T&T: Associating actions with boats (was Fishermen, wakes and other such things.)

[Faure, Marin]

>Why is it that some people want to associate actions with a particular
type of boat?

Two reasons that I can think of, both of them extreme generalities.
Some boats--- Sea Rays, big sportfishermen, etc.--- tend to attract a
particular group of buyers.  And this group--- remember, these are
generalities--- can be said to possess certain personalities.
Aggressive, competitive, used to being in command (in business, in
sports, etc.), perhaps with larger egos, and so on.  The way all of us
operate our boats tends to reflect our personalities, at least to a
degree.  Since we don't know the actual person who's running the other
boat in an aggressive, "everyone get out of my way" manner it's only
natural that we start to associate the behavior of (some, most?) Sea Ray
or sportfisherman owners with that type of boat.  Which quickly turns
into "all Sea Ray owners are (your term here)."

Out here the most commonly insulted brand is Bayliner.  The generality
here is that all Bayliner owners are inconsiderate and incompetent.
Again, total generalities, but people tend to think in terms of
generalities (it's easier).  I believe where this got started is that
Bayliner became phenomenally successful by figuring out how to build a
wide range of boats with a wide range of appeal at prices that the
widest possible range of the market could afford.  So a person who
couldn't justify the expenditure for a Grand Banks, Ocean Alexander,
Tollycraft, etc., or in the small-boat fishing category, a Grady-White,
Olympic, Sea Sport, etc. often could often justify the cost of a similar
size Bayliner.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Bayliner
Trophy fishing boats in the PNW than all other brands of similarly-sized
fishing boats combined.  So Bayliner made it possible for a whole lot of
people to get into boating, people who otherwise might not consider it
because of the cost.

The fellow who is willing to pony up the bucks to get a Grand Banks or
Sea Sport is probably pretty serious about this boating thing.  So the
chances are they will take the boating safety course and learn the rules
of the road and operate the boat in a relatively intelligent and
considerate manner simply because boating is a bigger deal to them---
it's why they were able to justify spending the money they spent.

But there are a lot of people who really like the idea of boating but
aren't all that interested in the rules and taking courses and thinking
hard about how their actions might affect the operator of other boats,
and so on.  They just want to be able to take their families or fishing
buddies out on the water.  A Bayliner offers them an opportunity to do
this without coughing up a huge pile of bucks in the process.  So you
get a higher proportion of semi-serious (or non-serious) boaters driving
Bayliners than you do driving Grand Banks or Sea Sports.

Everybody on this list can recount an example of a boat that waked them
out or forced them out of a channel or did something rude or
inconsiderate even if it was years ago.  But all the hundreds if not
thousands of other boats we encounter that have no effect whatsoever on
us are quickly forgotten.  So.... you get a higher number of Bayliner
owners operating in an ignorant or irresponsible manner simply because
there are more Bayliners out there than any other type of boat, and we
remember the times when a boater messed us up in some way.  Since the
odds are greater that it was a Bayliner operator instead of a Grand
Banks or Nordhavn operator, we end up with.....  "all Bayliner owners
are (your term here)."

Of course the aggressive or inconsiderate actions are not the result of
the brand name on the boat that's being driven aggressively or
inconsiderately, but it's the nature of us humans to start associating
the brand with the personalities of the owners we have bad experiences
with.


_________________________________________
C. Marin Faure
Producer/Director, Boeing Video Services
telephone (206)650-5622
fax: (425)965-4253
e-mail: marin.faure@boeing.com