would have made sure to check both levels of the show...

riverroyal
02-04-2007, 02:28 PM
2 hours on lower level,then 1 hour up top!

Cole Trickle
02-04-2007, 02:36 PM
I think the Howard and Ultra Decks were at the top of my list. The Ultra is just plainly sick the perfect amount of deckboat for the$$$.
The Howard looked outstanding and they had some nice gels on display. Also They had some nice power in the boat.
I also really liked the Shockwave deck. Very big and deep there were some things that need a little improvement but overall I thin k they have a winner on there hands.
I like the 28 Cobra but the 26 looked kinda stubby and din't really tickle my pickle.
My least favorite was the 26 DCB..Like stated above it looked rushed and not very family friendly with the billet front platform.
I think my favotite boat of the show was X factors F-29 the gel andd attention to detail was supurb.Teages F-#@ with the big power and #6's should lay down some intresting #'s (Fastest DCB yet?)

Hardly Satisfied
02-04-2007, 02:41 PM
of having 2 boats!
That should not hold up a BIG BALLER like you

Mr. C
02-04-2007, 02:41 PM
2 hours on lower level,then 1 hour up top!
same here, spent more time downstairs then up. i don't see where it really makes a difference. Aren't you going to go through the whole show anyway?

nodigg
02-04-2007, 03:02 PM
I think the Howard and Ultra Decks were at the top of my list. The Ultra is just plainly sick the perfect amount of deckboat for the$$$.
The Howard looked outstanding and they had some nice gels on display. Also They had some nice power in the boat.
My least favorite was the 26 DCB..Like stated above it looked rushed and not very family friendly with the billet front platform.
I think my favotite boat of the show was X factors F-29 the gel andd attention to detail was supurb.Teages F-#@ with the big power and #6's should lay down some intresting #'s (Fastest DCB yet?)
I agree about the Xf actor. Biggest new ideas this year as far as I'm concerned. Would I buy it? Not for me style wise and too long but they get an A for effort IMO.
So the DCB was 119k without ANY power? lol! Now that sounds about right. Since I can't seem to convince myself to justisy the cash for the Howard or the Magic.....I LOVE my new (soon) WildCat even more after being at the show. Affordable, Deep and fast with good handling.:D

nodigg
02-04-2007, 03:03 PM
Oh yeah, I ALWAYS prefer to spend more time downstairs.:D

River918
02-04-2007, 03:05 PM
same here, spent more time downstairs then up. i don't see where it really makes a difference. Aren't you going to go through the whole show anyway?
I spent alot of time up top before heading down below (Turns out to much time). The DCB 26 Deck had a chance, but that went out the window..... I only had a chance to see Ultra and X-Flight down stairs before we had to go...Looks like we might go back Monday or Tuesday to see the vendors and such....
After looking at all the decks, I would still say that the top two are the Howard and the Ultra..

C-2
02-04-2007, 05:28 PM
The two new Nordics were unreal, and caught the industry offguard. Hats off to Randy Davis for taking the company in an impressive new direction.
I just can't justify trading my house for ONE of them. :D

Kilrtoy
02-04-2007, 06:04 PM
The two new Nordics were unreal, and caught the industry offguard. Hats off to Randy Davis for taking the company in an impressive new direction.
I just can't justify trading my house for ONE of them. :D
That large one is a skater bottom

C-2
02-04-2007, 06:18 PM
That large one is a skater bottom
Yup,
New bottom on the 43 vee...damn aussies

shadow
02-04-2007, 06:41 PM
All you deckboat lovers....I just have to ask......would you have gone in the basement to check out Froggy's ride......or not.....?
Haven't you heard what Froggy has been saying? thats the Basement,JV,the difference between the haves and have nots!:rolleyes:
The dumb shiot would have gotten more exposure there than he has gotten in
the past 4yrs and the difference between the boat show and the tour de trident is the people at the boat show just might have a check book and
might be willing to use it.As opposed to the tour de trident where the freeloaders are just looking for another free beer and giving wes a pat on the back.

