I am very late in making a posting, but I have a bit of an excuse. As a part of my job I normally travel a good bit, but the travel has been especially intense this summer. I have had the good fortune to visit England, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Singapore and Australia outside the United States. In addition, over the past two weeks I visited New York, Baltimore, Newark, Los Angeles and San Francisco. All of the travel has been work related and many hours have been spent discussing the economy, the marine industry and Brunswick. In all the dialogue one learns much, some of it important and some of it not, but two insights are of significant importance. First, boating remains an incredibly popular recreational activity around the world. Second, technologies such as Zeus and Axius are driving interest in boating, even in difficult economic conditions. Dealers share stories of selling boats with either Zeus or Axius to new customers solely because of the joystick docking feature. In meeting after meeting with investors, bankers and lawyers, someone in attendance openly, or in sidebar discussions, mentions a demo with a Zeus or Axius equipped boat, or wants to know how and where to experience the technologies. Technologies with such appeal they bring new participants into boating – very special indeed.
