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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.

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.

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.

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.

You may be interested to learn that outbaord-powered ThunderCat racing is coming to Canada, starting with dates in Ontario and nearby US locations.

In Ontario the warm weather has peeked it’s head out this week.  This means the first ever Canadian sanctioned racing season of inflatable boats is fast approaching. Get ready for the races be it as a racer, official, or fan!

The organizers want to welcome www.HighCommandDistributing.com as their race series first sponsor!

Moody's Investors Service has again raised the ratings outlook of Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) from stable to positive. In January 2011, BRP was raised from B3 to B2 default ratings. The ratings agency said it has now raised BRP’s corporate family (CFR) and probability of default ratings to B1 from B2, its senior secured revolving credit facility to Ba1 from Ba2, and its senior secured term loan to B1 from B2.

"The upgrade of BRP's ratings reflects the considerable improvement in the company's operating results driven by the successful introduction of new product categories, stabilization of its existing product volumes and benefits from its significant cost containment efforts", says lead analyst Darren Kirk in a statement.

William (Bill) Morgan resurrected the venerable Hacker Boat Company name and began building a selection of models that were originally designed by John Ludwig Hacker, one of the great pioneers of the power boat in the early 1900s. Hacker's designs were fast, seaworthy and many were magnificent in a way that has rarely been matched in the ensuing decades. They were boats that were deserving of continued attention and Bill Morgan gave them that. Morgan also was a benefactor to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York where boats from his personal collection are on display and one of his recent Hacker Triple Cockpit runabouts was donated to the Museum's livery and takes guests for speedboat rides on the St. Lawrence.

Wondering what to do with the used shrink wrap covers? 

The most environmentally friendly option is to participate in Dr. Shrink Inc.'s 2012 Recycling Run.  Once again in partnership with Bay Area Recycling for Charities in Traverse City, Michigan and Optima Colour in Canada, this program is so user-friendly that boaters in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and across Ontario, within 200 miles of Toronto, have no reason not to take part.

Participants must buy REBAG®s for $3 each from Dr. Shrink and stuff it with shrink wrap only; no strapping, buckles, vents or other contaminants.

KCS International Inc., (KCS) parent company of Cruisers Yachts and Rampage Sport Fishing Yachts, announced during a media event at the Miami International Boat Show, the group acquired all of the assets of Azure, a world class line of sport boats. The acquisition means KCS now carries a full product line with vessels from 18’-56’ that includes bow riders, sport decks, sport cuddies and complemented by the high quality Cruisers Yachts line up.

“This is an exciting time for our company. We are sending a message to our dedicated employees that KCS intends to be in the boat business for a long time,” said Mark Pedersen, president of KCS International Inc.

Teleflex Marine just announced that it has acquired Detwiler Industries, LLC of White Bear Lake, MN, a leading manufacturer of high performance hydraulic jack plates from MarineTech Products, Inc. This acquisition further strengthens Teleflex Marine’s position in marine control systems for powerboats.

“We are very excited to acquire Detwiler jack plates. It is a key addition in our strategy to grow both organically with new products such as our recently introduced Optimus 360 Joystick Control System, our new Xtreme Steering – and through acquisitions,” said Yvan Cote, CEO of Teleflex Marine.

On Tuesday 21 February 2012, award winning UK yacht builder Oyster Marine Ltd was acquired by the Dutch investment company HTP Investments BV (HTP) for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes the Oyster Group companies Oyster Marine Ltd, Oyster Brokerage Ltd and Southampton Yacht Services Ltd.

Founded in 1973, Oyster has a worldwide reputation for its luxury, blue water cruising yachts, which are renowned for their quality and performance.

MarineMax Vacations at a press conference during the 2012 Miami International Boat Show announced the development and production of a very innovative 46 foot power catamaran for their charter fleet.  The MarineMax 464 will be offered for charter in the beautiful British Virgin Islands and for private ownership under the name Aquila 46, leveraging the more than fifty MarineMax locations.

MarineMax Vacations, in collaboration with the world’s leading design and engineering group Seaway and builder Sino Eagle Yachts, unveiled a model of the concept to the industry today.

The decision came after the U.S. Commerce Department advised the Commission that 'At this time there are no mitigation strategies' that could prevent interference with GPS signals if the cell phone network planned by a private company, LightSquared, were to be built as proposed.

'This is a significant development for all GPS users,' said BoatUS President Margaret Podlich. 'The FCC, as America's guardian of our airwaves, needs to protect the integrity of the GPS system. It is one of the most important, reliable, and critical elements in navigation today – on boats, in the air, and on land.'