Daytona100
02-04-2007, 07:31 PM
Haven't you heard what Froggy has been saying? thats the Basement,JV,the difference between the haves and have nots!:rolleyes:
The dumb shiot would have gotten more exposure there than he has gotten in
the past 4yrs and the difference between the boat show and the tour de trident is the people at the boat show just might have a check book and
might be willing to use it.As opposed to the tour de trident where the freeloaders are just looking for another free beer and giving wes a pat on the back.
Your right he could of parked it next to the NEXT deck boat looks like he.s the competition. Your right about the exposure upstairs downstairs there was still a shit load of people checking out the boats and having a good time. Could have at least been handing out flyers, mingling with the potential customers and selling his product. Hell Bob Leach was there with his daughter talking it up with everyone. Still working it with the same enthusiasm he,s had for years.

Nordic35Flame
02-04-2007, 07:55 PM
NEXT!!!!

Hardly Satisfied
02-04-2007, 07:59 PM
opinions are like aholes, everyone has one and here is mine...
everyone jumped on the deckboat bandwagon in the recent years and there certainly are a lot of choices.
the winner to me at the show this year was cobra...a 26 and a 28. both had nice lines and some great features. not the boxy looking stuff that howard, shockwave, lavey have put out. magic has always had nice lines. conquest also is a nice looking boat and has been there for a while.
the loser was dcb. a mach 26 chopped up and thrown together, not dcb's best effort. how about that billet plate on the front...that would get hot enough to cook pancakes on :confused: ...the plexiglass door between the bow section and the cabin???? there was also some bath tub looking thing downstairs behind the caliber 1 boats...
seems that the insurance companies are also catching on to what once was a nice way to get pontoon capacity and cat/tunnel performance.:mad:
theres my two cents....not an in depth rd review but my opinions from yesterday...
I agree with you on Dave's 26 sport deck, but I think he just wanted to have one out there but I think he wants to put most of his time in his F-series boats. his sport deck still looks nice

yopengo
02-04-2007, 08:00 PM
Wife and I went to the show expecting to possibly pick up a new decker. after looking at all the rides, and there were some nice ones, we made our way to the Ultra booth. She fell in love with the 26 deck, then saw the 27 Shadow open bow cat next to it. Story was over at that point, that's the boat she wants. John and Barry were great to deal with and looks like we are leaning in that direction. Now, we just need to make a final decision so we won't be boatless this summer.....
I did the same thing. went looking for the Ultra 26 and fell in love with the 27 Shadow open bow. i may pull the $ this fall. I also really liked the 28 Howard deck. If I went with a deck that would be it.
I personally thought the "basement" was more fun. There were a lot of boats down there. There was even a Fountain. The Ultra set up looked great. I see no reason why he shouldn't set up down there.
Teague had a bunch of engines on display that looked real good also. I think he will reconsider his opinion next year on whether or not he should display something down there. In my mind setting up down there didn't take away from the boats at all. Your product should speak for itself upstairs or down.
Now somebody go down stairs and pick up the "living room" towable. That thing was cool! :D I expect to see it in Havi this summer. :D
I agree. The basement was great. I was there twice as long and had more fun.
:)

V-DRIVE VIDEO
02-04-2007, 08:09 PM
Great to see so much enthusiasm for the for basement/dungeon lol....
I can't get over the 82 mph pontoon boats!:jawdrop: and well under 100 g's... with that kind of bang for buck, these $150,000+ deckboats should be obsolete IMO.

phebus
02-04-2007, 08:12 PM
I LOVE my new (soon) WildCat even more after being at the show. Affordable, Deep and fast with good handling.:D
Smartest words I've read about the boat show. New boat, and a great deal.

yopengo
02-04-2007, 08:13 PM
Great to see so much enthusiasm for the for basement/dungeon lol....
I can't get over the 82 mph pontoon boats!:jawdrop: and well under 100 g's... with that kind of bang for buck, these $150,000+ deckboats should be obsolete IMO.
I couldn’t get over the one with the 496 in it.

