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Yamaha's Up To $600 Fall Credit & NMMA's New Leaders · The CURRENT

• 0:00
  NMMA names its leaders for 2027 and 2028. And it's launching a new boat show in Dallas. Yamaha puts up to six hundred dollars in dealer credit behind fall outboard sales. And in Louisiana, crews keep pulling abandoned boats out of the bayou. Now, this is The Current.
• 0:15
  If you work on the water, sell to it, service it, or just can't stay away from it, you're in the right place. This is The Current, the business and news podcast for the marine industry, with weekly news overviews every Friday and engaging interviews as they happen. I'm your host, Jon Logan. Welcome aboard.
• 0:35
  Good evening. I'm Jon Logan. Tonight, who's setting the industry's agenda, where it plans to sell more boats, and what one engine maker is paying to keep fall sales moving. The National Marine Manufacturers Association has named its leadership team for 2027 and 2028. In a release dated Friday, October 9th, NMMA named Aine Denari chair of its board for the 2027 and 2028 term. Denari is the incoming CEO of Brunswick. Tommy Hancock of Sportsman Boats is vice chair. Ben Duke of Polaris Marine is treasurer, and Craig Clawson of Magic Tilt Trailers is secretary. Yamaha's Ben Speciale moves to past chair. Denari laid out three priorities. Growing participation in boating. Protecting access. And advancing an advocacy agenda. Then, on Wednesday, NMMA showed where some of that growth is supposed to come from. It's launching a new show, the Discover Boating DTX Boat Show, in Dallas. The first one runs March 18th through the 21st, 2027, at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
• 1:27
  NMMA has locked up 300,000 square feet there through 2029. The numbers behind it are big. NMMA says Texas ranks third in the country for boating spending, with more than 625,000 registered boats. Dallas-Fort Worth alone has about 179,000. NMMA president and CEO Frank Hugelmeyer called North Texas an enthusiastic boating community. Dealers are already backing it. MarineMax Dallas, One Water Marine and Waterview Marinas all went on the record for it. If you sell or service boats anywhere near North Texas, that's a new spring show on your calendar. And that brings us to tonight's main story. Yamaha is paying to keep outboards moving through the fall. Its Power Into Fall sales event started Monday, October 12th, and runs through Monday, December 14th. It stacks two things on top of the standard warranty.
• 2:10
  Extended coverage, and dealer credit. Start with coverage. On new Yamaha four-strokes from 30 to 350 horsepower, buyers get three years of Yamaha Extended Service on top of the three-year limited warranty. That's six years total. On the 425 and 450, it's two years of extended service on a five-year warranty. Seven years. Then the credit. It's based on MSRP, and it goes toward other goods and services from the dealer. It's up to six hundred dollars on 150 to 175 horsepower motors. Up to four hundred on the 115. Up to three hundred on 60 to 90. Some of the small portables get credit too, up to five hundred on the 25. Above 175 horsepower, and from 30 to 50, there's no dealer credit at all. Just the coverage.
• 2:49
  There's also a Siren bonus. Activate a Siren subscription with an eligible motor, and that's another five hundred dollars toward Siren accessories. The fine print matters here. The outboard has to be new, never warranty registered, and built since January 2019. It's U.S. dealers and U.S. buyers only. Commercial, rental and demo use are out. And it can't be combined with most other Yamaha offers. Yamaha's Frank Wilhelm says the event gives customers more ways to add value across a range of horsepower categories. So ask yourself what this means for your shop. If you're a dealer, that January 2019 line is the one I'd circle. An eligible motor that's been sitting in stock can still qualify, as long as it's sold and registered by December 14th. Credit spent in your store stays in your store. And six years of coverage is six years of reasons for that owner to keep coming back to a Yamaha service department.
• 3:34
  Staying with Yamaha. On Tuesday, the company announced DockPoint Pontoon. It pairs Helm Master EX joystick control with a Jet Thruster from Holland Marine Parts, on a single-outboard pontoon. Push the stick sideways and the boat walks. Twist it and the boat spins in place. The thruster runs on a 24-volt Vetus brushless motor, fed by two 12-volt batteries that the outboard charges. It's recommended for 24 to 30 foot pontoons with 150 to 450 horsepower Yamahas on digital electronic controls. Builders get it in 2027, on select 2028 model year boats. For your techs, that means joystick and thruster systems showing up on pontoons, not just on big twin-engine boats. At the end of September, Regulator Marine added two Florida dealers. The Ships Chandler in Destin covers the Panhandle. Sand N Sea Marine in Stuart covers the Treasure Coast.
• 4:19
  Regulator builds offshore center consoles in Edenton, North Carolina. Keith Ammons, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, said both dealers share its focus on quality and customer service. Regulator says new 2027 models are already in stock across its network. And Denison Yachting has a new president. Patrick Coote takes the job after OceanWorld Group became Denison's majority shareholder. Coote comes from the superyacht world, with stops at Fraser, Northrop and Johnson, and most recently MarineMax's superyacht division.
• 4:46
  CEO Bryan Braley stays on. The plan is to grow in the U.S. and build out in Europe and the Gulf states. The release says that includes a targeted acquisition program. So expect Denison to come shopping. The Current is sponsored by Marine Diagnostic Tools. MDT puts dealer-level Jaltest marine diagnostics in the hands of independent marine repair shops and boat surveyors. Full system coverage across the engine brands already in your pipeline, so you stop turning away work because the software says no. Find the right diagnostic kit at marinediagnostictools.com, or call 844-627-4630.
• 5:22
  One more thing. Down in Louisiana, Terrebonne Parish has been cleaning up its waterways, one wreck at a time. On October 6th and 7th, crews pulled two more abandoned boats out of the Terrebonne Basin. That's part of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary. This BoatUS-funded project is aiming for about 75 boats. With these two, it's pulled nearly 50. The money comes through the BoatUS Foundation, from a 2023 NOAA Marine Debris Program award. Terrebonne is one of 10 groups across the country getting help from it. And these aren't cheap to haul out. BoatUS has said the average removal runs more than 24,000 dollars. Michael Moore, a program manager at the BoatUS Foundation, put it simply. Every boat we pulled out means safer passage and cleaner waterways. The effort's growing, too. New Jersey State Police are the newest partner on the BoatUS database that tracks abandoned boats. That's The Current for the week of October 16th.
• 6:10
  Brunswick reports third quarter results Thursday, October 29th, before the market opens. That's the next number to watch. I'm Jon Logan. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and I will see you next Friday.