Is the RDP aging out, next generation coming up?

[LargeOrangeFont]

there's so much crazy shit on PH, you can pretty much find anything you are looking for unless you are into some really bizarre shit.

RD

Thats still watching a move as opposed to participating in it.

Again I agree, but if you are into really weird shit or an incel, or can’t interact well with people…. There is broad appeal of OF and the like.

 

[Shlbyntro]

there's so much crazy shit on PH, you can pretty much find anything you are looking for unless you are into some really bizarre shit.

RD

I still can't find what I'm looking for. I must be in the wrong section??

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I still can't find what I'm looking for. I must be in the wrong section??

View attachment 1323311

You need to try a different one.

 

[HBCraig]

I only know.a few kids that are river people. My son is 18 and I can guarantee he will have a cool boat. I coached a kid who is a total river kid too. He also a ski racer that is the best in his class. He also finished top 10 in the Catalina race.

I hope the next generation isn't a bunch of whiny snowflakes

 

[SKIDMARC]

You are paying for the personalized content and experience you want created, individual experiences, etc.

What’s wild is the people paying for it from AI.

Sound sound like a subscriber! LOL Just kidding, kind of.

 

[Deckin Around]

there's so much crazy shit on PH, you can pretty much find anything you are looking for unless you are into some really bizarre shit.

RD

If you know that, what was the really bizarre shit you were looking for and couldn't find?

 

[Desert Whaler]

As mentioned earlier . . . the Lower River Outboards group is a pretty young crowd.

At last years Lower River Run I seen this dude & his lady . . . . I couldn't read what it said on the outboard cowl .

Then at one of the stops, I heard a guy say, "What's 'The Matter Daddy' . . "??? . . . and the dude replied something classic like, "Everything's fine my Son"!!!!

 

[spectras only]

I remember when the new redesigned Supra skiboats showed up at a reasonable price of 60K cdn. Lot of young guys were heavily into water skiing but couldn't come up with 60K on their own. Group of 2 3 or 4 pooled together buying one, sharing finances running their boats. We had of course Dad's who bought the boats to have their kids and friends having good time and stay away from drugs and other bad things. I have friends here in lake country they were well off being in the oil or other heavy businesses in Alberta , migrating to BC. They can afford to pay out 3-400K on a wave tractor to share with their family and friends. Today's young people can't afford to buy a boat, let alone paying rents from 1500-2500 a month, regardless what city or town you live, unless you have a decent job, government or union to boot. something gona give one of these days IMO. .

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Sound sound like a subscriber! LOL Just kidding, kind of.

What you do on your own time is your business bud.

 

[Bigbore500r]

Well they arent on RDP because if they came on here to show off their little jet boat and home made stereo system with their beat up Ford ranger....most the people on here would essentially tell them to "go be poor somewhere else", that the truck isnt rated to tow that boat and their speakers are junk, etc.....lol

I beg to differ. There's a dude on here supercharging a Ford Ranger using the alternator pulley as a drive hub . . . .

 

[RiverDave]

I still can't find what I'm looking for. I must be in the wrong section??

View attachment 1323311

I’m pretty sure I own that domain ironically enough lol

 

[JFMFG]

One of my friend is 28 and got an 33x speedster. Havasu house, self made and all. One of the biggest hustlers I know. His whole group of friends is under 30 and all have 30ft + cats.

And just like that I feel like a peasant again

 

[ChrisV]

And just like that I feel like a peasant again

If you’re IG active you’ll know what group im talking about.

 

[JFMFG]

If you’re IG active you’ll know what group im talking about.

I have 0 social media lol.

 

[rivermobster]

The lifestyle will not go away, the type of crowd this site attracts will. Its a very different site from when I joined almost 13 years ago. I was 30 back then. There was bickering of course but not to the extent is at now. Things that are said on hear constantly about the younger generation deters them. One thing about the younger generation is they do tend to stay away from certain negativity. Its about the balance for them. This site is not appealing for them, why hang on a site that hates your generation or your type of boat (Wakeboard boats) ? The reality is, you older guys with the high performance boats are the minority in the boating world. Maybe things will change. You never know.

Good post.

You'll Never hear anything negative from my daughter and her boyfriend. They both are always looking forward and can't tolerate Anything negative!

With all the negative nellies on here, they would log out in five minutes flat.

Most of the kids in their 20's, that I personally know, are all the same way. In college and living their best lives 100 percent focused on their goals.

They are 1000 times wiser than I was at that age. More power to em.

