Skittish boat buyers and a scarcity of loans for dealers have halted the steady growth in the state’s boat-building industry, bringing grim reports of layoffs and bankruptcies along the state’s 400 miles of prized coastline.

The most recent setback came Friday, when Pearson Composites dismissed nearly half its work force amid slumping sales. The Warren-based company, founded in 1968, is down to 60 employees.

“It’s saddening,” Pearson’s chief executive officer, Patrick T. Burke, said yesterday. “Demand has tapered off.”

Boat builders across the country have been suffering since the economy soured more than a year ago, drying up consumer spending. In all, sales of new power boats in the United States dropped 30 percent last year, according to projections by the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Boat builders face a panoply of financial pressures brought about by the economic slowdown, including demands for immediate payment from suppliers of fiberglass, engines and other parts. Among the most daunting challenges are jittery buyers and a frozen credit market starving dealers of the loans needed for new inventory.

With many companies surviving on previous orders, continued layoffs and bankruptcies are expected.

The unavailability of credit has been particularly painful for Pearson, a onetime subsidiary of TPI Composites that recently stopped selling to individuals and now relies entirely on boat dealers.

A privately held company, Pearson does not disclose its revenue. But Burke, its CEO, said the sales backlog has withered to $14 million, down from an average of $20 million over the past several years.

Pearson specializes in recreational sailboats and powerboats –– purchases easy to put off when even wealthy families face job insecurity and deep loses in their investment portfolios. Potential buyers have also been discouraged by difficulty selling their used boats.

Pearson’s 20-foot Alerion Express sailboat sells for around $45,000, while the 38-foot version costs as much as $500,000.

If not for an order from the Navy for 24 sailboats, bound for Annapolis, the layoffs at Pearson might have been even deeper, Burke said. “We’re feeling the malaise in our industry. It’s down and it’s eroding.”

At least Pearson is still afloat. Earlier this month, Goetz Custom Sailboats, in Bristol, was forced into receivership, leaving its 75 employees without work. It followed the disappearance of Freedom Yachts, in Middletown, and Albin Boats, in Portsmouth, which both closed in the past year, according to Paul Harden, the marine trades specialist at the state Economic Development Corporation.

Marine trades remains an important industry in the state, with an estimated employment of between 9,000 and 12,000. The industry is expected to expand when the Navy opens up 384 acres of land on Aquidneck Island for development.

That property includes 35 acres on the Portsmouth waterfront adjacent to several companies, including Hinckley Yachts, that hope to expand or open boat repair and storage services, according to Keith W. Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce.

Portions of another 150 acres inland from that site are expected to house sail makers and manufacturers of sailboat rigging and marine electronics.

Nuclear-submarine maker Electric Boat shipyard, among the industry’s top employers in the state, is expected to increase its work force in coming months to satisfy new Navy orders.

Companies that target foreign consumers, meanwhile, are still benefiting from a weak dollar, with recent gains by the U.S. currency having only “dented slightly” that advantage, according to the International Boat Industry, a trade publication.

Still, at least for the short term, industry leaders are not optimistic.

In 2006, many of the state’s boat makers were expanding, and the state Department of Labor and Training was projecting substantial job growth through 2011. As recently as a year ago, some manufacturers were struggling to find skilled workers.

“Without question it’s slowing down, from entry level to high-end boats,” said Harden, who said large boat builders have shed at least 250 jobs recently. “There’s no point in building more boats if you don’t have orders.”

Boat builders say they hope to turn around revenue declines later this month at the Providence Boat Show, the first major show of the season. The annual event, at the Rhode Island Convention Center, starts Jan. 29 and typically draws 20,000 visitors.

But there is little reason to expect easy sales. Soundings Trade Only, an industry publication, predicts “an unprecedented number of dealer bankruptcies” early this year. And already, fears of poor performances have caused at least one major boat show to be cancelled.

“It’s not a pretty picture anywhere,” said Tom Rich, vice president of the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association and a co-owner of New England Boatworks, in Portsmouth.

In 2004, the company’s marina had a 100-boat waiting list. There are now 30 available slips.

Orders for New England Boatworks’ custom vessels, which commonly sell for $3 million, have also slowed.

“There are very few requests,” Rich said yesterday. “We’re working through our backlog rapidly.”

bgedan@projo.com