EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Welcome to the new look for Sail America
News. Our goal was to make Sail
America News more informative, and
easier to read and navigate. We've
added new features, such as "Refer
a Colleague", a "Calendar of
Events," as well as links to the Sailamerica.com and Strictlysail.com websites.
The purpose of Sail America News is to keep
the sailing industry up to date on Sail America's
activities, schedules and calendars, as well
as provide updates on industry news, trends,
and new products. I encourage you to
refer Sail America News to friends and colleagues
by simply clicking on the link at the top
of this newsletter. Alternatively, anyone
can sign up for Sail America News at www.sailamerica.com.
This issue of Sail America News includes
updates from Sail America's Strictly
Sail shows in Philadelphia, Chicago, and
Miami; a summary of The Sailing Company's
State of the Industry study; an update on
the Discover Boating campaign; and the results
of the 2006 Southam Awards.
After a busy winter boat show season, I
am pleased to report that Sail America's
Strictly Sail shows in Philadelphia, Chicago
and Miami respectively, enjoyed enthusiastic
responses from exhibitors and show attendees—with
strong sales reported at all three shows.
Sail America's trademark approach of
combining exciting sailboat displays with
opportunities to learn more about sailing
and the sailing lifestyle succeeded in drawing
more than 56,000 sailors to all three shows.
The results of the 2006 North American Sailing
Industry study are cause for both concern
and optimism. The North America sailboat
production level in 2006 was one of the lowest
since the late 1990s, with declines in the
production of mid-size cruisers from 30'-35' and
substantial decreases in the under 12' category.
But there were "bright spots." Strong
production increases in boats over 36' pushed
the dollar value of North American production
up 5% over last year to an estimated total
of $755 million. Multihull production increased
11%, accounting for nearly one out of four
imported sailboats in 2006. Production of
daysailors, ranging from 12'-19' feet,
increased a modest 3%.
The 128 sailboat builders in the U.S. and
Canada who contributed to the study submitted
cautiously optimistic forecasts for 2007,
predicting a resurgence in the middle of
the market for boats 20'-35'.
The 2007 Discover Boating campaign kicks
off March 5 with new TV, print and online
banner ads that will run through the Memorial
Day holiday. For the next 13 weeks, ads will
run on national cable television and in popular
lifestyle magazines. Online advertising will
run on the Internet throughout the year.
The new Discover
Boating TV and print
ads seek to give viewers the sense of what
it's like to be on
board a boat, providing first-hand accounts
of being on the water. Sailing is featured
in some of the ads and is prominently featured
on the www.discoverboating.com website,
which will also be
updated with new features, as outlined in
the Discover Boating story in this issue.
Finally, Sail America's recent Southam
Awards in Miami honored
a record-setting number
of mainstream journalists
that submitted 271
entries, 108 more than
the year before, generating
over 172 million media
impressions. These
figures are cause for celebration, indicating
our success at promoting sailing within the
mainstream media. The Grand Prize-winning entry
was Laura Manske's
article in the August
2006 issue of Family
Circle that
followed the story
of a family learning
to sail at a Florida
school and invited
readers to take sailing
lessons as well.
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