Archives

The weather gods smiled on this year’s BC Yacht Brokers Association Victoria Harbour Boat Show last weekend, offering up sunny, dry weather for the show’s three key days. The great conditions helped push attendance for the Thursday-Sunday event to near 5,000.

Sixty-two exhibitors filled the docks in the Inner Harbour and at nearby Ship Point with new and brokerage boats, including 68 powerboats, 25 sailboats and 75 assorted smaller craft. Tents at Ship Point also held product, services and trade exhibits.

Chemring Marine’s Canadian distributor DSS Marine has expanded by opening FitzWright Survival Incorporated in Vancouver, British Columbia.

FitzWright, based at 2459 Beta Avenue, in Burnaby, is well-known for its Marine and Aviation Immersion Suit Systems, but its strong client base will now have access to products sold through the DSS Group.

These include Comet and Pains Wessex marine distress signals, which are manufactured by Chemring Marine, the world’s leading company in the sector.

A survey has been circulated among the industry to gather feedback on the idea of co-locating IBEX and the Marine Dealer Conference & Expo/ MRAA MDCE in 2013 and beyond. Each event offers very different benefits, but the combination of the two shows held in one convention center at the same time, in the same city, would create and deliver an exceptional all industry annual event.  

The organizers explain that the exhibitor's and attendee's feedback will help them make some important decisions. Their goal is to make sure IBEX continues to be the best and most valuable three days of the year for the industry.

Canada Metal (Pacific) Ltd. has been selected as one of the Top 20 BCBusiness Leading Innovators for 2012.  The award was announced by Canada Wide Media Ltd., publisher of BCBusiness, in Vancouver, British Columbia, in late March.  The honor recognizes Canada Metal (Pacific) Ltd.'s cadmium-free Martyr II Aluminum anodes, which prevent underwater corrosion without releasing toxic chemicals.

A panel of Canada's top business experts chose Canada Metal (Pacific) Ltd. to join an elite echelon of companies that refuse to settle for the status quo and are a force to be reckoned with, according to Canada Wide Media.

An overall schedule-at-a-glance for the 2013 International Marina & Boatyard Conference (IMBC) is now available online at www.marinaassociation.org/imbc/schedule.

IMBC— produced by the Association of Marina Industries (AMI)—is scheduled for January 30–February 1, 2013, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The schedule will follow IMBC’s established format with an opening exhibit hall reception on January 30 followed by two full days of exhibits, educational seminars, industry award presentations, and networking events.

BRP will eliminate traditional model year designations for Evinrude outboard engines. Beginning in April 2012, model year designations will no longer be used. Instead, the date of manufacture will be referenced on the serial number label, located on each Evinrude outboard engine. Benefits to model year elimination include:
• Quicker Product Updates – Consumers will not have to wait for a model year transition to receive the latest product developments from Evinrude
• Simplicity – Instead of tracking two model years, one for the boat and one for the engine, Evinrude outboard owners will only have to reference the model year of their boat package.

World leading waterjet manufacturer HamiltonJet has reached a significant production milestone with the recent completion of its 10,000th HJ212 waterjet model.  This achievement cements the HJ212 as the world’s most popular individual waterjet model, and highlights the on-going popularity of shallow river boating both recreationally and commercially.

“The first HJ212 was built in February 1995, and was later fitted into a NZ-built sprint racing boat sponsored by HamiltonJet and Shell.  Serial number 10,000 HJ212 is being installed into an all new 23 foot Harbercraft 2375 V8 powered jet boat.

Mermaid Marine is excited to announce the addition of the Garmin family of marine electronics to its growing lineup of marine parts and accessories. As Atlantic Canada’s marine parts specialist, Mermaid Marine is committed to supplying its dealers with top quality products supported by in-depth expertise.

Since 1989, Garmin has earned a reputation as an undisputed leader in the field of marine navigation.

A great majority of the members of the C&C Yachts staff and associates during the roughly 20 year run of the Canadian company that rose to be the largest sailboat producer in North America, attended the two-day C&C Yachts Reunion and Conference held at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Hamilton Ontario, April 14 and 15, 2012.

The organizing group, led by Rob Mazza and coordinated through the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes in Kingston Ontario, held a smoothly organized and well attended event. Starting with a Saturday evening Reunion reception for former members of the C&C Yachts staff, the conference rolled out on the second day with a series of 4 panel discussions, breakfast and lunch that were open to any interested members of the public.

Zim Sailing has announced that its product line of Optimist, C420 and CFJ will expand to include the Byte CII dinghy.