 

[hallett21]

We’re not going anywhere . I think it’s stayed doable because we’ve ran a program that is affordable. With our daughter it’s only a matter of time that we end up in 240 Hallett or the like. I don’t want to ever own something I can’t afford to fix in the same year.

But we still consistently run with 7 people in our Vector up and down Havasu and Parker. Having an infant in the boat has caused me to slow way down. Which is fine, because we just enjoy the ride. When I get a section of flat water I’ll leg it for a short burst.

 

[gqchris]

If you’re IG active you’ll know what group im talking about.

You talking about the dispensary guys?

 

[77charger]

IMO priced out today.When i was 20 i had a jet boat we grew up with knew how to fix it rebuild engine etc.Had a 78 squarebody chevy 4x4 and it took 60 bucks one way then lol. 40 when i took off the front driveshaft.Those were the days

4 of us would go we split the cost a good weekend would cost us like 175-200 each splitting cost with a 150 a night hotel room on big weekends and drinks at kokomos.Yeh the times were great no doubt today the fuel might be the cheapest part.

 

[hallett21]

IMO priced out today.When i was 20 i had a jet boat we grew up with knew how to fix it rebuild engine etc.Had a 78 squarebody chevy 4x4 and it took 60 bucks one way then lol. 40 when i took off the front driveshaft.Those were the days

4 of us would go we split the cost a good weekend would cost us like 175-200 each splitting cost with a 150 a night hotel room on big weekends and drinks at kokomos.Yeh the times were great no doubt today the fuel might be the cheapest part.

That’s another thing, can you even “work” on a newer truck? I know you can do the maintenance but with todays computers it sure doesn’t seem as user friendly.

 

[77charger]

That’s another thing, can you even “work” on a newer truck? I know you can do the maintenance but with todays computers it sure doesn’t seem as user friendly.

Why i keep my 04 2500hd and i have done a few things like water pump,starter,knock sensor under the intake,radiator,one exhaust manifold and last year the ac system.I found it easier than my old stuff for sure so it will stay.Has 262k on it and in good shape still i have no worries putting another 100k on it.When engine expires i will pull out do a rebuild and cam swap to put some balls into that 6.0.

My son bought a new camry so i got his old mitsubishi lancer for cheap we have done some work on it but thing runs damn good and simple so i use it for driving back and forth from az to so cal.I dont complain at 36 mpg.Sure new stuff is nice but the computer stuff and all that i want no part of when working on it.

 

[rivergames]

Hey WW, I found a pic of you painting a picture of Chief Squatting Dog!

I swear that's your Doppelganger!

 

[PlanB]

I don’t get where these young guys are getting these 2-3-400k wakeboard boats.. the price tags are insane

Seems like it's getting more expensive as well. I was looking at Bennington's last night on Sun Country's site and a new 28 with a single 400 is 250K. The bottom of the barrel toons with a 115 are almost 60K. I did not look at the wake boats, but I imagine they are going up in price as well. Something has to give at some point.

As far as younger kids going to the river, I started out with a ski and tent camping at Lost Lake. One guy in the group had a jet boat and we would take turns going for rides. I did not start staying in hotel rooms until I was in my late 20's. Cheap and fun way of enjoying the river.

 

[Sportin' Wood]

I think about it everyday believe me. I am trying to appeal to the younger crowd via the clothing right now, which is why we are running leggings / joggers / more appealing designs to younger girls etc.

As you said forums are a bit different for todays youth, but we rank so stupid high with google that we get a constant inflow of 100+K people a month which is what has helped this place maintain and even grow over the years when everyone else died when FB and IG etc boomed.


Just this morning I talked to a guy from Florida looking to buy intake scoops for the 450R's. He had seen it somewhere googled it and randy corson's thread popped #1 on rdp.. now he's ordering 3 sets, and possibly coming to SuperCat and Desert Storm this year. He has a 36 concept CC that runs 93 mph and he's working towards 100 mph.. Not to get side tracked, I'm just saying that's how the place is "seeded".

RD

RDPs Google game is strong. I like unique boats; when I find something on the marketplace and do a search, most of the meaningful content is on RDP and curated from membership.

It makes me a little sad that we are not getting everything we can from the icons of West Coast performance boating captured here on RDP before they pass on. I think the site does a fantastic job of seeding the membership with like-minded individuals who have some money. This place is like an interactive history book.

I think RDP could do better by developing the next generation of boaters. Some of the jet boat stuff I see on IG and FB makes me happy. My kid does not talk about some big OB cat; he dreams of turning wrenches in his garage on a rowdy $6000 jet boat and throwing a roost. It makes me laugh because he cried when he was a kid in our 18-foot Jet Bote.

