BoatUS Magazine feature writer Fiona McGlynn (Credit: Fiona McGlynn)
Why Aren’t Millennials Buying Boats?
A millennial offers
tips for getting younger boaters on the water
Both boaters
and those who rely on boating to make a living lament that there doesn’t seem
to be as many younger boaters these days. The statistics back that up.
According to the recently published BoatUS
Magazine feature “Why
Aren’t Millennials Buying Boats?” (October 2017), approximately 41 percent
fewer 20- to 39-year-olds owned boats in 2015 than in 2005. And while
millennials may boat about as much as their parents did, the data confirms they
are far less likely to own a boat.
Why? Author
and millennial Fiona McGlynn, who is a professional management consultant, may
have some answers.
Lower incomes,
student debt, lack of technical knowledge or mechanical experience, and a
culture shift that eschews conventional ownership in favor of renting take
their toll on millennial (born between 1982 and 2000) boat ownership. “Young
people are not giving up on boating, just going about it in a different way:
chartering, borrowing, and riding along,” says McGlynn, a live-aboard who
recently finished her first South Pacific crossing along with her husband,
Robin.
While owning a
boat can be pricey, McGlynn reports, “I’ve met a number of young boaters
finding creative ways to get out on the water without breaking the bank, such as
millennials who are participating in cooperatives, who share a boat among
friends, or who live aboard a boat instead of renting pricey apartments in
major American waterfront cities. Several boaters interviewed for the story
mentioned the increasing popularity of wake boats, in part because they carry
more people and they’re fun.”
McGlynn
ultimately writes that, in general, millennials prefer the sharing economy. She
asks, why would you buy a ski house, when all you have to do is Airbnb it? She
suggests it’s the same with boats. “20- to 39-year-olds love boating for the
same reasons their parents did. They see it as an opportunity to socialize,
create family memories, and adventures, and unplug from work. Boating has the
potential for a watershed moment among millennials.”
The BoatUS Magazine feature also
includes creative tips on how young people with no boating, sailing, or fishing
experience can get on the water.
For the full
story, go to BoatUS.com/millennials.