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Tall Ships America set out to make its Tall Ships Challenge Atlantic Coast 2012 series, a success that would be remembered for years to come, and with the help of local organizers, the non-profit organization achieved its goal with flying colors.

More than 20 member tall ships, representing six nations, traveled up the Eastern Seaboard this summer, participating in one or more maritime festivals in Savannah, Ga., Greenport, N.Y., Newport, R.I. and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Public participation trumped all expectations, as visitors thronged the waterfront to tour the ships and join a bi-national celebration of maritime heritage.

Marine insurance market conditions remain generally favorable to buyers despite a succession of natural catastrophes and other significant losses since the beginning of 2011, according to a report published August 6th by Marsh.

The Japan earthquake and tsunami, flooding in Thailand, the Costa Concordia loss, and Rena oil spill have resulted in significant cargo, hull, and liability claims, notes Marsh’s latest Marine Market Monitor. But despite poor claims experiences from these and other disasters, underwriting capacity for marine risks remains high and insurers have not sought significant premium increases.

Beneteau will launch the all new Swift 50 simultaneously in Europe and in North America beginning this fall. The newest in the Swift Trawler range, the Swift 50 incorporates significant design innovations to make living aboard easy. The addition of pod propulsion enhances performance and maneuverability at slower speeds without sacrificing the attributes that has made the Swift range unique in the trawler/motoryacht category.

“Architect Michel Joubert and designer Pierre Frutschi created a masterpiece with the new Swift 50. The boat features a more modern silhouette and smart interior design for living onboard.

EH Yachts, manufacturers of Egg Harbor Yachts, Buddy Davis Yachts, Buddy Davis Edition, Predator and Topaz Boats announced its acquisition of Silverton & Ovation Yachts in a move that continues its strategy of acquiring companies to offer the industries most complete range of cruising and sportfishing yachts. 

Silverton, an over 40-year old company located in Millville, NJ creates sport and convertible yachts in a different package than the Egg, Davis, Topaz or Predator lines, which now gives EH Yachts the ability to offer both fishing and cruising solutions for every boater.

The Formula 3, Region 6 Championships were held in beautiful Marietta, Ohio at the 12th annual Riverfront Roar.  Formula powerboat racing has become the primary event in this quaint Ohio town.  Once a year, this historic riverfront area is ignited into a powerboat racing arena.  Thousands of people gather along the Ohio River to watch the powerboat races.

Last Friday as race teams arrived to set up there pit area.  Gary Williams, chair of the Riverfront Roar committee said “The turnout this year is great…Friday evening was very crowded and, we believe, set a record for the Riverfront Roar opening night attendance.

The NMEA has organized a great skill development opportunity in their upcoming Educational Training Sessions to be held at the Future Inns Halifax Hotel and Conference Centre, 30 Fairfax Drive in Halifax, this September 11/12/13. The courses scheduled are:

Basic Marine Electronics Installer, Tuesday, September 11th
NMEA 2000 Training, Wednesday, September 12th
Advanced Marine Electronics Installer, Thursday, September 13th*

GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) has released its outlook for the Canadian recreational vehicle (RV), motorsports and marine industries. In general, each is performing well, with volume growth and relatively healthy inventory turns, in spite of some regional variations.

CDF provides inventory financing, also known as floorplan financing, that allows dealers to stock, market and sell a wide variety of products from manufacturers, including those in the RV, motorsports and marine industries. It’s an important element of a successful manufacturer-dealer business model.

“Our Home and Native Boat” is a story by John Morris in the August 2012 issue of Canadian Yachting and Canadian Yachting West magazines, that talks about the 2012 C&C Yachts Reunion and Conference held in May of this year.

C&C Yachts was certainly Canada’s greatest sailboat brand and huge numbers of C&C’s are still sailing and racing today. The brand is still in production and most significantly, the simply amazing team of people who worked there under the tutelage of George Cuthbertson and George Cassian have gone on to be a highly successful and influential force in boat building and racing today.

Nautic Global Group has announced an incredibly successful first day of its annual dealer meeting, which has welcomed over 600 attendees from more than 400 worldwide dealerships. An exceptionally high level of enthusiasm at the meeting has been attributed to the fact that virtually all the dealers had a successful first half of the year.

With more than 70 boats on display at the company's headquarters in Elkhart, Indiana, dealers for one or more of four primary product lines have gotten an up-close look at the extensive offerings for model year 2013, including eight all-new models and dozens of other boats with significant enhancements.