I think the events are the key. My buddy who owns a magazine seeds his enthusiast base by doing a handful of events yearly. He grabs 90% of his content for the year in the same trip. He sells the culture at his events and pads his advertisers' wallets at the same time. He is cautious about not becoming an elitist and making it seem unobtainable.

Edit: It just occurred to me that the events are what attracted me to Hot Boat forums back in the day and, ultimately, to RDP.

 

[brgrcru]

Homes today don’t have enough room to store our toys. Most can’t even fit a pickup truck in the driveway, and have no yard to store anything.

Those camping along the river are the homeless population.

So I guess I’m homeless a few months of the year ,

 

[brgrcru]

My 30 year old son and his wife hanging at the delta in his boat
Yes they are river rats

 

[Big B Hova]

This youngest generation still hasn't decided what gender they want to be, let alone jet boat vs wake boat.

Truth is in 20-30 years we won't be able to afford gas and it will all be battery powered tesla boats that all look the same

 

[Big B Hova]

Maybe the feature ain't so bad now that I think about it

 

[Angler]

Maybe the feature ain't so bad now that I think about it

View attachment 1323356 View attachment 1323357 View attachment 1323358 View attachment 1323359

I like the chick in the white!

 

[AEA]

I disagree with this. I think if a young guy posted his cheap boat and truck it would get lots of positive responses, especially from us older guys talking about how we started out the same way.

Now I'm far from being a young guy just starting out but I picked up this cheap little jet bote last summer and it got lots of positive comments on here and no negative ones. My first jet so I know nothing about them and many inmates chimed in with great advice. I paid only $6500 for it so I would think a lot of young guys could afford something like this.

I don't go to The River much anymore because I live far away but the local lakes around here have lots of young people on them. Yes, most are in wake boats or cheap runabouts but there are performance boat guys too. You don't see much big dollar stuff here though but there are some on Tahoe.

I think it it easier here because dragging your boat to a local lake is a lot easier than a trip to The River. They are close by so it doesn't take long to get there (=more boating time) and you can just go home at night. If you go to The River you have to pay for a place to stay, go out to eat, more gas used, etc so it costs a lot more. I'm sure younger guys are still going but probably can't afford to go every weekend.

View attachment 1323184

What's the lake in the photo?

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Ain't what it used to be, thats for sure

 

[SJP]

IDK - I have been thinking about this thread this afternoon. The OGhotBoat was a way dicier place to post the even the dungeon is today. It was the wild west online in 2001-06 forums. I think RD has done a great job moderating the extreme from the boring tame. There has always been crazy river boats / setups that people shake their head at say WTF "how does this even make sense?". It doesn't and that is why we are here posting today.

The younger generation will drive the market. We are seeing this at our local hot spot waterways in AZ. Go talk to local inter coastal FL boaters - they are seeing it over there as well. Our current big boat, second home that is better than most of the worlds primary, multi boat, and etc. etc. has become the norm across the country.

SJP

 

[DWC]

IDK - I have been thinking about this thread this afternoon. The OGhotBoat was a way dicier place to post the even the dungeon is today. It was the wild west online in 2001-06 forums. I think RD has done a great job moderating the extreme from the boring tame. There has always been crazy river boats / setups that people shake their head at say WTF "how does this even make sense?". It doesn't and that is why we are here posting today.

The younger generation will drive the market. We are seeing this at our local hot spot waterways in AZ. Go talk to local inter coastal FL boaters - they are seeing it over there as well. Our current big boat, second home that is better than most of the worlds primary, multi boat, and etc. etc. has become the norm across the country.

SJP

This place has calmed down a shitload over the years. The threads get sideways every once and awhile but not nearly as rough.

 

[Wmc]

Bring back the Rick Roll and let's fire this place up

 

[DRYHEAT]

Maybe the feature ain't so bad now that I think about it

View attachment 1323356 View attachment 1323357 View attachment 1323358 View attachment 1323359

That’s some scary AI looking stuff.

 

[DWC]

It makes me a little sad that we are not getting everything we can from the icons of West Coast performance boating captured here on RDP before they pass on. I think the site does a fantastic job of seeding the membership with like-minded individuals who have some money. This place is like an interactive history book.

I think RDP could do better by developing the next generation of boaters. Some of the jet boat stuff I see on IG and FB makes me happy. My kid does not talk about some big OB cat; he dreams of turning wrenches in his garage on a rowdy $6000 jet boat and throwing a roost. It makes me laugh because he cried when he was a kid in our 18-foot Jet Bote.

