Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/467551
March 2015 | Boating Industry | 33 www.BoatingIndustry.com /// Market Trends /// BY BRIANNA LIESTMAN Manufacturers bring innovation to the pontoon segment i f anyone has a reason to be optimistic for the future, it's pontoon manufactur- ers. From 1999 to 2013, pontoons have grown from making up 12 percent of all boat sales to 25 percent and double-digit sales growth has been consistent in recent years, as other categories have struggled to recover from the recession. However, it's important for OEMs to continue creating new products that consis- tently hold consumers' attention on the seg- ment, especially as the rest of the industry has started taking notice and new competition is establishing itself in the market. If ever there was a time for manufacturers to step up their game, the time is now. Enter the new players Cobalt Boats recently introduced its new pontoon line, the Marker One Platform Series, and it has already begun to see signifi cant sales. It is being marketed as a separate product from the rest of the Cobalt line, which was a strategic choice from the beginning for the manufacturer. "We believe that Marker One will stand alone as our of- fering in the premium pontoon segment. There's a huge op- portunity in the segment for Marker One to develop itself as a choice for the up-scale buyer" said Gavan Hunt, vice presi- dent of sales and marketing at Cobalt Boats. "Like Jaguar and Range Rover, the Cobalt brand is our premium sterndrive fi berglass brand and the Marker One name will be exclusive as our pontoon brand." Cobalt has made clear to its dealer network and customers that the manufacturer wants to differentiate its Marker One line from the rest of the segment. Therefore, Marker One has been marketed as a "platform series" boat, not a pontoon. "When you step aboard a Marker One you can feel the difference immediately, it's not like stepping aboard a pon- toon," said Hunt. "The boat is more stable in the water — not tender when multiple people come aboard. It's solid and sturdy due to the heavy duty construction techniques — like a platform on the water." The platform series is built with a fi berglass deck and structural aluminum grid stringer system, which Hunt says makes the vessel ideal in saltwater or freshwater environ- ments, and Marker One is only available in a tri-tube offer- ing. These tubes, which Hunt refers to as "hulls," are built with .090-gauge aluminum and .125 gauge bow cones. From the deck up, the platform series is similar to a Co- balt boat: The Marker One line utilizes the same materials, craftsmanship and many of the same in-house processes and procedures on the design of Cobalt's sterndrive boats. The Marker One series uses fi berglass sidewalls as opposed to the typical aluminum panels one would fi nd in the segment. Marker One pontoons have a 9'3" beam and are currently offered in 25-foot and 27-foot hull confi gurations, with more on the drawing board. "Cobalt has been committed to the boating industry for many years and this new commitment to the pontoon The new Marker One series comes with an African mahogany hull side option and a number of other features that are similar to those offered on Cobalt's sterndrive boats. Larson developed its triple-tapered tube technology to provide a similar feel for customers who were accustomed to owning a fi berglass boat.