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The BCMTA Board of Directors recently elected its Executive team during the first meeting of the Board since the AGM on February 10th when Alan Stovell announced his intention to step aside as President and serve his remaining elected year as a Director-at-Large.

Succeeding Alan Stovell as President is Don Prittie of Canoe Cove Marina. Michael Short of False Creek Fuels was elected First Vice President and Stewart Jones, Pro-Tech Yacht Services, Second Vice President. Chris Goulder, Volvo Penta Canada, remains Past President and Treasurer.

IBBI (Independent Boat Builders Incorporated) honored eight suppliers at their recent purchasing meeting.  The award winners were chosen on the basis of a survey IBBI members completed that rated suppliers in six key categories: product quality, customer service, delivery, technical service, accurate invoicing, and warranty administration.

Raymarine was recognized as the New Supplier of the Year.  IBBI Controller Jodi Sanders reports, “The team at Raymarine has worked very hard getting our program rolling since we signed the exclusive supply contract in early 2011.

MarineMax Vacations has announced that it is expanding its current range of services from sailing and power charter yacht vacations in the Caribbean to now include inland waterway vacations in Europe provided by Locaboat Holidays. MarineMax Vacations will sell the European cruising experience to Americans.

“Locaboat, through their 35 years in operation, has an unrivalled reputation for quality and service, making them a natural partner for MarineMax Vacations,” said Lex Raas, President of MarineMax Vacations.

Boating Ontario staff are out on their annual Discover Ontario tour to visit each region in this vast province of Ontario. It is a chance to visit with their members and to learn from them what the key issues are in their specific areas. Ontario has 13 regions from Metro Toronto to Thunder Bay in the far north. Issues will vary from region to region depending on the hot topics of the day.

This year we will be updating our members on:

Marine electronics dealers and technical personnel will be the big winners in the completely redesigned 2012 NMEA International Marine Electronics Conference & Expo, to be held September 26–29, 2012, at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Florida.

“We’re changing everything about the conference to make certain that dealers and technical personnel find it a rewarding training and educational experience that they must not miss,” said Brad Good, chairman of the conference committee.

Yamaha Motor Canada has announced that Matt Fletcher has joined the company as the new Marketing Coordinator at Yamaha.

Matt said, “I’m very excited to be joining the Yamaha team. I previously worked in Sales and Marketing after graduating from Brock University. I am so excited to be joining the Yamaha team, simply because I am a Yamaha customer first. I have had the pleasure of owning several Yamaha products, including a RZ 350 (which I rebuilt), YZ 125, YZ 250, R1, R6, Raptor, Grizzly, and even a PW 50.

In their latest newsletter, the NMMA Canada included information about this useful government initiative. The Red Tape Commission (created by a federal budget commitment in 2010 and led by the President of the Treasury Board) — tasked with identifying and addressing irritants to business that stem from federal regulations — released its first recommendations report titled "Cutting Red Tape … Freeing Business to Grow". After consulting with Canadian businesses, the Commission has outlined 90 specific solutions to eliminate or alleviate business irritants.

The marine industry needs old boat brochure information and Doug and Brenda Dawson have devoted much of their lifetimes to amassing Canada's largest collection. It began with the former Dawson’s Marina in Keswick, Ontario where the Dawson family operated a marina business that had roots all the way back to the late 1800’s.

Realizing the value of the resource they had, they began collecting 1950‘s brochures in earnest and Doug and his wife Brenda have been working at it ever since, right up to the 2012 model year.

Free and available at your convenience, the digital editions of the national version of  Canadian Yachting and our Canadian Yachting West editions are both available for your enjoyment.

Canadian Yachting West is substantially different from the national edition of Canadian Yachting with a wealth of West Coast cruising, destination and regional information specialized to that audience.

The NMMA in America just released their March 2012 Boating News Net, their monthly economic report which features industry and general economic indicators that impact your business. We view the news as being largely positive.

U.S. Economic Indicators

+ GDP. The US economy grew 3% in the fourth quarter, primarily reflecting upward revisions to consumer spending for services and business investment in structures.

Brunswick Corporation has announced several actions designed to more clearly align and delineate its global marine operations to better exploit market opportunities, sharpen market focus and enhance growth as the world's marine market continues to evolve.

"For many years, several Brunswick boat brands based in Europe and Asia have been under the Mercury Marine umbrella, a structure that naturally developed over time as Mercury made investments in these ventures," explained Dustan E. McCoy, Brunswick's chairman and chief executive officer.  "Going forward, these brands, which include Arvor, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Uttern and Valiant boats, will be managed as part of the Brunswick Boat Group.

Nautic Global Group announced today that they’ve hired Vann P. Knight to lead the Company’s engineering and research & development efforts as Director of Engineering, across all brands.

Knight was formerly the Director of Engineering and Design Engineering Manager for Brunswick Corporation and the Brunswick Boat Group, supporting such brands as Boston Whaler, Triton and Trophy in Edgewater, Florida. He also has design and supply chain experience in several other industries.

The 13th annual Montreal Boat and Water Sports Show ended on a high note with 24.8% increase in attendance compared to the previous year. This major event, organized by the Quebec Maritime Association (QMA), was held at Place Bonaventure from February 9th to 12th.

This increase makes a lot of sense when you consider that there is currently a major boom in nautical activities across the country. According to a new statistical study conducted by the National Marine Manufacturer's Association (NMMA) with data obtained by Statistics Canada and Transport Canada, approximately 10,5 million Canadian adults went boating at least once during 2011 (38% of the population).

Riviera, Australia’s largest and most awarded luxury boat builder officially announced to the company’s staff and contractors, that a sale transaction has been completed. This sale will allow Riviera to officially exit receivership and move positively forward under private ownership.

Longhurst Marine Holdings Pty Ltd, a Queensland based investment company has purchased the Riviera assets, work in progress and associated companies for an undisclosed amount. Longhurst Marine Holdings has offered employment to the majority of Riviera staff and contractors and has also entered into a long-term lease for Riviera’s 14-hectare state-of the-art Coomera manufacturing facility.

Don't want to miss out on this opportunity! Once again,the NMEA invites you attend the education courses offered to individuals and businesses involved with installing and servicing Marine Electronics.

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) has established an extensive education and certification program. NMEA is a pioneer in providing standards for marine electronics technicians in the marine electronics industry with programs such as Marine Electronics Installer (BMEI), NMEA 2000 and Advanced MEI.

The Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association is holding a one-day Boatbuilding Conference on Innovation and Productivity at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS on 29th March, 2012.  The conference will give boatbuilders, designers, surveyors, regulators, suppliers, and boaters a chance to hear industry leaders speak on new developments in hybrid marine power, solar technology for boats, composites, rapid prototyping, digital marketing, and productivity. Speakers include Ed Sherman from ABYC, and Andre Cocquyt the GRPGuru. Registration and seminar details are at http://www.nsboats.com/conference/