V-DRIVE VIDEO
02-04-2007, 08:32 PM
I couldn’t get over the one with the 496 in it.
What if they through some "real horsepower" to that thing?:messedup:
...where would that hull max out at!?!?!

Havasu_Dreamin
02-04-2007, 08:46 PM
not the boxy looking stuff that howard, shockwave, lavey have put out.
To compare the Howard or the Shockwave to the Lavey and call them boxy.....Neither is as boxy as the Lavey is.....

Havasu_Dreamin
02-04-2007, 08:50 PM
Haven't you heard what Froggy has been saying? thats the Basement,JV,the difference between the haves and have nots!:rolleyes:
The dumb shiot would have gotten more exposure there than he has gotten in
the past 4yrs and the difference between the boat show and the tour de trident is the people at the boat show just might have a check book and
might be willing to use it.As opposed to the tour de trident where the freeloaders are just looking for another free beer and giving wes a pat on the back.
Absolutely......Great seeing you on Saturday

eliminatedsprinter
02-05-2007, 12:01 AM
I'm more of a small boat guy, so I liked the Ultra 21 and 23 shadow decks.:D

voodoomedman
02-05-2007, 07:43 AM
Upstairs has nice stuff but felt stuffy. Downstairs had a better vibe. And besides the Ultra booth you had Teague and just some other cool stuff to look at. Also the vendors to buy stuff. If I were a manufacturer then being downstairs would be fine. It's more of placement. Being way in the back you won't get much traffic where being in the front or right next to Ultra you would. Being upstairs would actually suck if you were over to the right. I didn't even go over there becuase all the customs were off of the center or over to the left.
And some of these boat builders need better looking stuff. I think Lavey is an excellent builder quality wise but the lines of the boats just look a little too straight edge for me. If it weren't for much better gelcoat then I'd have to compare them to Hallet.
I have my hangups about Cobra but damn their stuff really looks good and has some nice options.
What is up with DCB? 120 k for a 26 Deckboat? Dave I know it cost a lot of money for hair glue to hold up your do but your 40k at least more then everybody else. Now I will laugh everytime the kool-aid drinkers say that DCB aren't expensive. They are good so I can see commanding a premium but 40 freaking thousand.
Ultras booth and boats were bichen as always. I want to be rich and have a bigger Havi garage and buy a couple more Ultra's to keep mine company. :)
The Next isn't for me but I like the Concept. My wife and I were talking about that one for a while. While it wouldn't fix the looks, we were talking about a way to have seats that folded out of the way in front of those stairs so the back bench could fit more people.
Caliber1-Did anyone see the drawing by Rob King in front of their booth. Looks remarkably similar to the Next boat. Hmmmmmmmmm

ChumpChange
02-05-2007, 08:03 AM
Went to the boat show just to look around. Started at the top and then to the basement just like always. The Conquest Boss Cat was incredibly clean. I like the all silver look. Wife and I sat in the Top Cat II and pondered getting a deckboat. It was roomy and quite nice. (We've never wanted a deck).
Got downstairs, looked at the Fountains which wouldn't be a bad buy as well. Then we got to ULTRA. I was having a hard time walking away not buying the 26 Deck on the floor. The white with red and silver. That boat was sick. Then we thought about buying John's personal boat. Every option available. Even more sick!
If my boat was gone, I'd be picking up my ULTRA from the show next Sunday.

phebus
02-05-2007, 08:07 AM
I haven't been to the show yet, and might not go due to health reasons, but Ultra seems like the winner of the most popular boats. Lots of positive comments, congratulations.

Not So Fast
02-05-2007, 08:15 AM
From the sounds of it maybe the "Ultra line up" will replace the Magic for "every day is an Ultra Regatta in Havasu". Sounds good to me!! NSF

ChumpChange
02-05-2007, 08:17 AM
Somebody buy my boat now so I can go back and buy the ULTRA!!!!!!