High hopes for Ft Lauderdale

High hopes for Ft Lauderdale
第51屆美國羅德岱堡船展被寄予厚望

The 51st annual Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS) opened today, marked by cloudy skies and tempered optimism among exhibitors. According to organiser Show Management, which bills FLIBS as the world's largest in-water boat show, more than US$3bn worth of boats, yachts, and marine products are on display. FLIBS is spread over five sites, comprising 3m square feet of exhibit space.
第51屆羅德岱堡船展於美東時間28日正式展開，開幕當日是個溫和多雲的天氣，祥和樂觀的氣氛瀰漫在所有參展廠商之間。 根據主辦單位提供的資料顯示，德岱堡船展(FLIBS)是全世界最大的水上遊艇展，展示總價值超過30億美元的各式船舶、遊艇以及相關的海事用品。 本屆 FILBS 共劃分了五個主要展區，展區範圍達300萬平方英呎。

Many exhibitors are using this year's show as a barometer to forecast how well the late autumn and winter retail seasons will perform. A number of large boat builders are also hoping to gain multiple sales from the show to keep their facilities open through the winter until the sales season begins in early 2011.
許多參展廠商將本屆的 FILBS 船展視為探測市場景氣指標的晴雨表，用以預測在今年展場後接下來之秋冬兩季可能的銷售量。 一些巨型遊艇建造商也希望透過本屆船展，可以爭取到更多的銷售訂單，以期今年冬季直至2011年銷售季開始此段期間，仍能持續維持其公司內部之生產運作。

Several dozen companies are also using the show to launch new products. The Ferretti Group will launch its new Bertram 800 flagship today, while also showing the Ferretti Yachts 570, Riva 92 and Pershing 80 to the US market for the first time. Tiara Yachts will christen its new 4500 Sovran, and Cabo will show its new 44 Hardtop Express.
有好幾十家船廠也利用本屆船展的機會，順勢推出其公司今年度的新款船型。 法拉帝集團將首次於本屆 FILBS 船展展示全新的旗艦型 Bertram 800，以及集團旗下產品：Ferretti Yachts 570, Riva 92 和 Pershing 80；Tiara遊艇公司將為其新款 4500 Sovran 進行命名活動；Cabo也將展示其最新船款 44 Hardtop Express.

For two other builders, Edgewater and MasterCraft, the show will be the launchpad for entirely new product lines acquired from other builders. Edgewater, known for its offshore center console and walkaround models, will launch its new Shore Series models. The four boats are former inshore fishing boats from Century Boats, which ceased production last year.
對於接下來的這兩家製造商，Edgewater 和 MasterCraft，本船展將是其經由取得/改造其它船廠原型船後，建立全新產品生產線的跳板。Edgewater，以其遠洋航儀中控整合系統及建造環艙走道船型聞名，也將在本屆船展中發表新款的近海船型系列船。代表其公司參展的四艘船艇，是由 Century Boats 造船廠建造但已於去年停產的近海釣魚船。

MasterCraft acquired the Hydra-Sports brand from the Genmar bankruptcy auction in February. While MasterCraft moved the moulds in March to its facility in Vonore, Tennessee, and has been shipping Hydra-Sports to its dealers since the summer, the show will be a public debut for the 2011 Hydra-Sports Customs series.
MasterCraft 在今年二月收購了因 Genmar 破產而拍賣的 Hydra-Sports 品牌；MasterCraft 於今年三月將 Hydra-Sports 船模運至田納西州的沃諾爾(Vonore, Tennessee)廠房進行生產後，已於今年夏季之後陸續完成 Hydra-Sports 船款並交付到經銷商手中，本屆船展將是該公司首次公開 2011年的 Hydra-Sports 客製系列船型款式。

