Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I went to the Boat show over the weekend in NYC. To my surprise they had two pontoon boat manufacturers there, Bennington & Premier. The top of the line Bennington looked really nice except for the price....$99,000. Holy sh*t . Premier had some different models. I loved the Entertainer model with the full bar in the stern but I cant see myself mixing drinks for my five year old. The Premier Grand View with the raised helm section was interesting but not sure it would be practical. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see pontoons there. That just proves how pontoons are now a part of the mainstream boating community. problem now is..., I have the itch to get a newer, bigger pontoon.

Pontoon boats are the only segments of the retail boat market that's really positive sales trends in the industry. Baby boomers are looking for recreation that will include their children and grandchildren.

New bass boats and center console fishing boats have gotten out of sight price wise of the common man.

I don't have the raised helm on my premier and haven't felt a need for it, but another person on our lake has one with the raised helm and really loves it. I didn't have a chance to see a model with the raised helm before we ordered ours and didn't order it because I was concerned the platform might cause other issues with space, moving coolers around, etc.

After seeing the platform in person, it wouldn't have been an issue and I probably would have ordered it for the little extra visibility. But like I said, I'm not missing it either for our purposes.

The helm is actually pretty high. It's like two steps up and then two steps back down towards the stern. Looks cool but not sure how functional it is except for the additional storage you can put under it. I guess I'm a diehard pontoon guy because once I saw them I didn't want to leave that area..

I have seen the raised helm and really liked it. Would be nice for seeing over your passengers sitting in front of you. Thinking of going to the Minneapolis boat show at the end of January, but I am afraid I also will get the itch to buy newer, bigger and faster!