Long ago, conventional wisdom had it that missing the annual Miami International Boat Show meant missing sales and was a major marketing faux pas. If a boat company didn’t display at the annual event, people would assume that company was in trouble, or so that wisdom held.

For both Mystic Powerboats and Skater Powerboats, the Miami International Boat Show didn’t make sense this year. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

Even longer ago, conventional wisdom had it that the earth was flat. If you walked far enough, you’d fall off the edge and into oblivion.

That sums up my general take on conventional wisdom.

Both Mystic Powerboats and Skater Powerboats, two of the high-performance marine industry’s strongest brands, are opting out of next month’s Miami event. Neither company is in financial straits. Both can afford to exhibit at the show.

Fans of the Skater and Mystic brands will miss seeing them in Miami next month, but both brands will survive their absence.

Neither Mystic’s John Cosker nor Peter Hledin of Skater believe there is enough return on investment to warrant the six-figure cost—not to mention the headaches of move-in and move-out in traffic-choked South Florida—of displaying in Miami this year. Neither has found the event particularly effective for producing or leading to sales. And so they’re out, at least this year.

Both will do just fine without being there, though fans of each brand who attend will surely miss them. Being a major fan of both Mystic and Skater, I’ll miss them, too.

But I won’t make any more out of their absence than what it is—a simple and carefully considered marketing decision by two experienced boatbuilders. Of course, people tend to speculate and make inferences, then form opinions based on them. And that’s sure to happen here. So be it.

Still, Mystic and Skater will survive just fine without Miami.

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