I often leave my cell phone set to “silent.” I’m of a one-track-mind that tends grind to a screeching halt when interrupted, so the persistent ringing of a cell phone – be it from a text, PM or call – can become quickly aggravating. Nevertheless, this story begins with my phone at my desk like most days, but sometime in early January when it began to vibrate.
Although I didn’t recognize the number, I did know the area code (714) as being from Southern California and my phone noted a long text history. “OK,” I mused, “at least it’s somebody I know and not spam.” I picked up the phone and was greeted by a familiar voice; a contact I had made back in my Personal Watercraft Illustrated days.
Mark was now a bit of a vagabond from what his social media profile showed, which as we all know, cannot be trusted. He spent little time getting to the point: “Do you know how many jet skis were sold on [Facebook] Marketplace last year?” I declined an answer. He blurted, “150,000, Kevin. Almost 150,000 used jet skis were sold on Marketplace last year alone.”
He explained how a friend of his worked for Meta’s corporate office and had passed along the revelation. We discussed the number at length. We mused that most of these were vintage 2-strokes sold at deeply discounted prices, seeing I had picked up a few in 2025 myself.
But the fact remained, more used skis sold during a down economy than during it’s peak year – 1995.
“Well, it certainly means that the demand is there,” I concluded.
“More than that! It means that the product being sold today doesn’t match the demand!” Mark howled.
I took this freshly-minted information with me to Mexico two weeks later, as an invited guest to Sea-Doo’s Querétaro, Mexico facility. Of course, I was only one of several media and content creators invited down to tour the plant. Most stood in awe of the organization, dazzled by the audible din of manufacturing and flurry of motion. I’d seen it before and in greater scale.
Having toured a few automotive assembly plants and one of the last to tour Yamaha’s Newnan, Georgia plant prior to Covid outbreak, BRP’s Querétaro facility was familiar turf. Rather, I came with a mission: to save the future of jet skiing. I had the path to pull our industry out of its long nosedive and the hard data to back it. Now I had the right audience.
“OK, Kevin,” Sea-Doo’s Global Product Strategy Manager, Christian Comtois sighed, “I know you’ve got something to say.” Christian had been interviewing their special guests for most of the morning, and I had purposely taken a backseat. Notably the oldest of the group, and the longest-continual media personality in the sport, I let the “kids” have their say first.
Christian and I had some contact, but not enough to call him a “friend” so I kept my tone professional and measured my approach. He began our interview with a loaded question: What are we missing? My reply was curt, “A future.” His eyes widened and brow furrowed in confusion. “We,” I continued, “have failed to plant any seeds for a future beyond today.”
I shared the data I had received a couple of weeks earlier, along with some added research of my own. Youth, particularly young men are buying PWC at alarming rates, but not what Sea-Doo or anyone else is selling. Massive, heavy, complicated modern PWC have very little appeal to today’s young men. They’re seeking out vintage simplicity.
Earlier, I had taken the info Mark had given me and went to my contacts within the automotive aftermarket, and the numbers didn’t lie. Young men (under 30-years-old) are choosing carburetors over electronic fuel injection. They’re pushing against modernization and seeking out nuts-and-bolts simplicity. No sensors. As few wires as possible. Purely analog.
One young man – a regular attendee to the Sick Week drag-and-drive events – laid it out simply to me a few months ago, “I spend all day on a computer. Why would I want to go in to the garage and work on another computer?”
While Sea-Doo shouldn’t be expected to begin stripping their PWC of all electronic controls and engine management systems, the market research was undeniable. Youth aren’t buying new watercraft – they simply can’t – but more than that, they don’t want to. Surveys have said as much. The current product available today has little to no appeal to today’s youth.
Christian smirked. He had just gotten an ear-full from Classic Jetskis’ host Joe Hill but not in such a business-model friendly delivery. Joe ranted about feel and passion, which are all great, but failed to make a business case. Instead, I produced detailed market segment research that paralleled their own. I also presented a path forward with a cost analysis.
If you want to win over the natives, you gotta speak their language, or in better words, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.” (1 Corinthians 9:20)
The entirety of the personal watercraft industry was built upon young men. These waterscooters were designed as dirt bikes for the water; aquatic snowmobiles. Y’know, noisy 2-strokes jumping boat wakes, busting the lips off of waves, and general bad behavior that our nanny-state society has done everything in its power to stamp out. And now we’re paying for it.
Thankfully, I know with surety that my message was carried upstream. Unfortunately, this degree of course correction takes years of slow-moving corporate bureaucracy to steer back around. Although Sea-Doo is certainly the brand most capable of making this shift (due to the Spark and internal corporate culture) it’ll still take years to execute. And that might already be too late.
New PWC sales have ground to a halt. We’re not at 2011-14 levels, but we’re getting there. And the corners necessary to be cut to save a few bucks here and there have already been made. We’re operating at our thinnest margins (from a manufacturer’s standpoint) and that will baffle many folks when considering how expensive today’s PWC are.
Building and pricing a 1- or 2-seater watercraft accessible to 25-year-olds could literally require doing so at a near-zero margin. The bigger gamble is convincing dealerships to be willing to finance the three or four 25-year-olds it’ll take to match the sale of a single $25,000 unit to a 65-year-old baby boomer.
But that’s the cost of sowing seeds for trees whose shade you won’t be able to sit under.
Go get wet,
Kevin
