The inaugural North America Marine Business World newsletter
by Peter Rendle 15 May 06:30 PDT
28m M/Y Freedom © Tommaso Spadolini
Welcome to the inaugural monthly North America Marine Business World newsletter.
The website www.marinebusinessworld.com/NorthAmerica is unaffiliated to any other marine trade organisation and aims to update the marine industry across a broad section of topics including company news, new products, personnel changes, events and awards. In fact, anything that helps to advise people of the multitude of changes that occur every week, every month and every year in our ever-evolving industry.
Feel free to send us your news and we will post it to the site unconditionally, subject to editorial integrity: peter.rendle@marinebusinessworld.com
This week we feature news from the NMMA and NMMA Canada. Last week, the Government of Canada removed all retaliatory tariffs on U.S. recreational boats entering Canada, immediately ending a levy that hurt boat businesses on both sides of the border. NMMA and NMMA Canada heralded the news, calling the action a momentous step in the right direction for the North American marine industry, which has been particularly suppressed by tariffs on multiple fronts over the past year.
One of world's largest marine organisations, Mercury Marine, has officially broken ground on a new 30,000 square foot addition to its propeller casting facility. When complete, Mercury's propeller facilities total footprint will encompass 90,000 square feet. The expansion, which was officially announced during a recent event, will be at Mercury's global headquarters in Fond du Lac and will allow the company to almost double its current output for stainless steel propellers. In total, Mercury will invest $17 million dollars to expand the propeller facility which increases the company's overall investment to more than 1.1 billion dollars since 2008.
Women are rapidly increasing their involvement in marine activities and in two weeks' time inexperienced and experienced woman sailors will jump-start their sailing lives by heading to the National Women's Sailing Association (NWSA) 18th Annual Women's Sailing Conference slated for Saturday, June 1, 2019, at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The event, which features hands-on land- and water-based workshops and seminars, offers women a fantastic opportunity to learn or hone sailing skills, network with other women sailors from all over the United States, and gain the confidence necessary to become a valuable crew member or knowledgeable skipper.
New products to hit the market include Glomex Marine Antennas who debut the world's first GPS antenna using internationally accepted ZigBee® technology. Connected wirelessly to the ZigBoat system, the ZB211 delivers push notifications on fleet tracking, geo-fencing, weather forecasts and anchor watch. It has no fees, cloud service subscriptions, registrations or privacy policy agreements. The wireless ZB211 GPS/Tracking antenna tracks a vessel's location and movement using a real-time, one-to-one encrypted connection to ensure 100% privacy and safety. If the boat strays from the defined geo-fence area or begins to drag anchor, the ZigBoat system sends a notification via an SMS message. It also records detailed route and speed history, essential for fleet management, and provides weather forecasts through the ZigBoat mobile app for Android and iOS.
People play an important role in the industry and this month we recognise Bill Yeargin. The Foundation for Recreational Boating Safety, Education and Environmental Awareness announced today that Bill Yeargin, President and CEO of Correct Craft is the recipient of the 2019 Hammond Marine Industry Leadership Award for his extraordinary service and commitment to advocacy on behalf of the recreational boating industry. Bill was honored at the American Boating Congress (ABC) in Washington, D.C. during the conference's Farewell Lunch and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, May 15.
Staying with industry personnel the Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the education and welfare of all Coast Guard members and their families, recently recognized Chairman and CEO Tom Crowley Jr. and Crowley Maritime Corporation for more than 30 years of support at its 25th Tribute to the Coast Guard Seventh District event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The event, originally scheduled for late January but postponed due to the partial government shutdown, was held April 18.
And Sea Ray honoured their dealers recently. Sea Ray celebrated its 60th anniversary during a marine industry dealer meeting at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas. During the event, attendees experienced on-water product demonstrations of Sea Ray's latest model line-up including the award-winning Sundancer 320, SDX 250 Outboard, SLX 400 and the brand-new, limited-edition SLX-R 350 Outboard, recently named a 2019 Top Product by Boating Industry.
We hope you enjoyed receiving this industry news update and if you know of anyone else who you think would like to receive the next issue they can subscribe here: www.marinebusinessworld.com/NorthAmerica/newsletter
Peter Rendle
MarineBusinessWorld.com