Dec. 1, 2008 – PWC Digest

Florida amendment to preserve working waterfront passes

Florida’s marine industry celebrated a different election victory on Nov. 4 — the adoption of a constitutional amendment to preserve working waterfront.
Advocates of the amendment, which passed with the support of more than 70 percent of Florida voters, successfully argued that marine business owners were at a disadvantage in a state that taxed waterfront property, like marinas, boatyards and dry storage facilities the same as pricey condos. The result was that many businesses simply vanished, unable to pay the bills. The amendment requires county assessors to now consider the current use of a property when setting a value for tax purposes, not the “highest and best use” standard used in the past.

Yamaha gains ground

While the numbers certainly paint a bleak picture of the 2008 sales year, further inspection reveals positive news for one manufacturer. Judging by results through the second quarter of the year, Yamaha appears to be gaining ground slowly but surely in overall market share. Looking on a year-to-date basis through June, the WaveRunner manufacturer displayed the smallest percentage drop of any manufacturer. Those same numbers show Yamaha upping its market share to 34.2 percent, a gain of about 2.6 percentage points over the previous year-to-date figures.

Moore honored by PWIA

The Personal Watercraft Industry Association announced recently that Florida Boating Law Administrator Captain Richard Moore was awarded the 2008 Boating Safety Leadership Award. The award, which recognizes an individual in the boating law community who has displayed significant effort in promoting safety, was given to Moore for his efforts regarding the creation and passing of legislation for several boating safety initiatives in Florida.
“The PWC industry has been one of our biggest champions behind boater education and safety,” said Moore, who began his career in resource protection and boating law enforcement in 1990. psb