ASA Electronics, an international manufacturer and supplier of premium audio and video electronics is pleased to announce they have entered into a new distribution agreement with Shakespeare Electronic Products Group to bring their SiriusXM® satellite radio antenna to the Marine OEM Industry and other Specialty Markets at a significantly lowered price.

"SiriusXM satellite radio is a fantastic entertainment product. It goes hand-in-hand with enjoying the boating experience. We are pleased to help bring this service to the market at an affordable price," said Brent Barrow, President of ASA Electronics.

Richard Bee, Chief Commander of the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons is pleased to report that the organization has completed the search process and hired a new Executive Director. Their new Executive Director is Walter Kowalchuk. He will be joining CPS-ECP on September 4, 2012.

Walter was born and raised in Edmonton Alberta and moved to the Toronto area in 1984. He is married with two children. His wife Susan is the Program Manager with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel.

The sale to Marlow Acquisitions, LLC, for all of the assets of Hunter Marine Corporation, and selected assets of Mainship Corporation and Luhrs Corporation has closed, according to John T. Peterson, President of Hunter and Chief Restructuring Officer/Treasurer of Morgan Industries Corporation, the holding company of Mainship and Luhrs. “With this behind us it is time to shift all our resources to get back to the task at hand, building and marketing boats”, stated Peterson.

The 53rd edition of hanseboot will open its doors again from October 27 until November 4, 2012. The event is an established meeting place for the industry and water sports enthusiasts. The new slogan “Northern Waters – Northern Lifestyle“ is geared towards professionals, amateurs and beginners. Leading up to this year’s event, the organizer will undertake a series of promotional measures to build on the existing strength of Hamburg International Boat Show. A detailed marketing campaign has been implemented to attract additional exhibitors from the Baltic Area, Scandinavia and Northern European Countries. The goal is to increase the number and range of boats and yachts shown at the Hamburg exhibit halls. The organizer expects that about 700 exhibitors from 30 countries will showcase their boats, equipment and provide information about the latest industry trends and innovations.

Sea-Dog Line and Uflex USA are the winners of the 2012 National Marine Distributors Association (NMDA) Supplier of the Year Awards. The awards were announced at a July 18th luncheon  during the NMDA’s annual Sales, Training, Education & Purchasing (S.T.E.P.) Conference in Rosemont, IL.

Sea-Dog Line won for the eighth year in a row in the Platinum category. The Everett, Washington-based company is a leading supplier of over 5,500 marine dock, deck and rigging hardware items, 12-volt electrical/lighting and ventilation accessories. Runners-Up in this category were Blue Sea Systems (1st) and Tie Down Engineering (2nd).

The August 2012 issue of Boating Industry Canada magazine is devoted to alerting the industry to changes in Canada’s Employment Insurance program that could drive literally hundreds of workers out of our marine industry.

Ontario and Quebec seasonal marine industry workers are likely to be hardest hit.

A July 27 article from The Canadian Press reflected the concerns raised in both Western and in Atlantic Canada.

NMEA 2000® is about to take off! Over the last few years, marine electronics manufacturers have been working overtime to develop a common infrastructure to transport NMEA 2000® messages over Ethernet. The solution is called OneNet®, and it’s scheduled to be operational by late 2014.

Some manufacturers currently use higher bandwidth Ethernet for video as well as for proprietary messaging on Ethernet to add NMEA 2000® messages. While this approach may be expedient, there are problems with individual solutions, including a lack of interconnectivity and support of many different implementations.

Beginning last week, the NMMA  announced that they are distributing 100,000 E15 warning labels to member boat manufacturers to place on their boats in hopes of alerting boaters to the potential dangers of fuel with a high volume of ethanol. The labels will help educate boaters that E15 should not be used in their boat.

Contrary to numerous studies that have shown ethanol to be hazardous to marine engines, the Environmental Protection Agency recently approved a plan submitted by the ethanol industry that effectively completes the last step in the regulatory process and allows E15 to enter the marketplace.

The David de Eyre Classic has become a popular event for Boating Ontario Dealers as well as industry colleagues and friends over the past few years.  It is now time for you to join us too!

Boating Ontario suggests that you treat your staff to a day out of the office and take them to the 5th Annual David de Eyre Classic Golf Tournament.

This tournament is a great way to: Meet others in the marine industry, Celebrate the end of a busy boating season, Network,