Feedback from METSTRADE is all positive - MarineBusinessWorld Oceania newsletter
by Peter Rendle 1 Dec 2022 15:00 PST
METSTRADE 2022 - Hall 1 © METSTRADE
BIA Director and ICOMIA Vice President Darren Vaux recently attended METSTRADE and associated ICOMIA meetings on behalf of the BIA. METSTRADE is the largest recreational marine industry trade show in the world and is held annually in Amsterdam in the third week of November. This was the first full scale METS since 2019 with a smaller event conducted in 2021 due to Covid related restrictions.
The event was on a commensurate scale with pre-pandemic shows with attendance reaching 26,480 visitors (17,417 unique visitors from 126 nations). There were 1400 exhibitors across all ten halls and some 6175 exhibitor personnel. The atmosphere of the show was positive and prosperous with exhibitors, and attendees alike using the opportunity to address some supply chain issues by identifying alternative component and material suppliers.
Following Darren's visit, the BIA has launched its Discover Boating campaign, 'See You Out There', ahead of the expected busy summer season. The three-month campaign aims to retain the high levels of interest and participation in boating, as well as to showcase the variety of boating activities on offer. The campaign creative has a strong focus on promoting the boating lifestyle, with a call to action of 'Adventure Awaits. See You Out There'.
Attending METSTRADE was Sail-World and PowerBoat.World's Managing Editor, Mark Jardine. Mark held a number of industry interviews at the show and we have posted a couple of the videos here.
Swedish mast and deck hardware manufacturer, Seldén Mast, has expanded its range of electronically-driven sail handling products with the launch of the CXe45 two-speed electric Code Zero furler. Like other electric products from Seldén, including the Furlex Electric and E40i electric winch, CXe45 runs on SEL-Bus and a Power Supply Unit (PSU) converting 12V or 24V to 42V. SEL-Bus is a CAN bus system (Controlled Area Network) with software that combines intelligence and power on board to sense and adapt loads for maximum efficiency and safety. Mark spoke to Seldén's Mats-Uno Fredrikson, Director of marketing & aftermarket sales to find out more.
Sailmon don't just make instruments, and the Sailmon Sailing App is becoming a powerful tool for analysis, event organisation, photos and video from your sailing, as well as sharing and connecting with the wider sailing community. Mark spoke to Kalle Coster, founder and three-time Olympic sailor, to discover the details.
In Sydney over 80 potential crew and their parents joined the 'Superyacht Career Night' event held on Wednesday evening last week at Middle Harbour in Sydney with some having driven for over two hours from Newcastle and Port Stephens to attend. The event was jointly hosted by Marine Jobs, Superyacht Australia and Superyacht Crew Academy and was organised to attract and inform young people on joining the superyacht community and become part of an exciting and thriving industry.
Speed record news this week comes from opposite ends of the boating spectrum. Published data from COX Marine's record-breaking Project Pegasus at Coniston Records Week have revealed that running the boat on HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) fuel offers a staggering net CO2 saving over a comparable gasoline outboard of 94%. Coniston Speed Week marked the first official use of HVO fuel in CXO300 outboard.
The Coniston debut will mark COX Marine's official support of HVO fuel use in its outboards. Data logged runs on the lake show that running the CXO300 on HVO produced a 90% net CO2 reduction over fossil fuel derived diesel and a 94% reduction over a comparable gasoline engine. Single stock Cox CXO300 4.4 Litre V8 300hp outboard became 'The World's Fastest Diesel Outboard' (awaiting full official ratification) with final top speed of 62.84 mph at Coniston Speed Week.
At the other end of the spectrum, Emirates Team New Zealand's land speed team will head back to Lake Gairdner this weekend to set up for what is hoped will be a couple of weeks of dry lake speed runs in breeze forecast to be 20 knots + to help work 'Horonuku' up closer to the 200km/h mark. Lake Gairdner in South Australia is vast, a 160km long and 50 km wide salt lake where Emirates team New Zealand are aiming to break the Wind Powered Land Speed World Record.
The fly in the ointment in the attempt continues to be that the lake and the state of South Australia, and in fact a large amount of Australia, has had excessive rain this year, resulting in an uphill battle against the elements for a prolonged stretch of dry salt to let 'Horonuku' fly.
On environmental issues, Mercury Marine has underlined its global commitment to sustainability with its first large-scale solar installation across its Australia/New Zealand operations. The new 40kW system was turned on in September at the company's Gold Coast offices which serve as a warehouse and distribution centre for Mercury's Queensland operations and incorporates a sales centre and workshop for the servicing of engines. The system is projected to generate almost 63,000 kilowatt hours of power per year, saving thousands of dollars and preventing over 50 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere annually.
And on product news, Any Port Marine have announced they are now the Australian Distributors for the UK company Revolve. Revolve has designed and developed a unique, full size rollable boat hook that stows into a space not much bigger than a coffee cup. The Revolve™ boat hook uses advanced rollable composite technology from Rolatube. Unrolled in seconds, it is a light and strong, full sized 1.9mtr boat hook weighing less than 450gm.
Stay safe,
Peter Rendle - peter.rendle@marinebusinessworld.com