It would be awesome to see more content from the West Coast builders. We’re very lucky to have so many legends in our backyard and on the boards for that matter. If i was RD I’m not sure how much time/effort I’d put into it though. His 2023 recap has 3 replies, the OL cat has 12 with 4 being Dave. .

 

[Crazyhippy]

My daughter just turned 14 (literally yesterday) and is asking to build her own boat... Guess what the age to legally drive without parent supervision is in NC.

We're building a 14' Allison clone with a 60hp merc. Mostly white with metallic purple accents.

 

[SJP]

This place has calmed down a shitload over the years. The threads get sideways every once and awhile but not nearly as rough.

Totally. The crazy uncensored and un-moderated threads were unreal.

 

[PlanB]

IDK - I have been thinking about this thread this afternoon. The OGhotBoat was a way dicier place to post the even the dungeon is today. It was the wild west online in 2001-06 forums. I think RD has done a great job moderating the extreme from the boring tame. There has always been crazy river boats / setups that people shake their head at say WTF "how does this even make sense?". It doesn't and that is why we are here posting today.

The younger generation will drive the market. We are seeing this at our local hot spot waterways in AZ. Go talk to local inter coastal FL boaters - they are seeing it over there as well. Our current big boat, second home that is better than most of the worlds primary, multi boat, and etc. etc. has become the norm across the country.

SJP

I agree about HotBoat. Lots of arguments on that site during those years. It was still a good time, but a different vibe than RDP.

 

[Smupser]

You are paying for the personalized content and experience you want created, individual experiences, etc.

What’s wild is the people paying for it from AI.

You sound like a man of experience, I only say cause I recognize someone like myself

 

[TPC]

I don’t get where these young guys are getting these 2-3-400k wakeboard boats.. the price tags are insane

I asked our sales guy who sells them. Lots of buyers remorse and eventually HUGE discounts when they wake up, realize OK, I've had my fun,, I owe 200K!!??? then take forever to sell them.

 

[Tremor Therapy]

I see the youngsters all of the time, and can't wait for my son to join them. He's 27, got a good job, bought his first used truck, and is constantly looking for an older 21-22 foot open bow that he can afford. In fact one of his buddies just bought an old boat and is fixing it up. I always encourage them and never talk sh*t about their boats...because that is exactly how I started!

 

[coolchange]

My daughter just turned 14 (literally yesterday) and is asking to build her own boat... Guess what the age to legally drive without parent supervision is in NC.

We're building a 14' Allison clone with a 60hp merc. Mostly white with metallic purple accents.

Good for you and her! Post a build thread or just updates.

 

[dave29]

My 30 year old son and his wife hanging at the delta in his boat
Yes they are river rats
View attachment 1323354 View attachment 1323355

God love em!!!! Reminds me of when I was that age. Boat and all!! A whole life ahead of them.

 

[regor]

Great thread and I'd like to take the opportunity to make a suggestion to all the young mad lads out there in RDP land.........

 

[JDKRXW]

Good post.

You'll Never hear anything negative from my daughter and her boyfriend. They both are always looking forward and can't tolerate Anything negative!

With all the negative nellies on here, they would log out in five minutes flat.

Most of the kids in their 20's, that I personally know, are all the same way. In college and living their best lives 100 percent focused on their goals.

They are 1000 times wiser than I was at that age. More power to em.

100% -- these types of kids are out there.
My daughter and SIL (both 27) are exactly like this and IMO the world is their oyster right now.
Since finishing college 4 yrs ago - it's plain to see what direction that both of their career/life tracks are headed right now.

 

[Wave Hi]

That’s some scary AI looking stuff.

Not after a handful of shots and a 12 pack...!!!

 

[Kachina26]

All kinds of youngsters among us, go check the “where were you?” Thirty years ago thread.

 

[4Waters]

All kinds of youngsters among us, go check the “where were you?” Thirty years ago thread.

I was 17 1/4 years old 30 years ago

 

[kurtis500]

Well they arent on RDP because if they came on here to show off their little jet boat and home made stereo system with their beat up Ford ranger....most the people on here would essentially tell them to "go be poor somewhere else", that the truck isnt rated to tow that boat and their speakers are junk, etc.....lol

That was me 32 years ago. 88 S-10 towing a Hondo flatbottom... Good times, still have the Hondo

 

[Tommy Gun Images]

There’s young bucks everywhere at the river. Some in high dollar cats or wake boats, and some in shitbox jets and out boards. Not that much has changed in that regard.
Florida is the same way. Lots of young dudes on Keys Island Runners and Bay Rippers running around in their 21 Paramounts with 300Rs on the back.