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The International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) has published new and amended Global Conformity Guidelines for construction standards. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist boat builders who comply with either ABYC or ISO, but are looking to start exporting to countries using the opposite system.

There are now a total of nine universal guidelines published by ICOMIA. The launched guidelines include: (Guideline 1) Fuel Systems and Fixed Fuel Tanks; (2) LPG Systems and Appliances; (3) Electrical;

Leading performance boat builder Baja Marine, Inc. announced it has acquired the assets of boat companies Donzi Marine, Fountain Powerboats and Pro-Line Boats from American Marine Holdings, Inc. All four brands – Baja, Donzi, Fountain and Pro-Line – will operate as independent entities. They will be headquartered at the Baja Marine facility on Whichards Beach Road in Washington, North Carolina.
 
The acquisition was prompted by ongoing demand by customers and marine dealers for new boats from Donzi,

KCS International Inc. is pleased to announce the hiring of Paul Hughes as a manufacturing assembly manager. In his new position Hughes will work to streamline operations, supervise production expansion and work with suppliers. He previously worked as an engineering operations manager for Tiara Yachts and the senior production manager for Haworth Inc.

The Rideau Canal and Trent-Severn Waterway will be open for a full season of boating, the federal environment minister announced, despite an earlier statement stating the season would have to be shortened.

Minister Peter Kent told reporters Thursday, October 18th, that the 2013 season would last as long as usual, from the Victoria Day weekend in May until Thanksgiving in October.

MarineMax is pleased announce their one year anniversary of the launch of MarineMax Vacations Yacht Charter Division.

MarineMax Vacations has been delivering outstanding charter vacations in the British Virgin Islands with the newest and most exceptional fleet in the market since its introduction in October 2011.  Operating from its beautiful base in Tortola, the year has been one of accelerated growth through its fleet additions of sailboats, power cats and the building of a custom 46 power catamaran to be introduced in January 2013.

With a cutting-edge dual-console design, the exciting new Boston Whaler Vantage combines performance, comfort, function and style.

The Vantage series debuts with two sizes—23’ and 27’. Fully equipped for everything from leisurely cruising to family watersports to serious fishing, each Vantage suits a wide variety of boaters’ needs and desires, opening up a whole new view on the possible.

One of the most notable new features on the Vantage is its revolutionary convertible portside lounge seat, which folds into a variety of positions so that passengers can ride facing fore or aft, partially or fully reclined, or even use it as a leaning post for offshore fishing.

A dramatic new Victoria Harbour marina to serve superyachts to 150’ has moved a major step closer to reality with approvals from Transport Canada and the Department of Fisheries Oceans. When complete, Victoria International Marina will provide 29 moorage slips for yachts 65’ to 150’ in length on the north shore of Victoria Harbour, just outside the Inner Harbour.

“The project has already received municipal and provincial approvals, and these federal approvals are significant milestones,” said Larry Halgren, who recently joined the marina project team.

Snaps and zippers are one of the most overlooked mechanical items on a boat.  Boat owners tend to notice them the most when they stop functioning properly by becoming stiff or hard to snap.  To help prevent this, every owner should have Shurhold's Snap Stick and the EZ Snap Tool on hand.

The EZ Snap Tool has a long, forked end that slides on the underside of a snap and allows users to pull and seal a snap from the inside.  Owners can now put up an entire enclosure in the rain without having to go on the outside.

The National Marine Distributors Association has signed on to provide Educational Funding Support for this year's Marine Dealer Conference & Expo.

Support from the group made it possible to assemble the strongest lineup of speakers in the history of the event in 2012, including 22 all-new educational sessions.

Brownell Trailers, manufacturer of hydraulic boat trailers and ROK Boat Stands, will be featured at the 2012 Mermaid Marine Dealer Show, October 19 at the Moncton Convention Center in New Brunswick.

Established in 1954, Brownell Trailers is a manufacturer of fully submersible hydraulic trailers and ROK Boat Stands with fully galvanized bases and cast steel galvanized handles.

Now, many boat owners can skip the rebuild and simply replace their troublesome old carb with a brand new Sierra carburetor and restore the performance and fuel economy of their engines.

These new carburetors from Sierra are built to original factory specs, and are not rebuilt or remanufactured products. Housings are cast from corrosion resistant aluminium and machined using Sierra’s own specially engineered tooling. Components are anodised and carefully assembled to provide season after season of reliable performance.

Furuno, renowned manufacturer of marine electronics, once again received more National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) awards than any two manufacturers combined at the prestigious 2012 NMEA Convention in Orlando, FL. These four awards bring Furuno’s NMEA Award total to an incredible 205, since NMEA started presenting awards in 1971.

For seven years running, Furuno has received the coveted Manufacturer of the Year – Support award. Furuno remains the sole recipient of this award since its introduction on the ballot in 2005.

A pristine 11-hectare island near Halifax has been saved from development after local groups raised enough money to save the land.

Troop Island, home to an Acadian forest full of towering hardwoods hundreds of years old, is now in the hands of the Nova Scotia Nature Trust.

Effective November 1, Brad Anderson will lead the Marketing and Planning functions for Sea Ray, Meridian, Bayliner and Trophy brands. This newly created group focuses the group’s marketing talent across all Recreational Boat Group (RBG) brands, further accelerating our progress at building stronger brand equity with consumers. Reporting to Brad will be: Matt Guilford, Vice President, Marketing and Janet Ritchie, Director of Portfolio Planning. Supporting Matt will be Joe Cacopardo, Director of Marketing – Sea Ray and Meridian, Michael Yobe, Product Portfolio Manager – Bayliner and Trophy, and Shelby Deck Marketing Manager. Brad will report to Andy Graves, President of the Brunswick Boat Group in this role, and will also be accountable to Rob Parmentier, President – Sea Ray Group and Jeff Behan, President – Bayliner as brand leaders.

Groupe Beneteau has just announced changes within Beneteau America’s leadership team. Wayne Burdick has been elevated to a more strategic role in Groupe Beneteau, as the President of the holding company for the different US Groupe entities, and Laurent Fabre, formerly the director of sales and marketing for Beneteau's North American powerboats division, has been tapped to replace Burdick as president of Beneteau America.

Under Burdick’s direction as president of Beneteau in North America since 1997, Beneteau became the leading brand of high quality production sailboats in the U.S. In his new position, Burdick will manage relationships with industry partners on behalf of all Groupe Beneteau marine brands.

John Petersen, President of Marlow Hunter Marine presented Lawrence Fronczek, President of Specialty Yachts in Vancouver with the Dealer of the Year Award for 2012.

The American Boat Builders & Repairers Association's (ABBRA) Boatyard Business Conference will take place from January 16 – 18, 2013, at B Ocean Hotel in Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida.

Previously, ABBRA was a co-producer of the IMBC but determined that the Boatbuilding and Repair industry had specific needs in the current economic climate and a conference that is wholly focused on the business of building and repairing boats was called for.

Reflecting a steadily improving sales picture in the U.S. marine industry, exhibitors we talked to in the final hour of IBEX 2012 were positive about the outcomes.

Boating Industry Canada was in Louisville, Kentucky for the entire event starting with the All-Industry Breakfast on Tuesday. The room was packed and Thom Dammrich of the NMMA opened the sessions with some recent sales data suggesting that overall, the business was seeing a lift in the magnitude of 10% this year, with some segments stronger than others as always.