What's She Rate?

It has been an interesting experience seeing the show from the exhibitor's perspective. Without going into whole lot of detail let me say that Alan Barnes is one dedicated guy when it come to the Rocket. You folks who have bought a boat already know what I mean. A lot of other folks are finding out. Notwithstanding the long days at the show and the necessary schmoozing with industry contacts that are necessary to confirm the relationship with suppliers that would be enough to exhaust most people, Alan is starting and ending his day on the internet answering questions from those folks interested about the technical aspects of the boat before and after the show.

The stream of people going buy has been steady and it has been interesting to watch the crowd change from day to day. On day one it was exhibitors and V.I.P's. The trade was interested in making connections that would support their own business while connecting with the public through the retail sale of product. In the meantime the V.I.P's were a dedicated lot. They knew what they wanted to see and made a bee line for it. those who get it when it comes to sports boats in general and the Rocket in particular have insightful questions about the boat and its operation that show the research has already been done before they showed up at the show. That meant plenty of interested traffic at the Rocket and at least half a dozen solid connections were made with the public that first day. Lots of comparisons trying to be made between different boats in the sorts boat genre, many of which were more imagined then real.

Day two saw those sailors specifically looking at certain boats and doing comparison shopping giving us a close scrutiny. At times I found myself addressing six or seven people at once. In the meantime a familiar pattern of questions arises: How long? How wide? What's she draw? How much (either bare boat or all up)? And inevitably, "What's she rate?" Once again a good number of interesting leads developed out of this day.

Saturday, day three, saw the complexion of the crowd change again. Lots of guys and gals out for an interesting day of looking at boats. Fewer people were directly drawn to the the boat as a performance boat (a larger crowd, so it seemed the number of people we talked to remained about the same but the level of knowledge was lower, so a lot of time was spent with them on the learning curve). However, the people who got it were very knowledgeable about the boat and very focused on what they wanted. Interestingly we also saw more people from the trade then we did on day one, including a dealer from the Netherlands as well as dealers from both coasts making serious inquiries in that direction.

Most interesting for me were the guys from Viper, representing the Viper 640. These guys really got it. They know what sports boats are all about. They all showed a genuine appreciation for the Rocket while at the same time recognizing that the two boats serve very different different constituencies. Consequently there was a good feeling of camaraderie as opposed to competition coming from them and we had several very productive conversations with them.

The other guys who it has been interesting to talk to are the crew from Forte Spars. They are having a good show themselves, and they have dropped by the boat several times and each time the conversation in terms of where the sports boat industry is going has gotten more in depth and detailed. These guys know their industry and getting an insiders view has been fascinating. Without going into detail, it is clear that they are dedicated to high performance sport boats and the Rocket in their view is a leading exemplar of the kind. The impression I get is that the Rocket is on the verge of a major break through with the sailing public. The first year it was at the show it was a curiosity. The second year it was a novelty. This year it is a recognized commodity. The cognoscenti are getting it: a high performance purpose built boat. You want to go fast, you have to look at the Rocket. Only after the fast question is answered are people getting into he other questions of comfort, ease of launching etc.

OK, its not all work. Some time has to be spent replenishing those precious bodily fluids we sweat out sitting in the sun all day. As they say, a tough dirty job, but someone has to do it.