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May 2015 | Boating Industry | 35 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// boats since 1993. It was originally built to cruise and provide good seating capacity. "It has a very open cockpit feel to it so you can move around very easily," said Baldree, who added that Chaparral's 26- and 28-foot Sunestas were built into the line for customers who wanted to move up into a larger boat that fi t more passengers. However, the popularity of water sports has infl uenced Chaparral's deck boat develop- ment. Chaparral extended its Sunesta line of deck boats with the Sunesta Xtreme, which is directly tailored for water sports use with bal- last, amenities and graphics geared toward those activities and the consumers who enjoy them. Baldree says Chaparral will be adding the Volva Penta Forward Drive engine to its Xtreme line in the 2016 model year, which will be great for AN INVERSE OF ENGINE TRENDS Tom Walworth, general manager of Statistical Surveys, reviewed data on the last 10 years of deck boat sales and found that power application trends have more or less reversed: While 68 percent of propulsion in deck boats was sterndrive and 32 percent was outboard in 2005, 43 percent of propulsion in 2014 was sterndrive and 57 percent was outboard. Walworth says this trend is likely due to the cost of the engine: Outboards are viewed as more affordable than sterndrives. Additionally, popularity in boat length has shifted. In 2005, the percentage of registered boats was evenly split across deck boats ranging from 19 to 24 feet. However, 19- and 20-foot deck boats represented 46 percent of the market in 2014. Walworth says this shows that because the consumer shifted to using outboard engines, the boats are now smaller as an outboard engine is more effi cient that a sterndrive in smaller boats. "The affordability of the deck boat is probably also coming into play here," said Walworth, adding that the combination of smaller hulls and outboard engines has created a cost-effi cient product for the consumer. » of propulsion in deck boats was outboard and 43 percent was sterndrive 57% 57% » of propulsion in deck boats was sterndrive and 32 percent was outboard 68% 68% In 2005 In 2014