Yacht buyers came out to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show this year, braving rain to visit the show, returning to their favorite yachts several times, making verbal offers, and generally giving the industry a wave of optimism heading into the new year.

“We had an incredible show,” said Todd Ewing of Northrop & Johnson, noting that he saw more qualified people stopping by. “The show had nice vibes."

"Thursday was the best preview day in three years; you could tell in the comings and goings,” said Rich George of Captain-net.com. “The first day sets the tone of the show.”

Overall, captains, brokers, dealers and exhibitors were happy with the business conducted at the show, despite the rain. Some even thought the rain helped.

"The rain has been good,” said Jim Tippman of United Yachts . “It's kept buyers on the boats."

“The people who wanted to be here were here,” said Deckhand Nick Silich of M/Y Touch.

“It’s been a nice show,” said Capt. Mark Wellnitz of M/Y Miss Michelle. “We weren’t slammed, but we had a steady flow of people.”

Brokers were confident in the quality of people they showed yachts to. Worth Avenue Yachts signed a contract on a Cantiere Delle Marche yacht in the show, among other deals in the works.

But Michael Mahan, one of three founding members of Worth Avenue Yachts, took the opportunity of the upturn in the yacht brokerage market to note that the desperate measures his colleagues have taken over the past few years should stop.

"The only way to change this industry is to be positive,” he said. “Today, people offer discounts, price reductions and specials. In the old days, we sold boats on their attributes. They may be expensive, but people get it, they want quality. We have got to sell better."

Capt. Rick Harris of M/Y Tigers Eye, a 98-foot Hargrave, welcomed a lot of people interested in both buying and chartering his yacht.

“We’ve had serious people,” he said. “We have one coming back today to make an offer."

If they weren’t buying, show attendees were booking charters.

Capt. Ron Woods of M/Y Mia Elise, a 160-foot Trinity, signed up four more weeks of charter during the show, bringing to 13 the number of weeks already booked for the Caribbean and Med seasons.

“The show’s been great, really good for us,” he said. Mia Elise was docked side-to the face dock at Bahia Mar, the first yacht many see when hitting the docks from the tents. But it takes more than exposure to sell a charter, he said.

“It helps, but this boat is amazing and our crew are amazing,” said Woods, who won Fraser’s Charter Captain of the Year in 2009. Chief Stew Coty Strabley won this year’s Perfect Tabletop Setting Challenge. “A good boat and crew make it easy to sell.”

“Over the weekend, we had a lot of charter inquiries,” said Capt. Kelly Esser of M/Y Mary Alice II. “The people who come out when it rains are the real ones.”

Before the heavy rains began on Saturday afternoon, M/y My Colors saw a steady stream of groups on the yacht, but Capt. Ennalls Berl wasn’t sure how to judge it.

“We had four or five groups on Thursday, four or five on Friday,” he said. “Is that good? The last boat I sold was a 100-foot sailboat. I just don’t know if that’s good.”

He gave tours to potential buyers and charter guests, and has three or four solid charter leads. But the Sunday rain didn’t help.

“As a client, you wait around only so long before you say ‘let’s go home’,” Capt. Berl said. “Sunday was a let’s-go-home day.”

One broker said having a slow Sunday actually worked out well since that’s the day he usually has to turn “inappropriate lookers” away.

"In spite of the weather, clients have made multiple trips,” said Joyce Phillips of Hargrave Custom Yachts. “I'm an optimist anyway, but when they come back with rain, that's a good sign. Some came back three times. You can't tell me they're not interested.”

And it's about time, some said.

“Folks that may have been waiting to purchase a larger yacht are scaling back to buy one now, some due to outside forces but also for quality of life,” said broker Curtis Stokes with Curtis Stokes Associates said his company is booked for the next two weeks with showings and sea trials. “They're tired of waiting."