“This is a very exciting time for Zim Sailing,” said company president Steve Perry, who recently acquired the Byte CII from Canada’s PS2000 and will serve as the exclusive builder and distributor for the CII. “The CII is a perfect fit to the Zim line. It provides a great transition from the Optimist into a great single-handed boat.”

Zim will be distributing the boat throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

George Bellwoar, VP of sales and marketing for Perko, has been elected to serve a second term as chairman of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC).  The position has a one-year term.

Bellwoar has more than 30 years of marine OEM and aftermarket industry experience, encompassing the recreational, commercial and military segments.  In addition to his service to ABYC, he previously served as chairman of the board for the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), and sat on numerous trade committees.

Sporting an improved layout and information in multiple languages, Hella marine's new website is designed for easy navigation.  It quickly guides users to the correct lamp for specific applications, and locates the closest Hella marine retailers.

Visitors can easily find products using a quick drop-down menu or by entering a part number, series name or lamp description into a search field.  Results pages now include more detailed information and photographs.  Quick-reference icons clearly identify each lamp's main product features and certifications.

Boston Whaler is proud to announce that its manufacturing facility has reached three million hours without a lost-time accident or illness. The facility has a long history of emphasizing and practicing worker safety in the production of its high-quality, “unsinkable” boats.

“Safety and quality are a part of the Boston Whaler culture, and the extraordinary achievement of three million hours is a testament to that commitment,” says Boston Whaler President, Tim Schiek. “Our employees care about what they do, and about the Whaler brand. This record is affirmation of that passion.”

Don’t you wish you knew what everyone else was going to do?

If you have not already taken a few minutes to participate in the Boating Industry Canada 2012 Marketing Survey, please do it now!

Canada’s recreational boating industry is mainly made up of family businesses and it’s seasonal – we all get just a few months to be successful.

Northport Systems Inc., leading producer of desktop and mobile navigation and mapping software products, and MarineFuel.com have announced that they have entered into a long-term partnership agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will provide software solutions designed to extend and enhance MarineFuel.com’s service offerings. An e-commerce data portal that centralizes vital marina and marine fueling information for the U.S., Bahamas and the Caribbean, Marinefuel.com is the active mariners preferred resource for digital and on-demand services regarding real-time Fuel Dock Prices™, marina travel logistics, and wholesale fuel brokerage.

There is still time and a little bit of space to register for the C&C Yachts Living History Conference. It will be everything you wanted to know about C&C Yachts, from the people who were part of It

The event is at the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club, on Sunday April 15th and is dedicated to the preservation of the C&C Collection at the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Kingston. The Registration fee $65 –includes Continental Breakfast, coffee breaks, Lunch, One Year Membership to Marine Museum, and raising money for a good cause – preservation of the C&C Collection.

Spring Splash, Skyline Marina’s Annual Spring Open House is fast approaching.

Skyline invites all boaters to attend their Open House on Saturday April 14th from 9am to 5pm and Sunday April 15th from 11am to 3pm at their Orillia location at 75 Forestview Road, Oro-Medonte (Orillia), ON GPS Coordinates: N 44 33.965, W 079 26.510

Directions: Hwy 11 N to Line 15, exit Line 15 – Skyline is directly off the highway.

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has signed Senate Bill 6171, which eases the pilotage requirements for foreign-flagged vessels. Taking effect on June 7, 2012, foreign-flagged boats up to 750 gross tons and under 200 feet can apply for a pilotage exemption. The previous legislation capped the exemption at 500 gross tons (and 200 feet).

"This legislation is one more step that we can take to making our state's world-class cruising grounds more accessible to tourists.

Nautique is excited to introduce their next generation wake boat that will forever change what the industry thought possible. The all-new Super Air Nautique G23 redefines what a wake boat can be. The Super Air Nautique G23 will kick off the wake season at the 2012 Nautique Wake Games in Orlando, FL, April 11-14.

Nautique’s designers, engineers and team of professional riders started with a clean slate and created a wake that gives every rider the opportunity to do things they only dreamed possible.

Members of the Mercury Marine family expressed sadness Friday regarding the death of television host and fishing legend Jose Wejebe, and offered condolences to the family of the longtime friend and partner of the boat engine company.

Wejebe of Summerland Key in Florida was killed Friday afternoon in a plane crash immediately after takeoff from Everglades City, Fla. He was the host of “Spanish Fly,” a popular weekly fishing show sponsored by Mercury Marine that took viewers on exciting visual fishing journeys throughout the world.