"We've delivered 45 boats since we started building them in June," says John Dorton, CEO of MasterCraft. "But we've also made over 150 improvements and modifications to the boats, focusing on instrumentation, ergonomics, fishing features. Our goal with that line is to offer tournament-class fishing on Saturday and luxury cruising on Sunday. We have kept the hulls, which were great offshore hulls, but totally changed the deck configurations."
MasterCraft 執行長 John Dorton 說明：「我們於今年六月開始生產後，到目前已交付了45艘船，但我們也對於該原始船型規格，針對航儀儀表配置、人體工學、釣魚功能等方面進行了超過150項的改良與改造。我們的目標是將該型船設計為週六可作為毫不遜色於比賽級專業釣魚船用，週日又可以作為一般休閒巡航用。我們保留了該船可於遠洋的適海船殼線型，但甲板已上的配置則已與原先的初始設計大相逕庭。」

Dorton said that the debut of the new Hydra-Sports line is partly to tell the consumer that "Hydra-Sports is alive and well." But he added that the brand is also in search of more US and international dealers.
Dorton 說明於本次船展首次亮相的新款 Hydra-Sports 船型系列，是要告訴消費者：「Hydra-Sports 依然活耀在這個世界上!」同時，Dorton表示目前也正在為此品牌尋找美國與其它國際上的代理商。

Peter Truslow, president of Edgewater Boats, said the four models of 19ft to 24ft boats in the Shore Series was a good fit for his company. "We knew them to be strong, recent designs," Truslow told IBI. "We already build the offshore boats, so those Century models weren't of any interest to us. But these inshore boats make a nice extension for the company."
Edgewater Boats 總裁 Peter Truslow 向本雜誌(IBI)採訪記者說明：「這次船展代表本公司參展，船長介於19呎到24呎的四艘近海船艇，很切合並有達到公司要展示的目的。我們知道這四艘船是強建且相當近期的設計，但由於我們原本就已有在建造近海船艇，因此展示這四艘 Century 的船艇對我們而言並不是重點，但對公司的近海船艇生產線是個很好的延伸。」

Truslow said that Edgewater has redone most interior and exterior features of the former Century boats. "We started with their basic molds and then pretty much changed everything," he said. "We're also building them with our Single-Piece Infusion (SPI) technology, which is very different from what Century did."
Truslow 說明：「在針對 Century 早期的船艇內裝與外觀做了全盤的檢視與評估後，我們對於原先的模具作了相當多的修改，同時也採用了我們公司的 Single-Piece Infusion (SPI) 技術進行生產，此與原 Century 船廠的製造方式有著相當大的不同。」

The inclusion of the Shore Series in the Edgewater line provides its dealers a wider range of products. "It also lets us tap into certain markets on the Gulf coast — Texas, Louisiana, the west coast of Florida — where those boats are particularly popular," Truslow said.
Truslow 說明：「在 Edgewater 的近海船艇生產線加入了這些新船型後，可以提供更多樣的商品給代理商銷售。這也讓我們更有機會打入一些原本對這些船型就已經相當受歡迎的海灣沿岸市場：如德克薩斯州、路易斯安那州、佛羅里達州西海岸。」

Both Dorton and Truslow have strong expectations for Ft Lauderdale. "We had a pretty good show last year, so I don't see any reason why we wouldn't have a good one this year," said Truslow. "Consumers seem to be willing to open their wallets a little more than last year. Our business has been growing since Lauderdale of last year. It's nowhere near the old levels, but at least it's growing."
Dorton 和 Truslow 對於本屆的 FLIBS 船展有著相當大的期望。 Truslow說：「去年我們的展覽辦得相當好，因此我看不出今年船展有任何令人失望的理由。相較於去年，消費者今年似乎也比較願意打開他們的荷包消費。我們的業務量自去年的 FLIBS 船展以來一直有成長。雖然還遠不及早先景氣好時的水平，但至少市場銷售景氣確實有恢復成長的跡象。」

"Ft Lauderdale is a coming-out party for us," said Dorton. "We want to show everyone that we've put the MasterCraft level of quality, style and appointments on the Hydra-Sports line. Of course, we'd like to sell some boats, too."
Dorton 說：「FLIBS 船展對我們而言是個得以登場亮相的奢華派對，我們要展示並讓大眾得知，我們已將 MasterCraft 既有的高品質工藝技術投入到新船款 Hydra-Sports 的生產線上。當然，我們也希望能多銷售出一些船。」


資料來源：IBI News, 28 October 2010
http://www.ibinews.com/ibinews/newsdesk/20100928145940ibinews.html