Worldwide news involving our region this week - MarineBusinessWorld Oceania newsletter
by Peter Rendle 10 Sep 14:00 PDT
BIA to host industry showcase at NSW Parliament © State of New South Wales through the Parliament of New South Wales
The BIA is hosting a boating industry day at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on 22 September. Co-hosted with Roy Butler MP and Clayton Barr MP of a NSW Parliamentary Friendship Group for boating, the event will take place in a key meeting venue within Parliament.
It offers invited members and stakeholders a key opportunity to meet in person with a number of State MPs to discuss critical marine priorities, including infrastructure, skills, and maritime access.
The people, partnerships and skills behind South Africa's internationally respected boatbuilding industry will take centre stage in Cape Town on 21 October, for Spotlight - the SABBEX Boatbuilding Awards. Taking place during a landmark week for Africa's boating industry, Spotlight will bring together boatbuilders, designers, manufacturers, suppliers, marine service providers and industry leaders, at the African Boating Conference.
At the Cannes Yachting Festival, Groupe Beneteau is unveiling 24 new models for the 2026-27 season and continuing the acceleration launched as part of its plan for 66 model launches between 2025 and 2027. In a market still marked by uncertainty and longer purchase decision cycles, the Group is choosing to stay on the offensive by acting on the levers it controls: products, services and the customer experience. It is focusing its action on three priorities: reducing the environmental impact of boating, making boating more accessible and continuing to move its offering upmarket.
Aquila Catamarans has launched the second model in its sailing range with the Aquila 45, which debuted at Cannes. The 45 Sail builds on Aquila's reputation for liveable design while continuing its new, dedicated range of sailing catamarans. At 47'2" length overall with a 25'5" beam, this delivers generous interior volume, social spaces both inside and out, comfort for extended cruising, and genuine sailing capability.
The new Grand Banks 65, like all Grand Banks models, begins with a simple premise: a long-range cruising yacht should never force you to choose between speed and efficiency or performance and comfort. Built with Grand Banks' proprietary V-WARP Technology, the GB65 moves effortlessly and efficiently throughout the speed curve. At a 50-percent engine load, she cruises effortlessly at 20 knots while burning just 37 gallons per hour.
Navico Group, a global leader in integrated systems and marine electronics and a division of Brunswick Corporation, announced a strategic partnership with Elettromedia, the multinational group behind the Audison and Hertz audio brands, to create more seamless and connected onboard experiences for boaters worldwide. The collaboration is designed to help boat builders deliver high-quality, integrated marine audio solutions that work more intuitively with the broader vessel technology ecosystem.
When MarkSetBot was first conceived, the idea was relatively simple: build a robotic mark that could navigate to a GPS coordinate, hold position without an anchor and move when conditions changed. Nearly 800 improvements later, the technology has evolved into something much broader. But the objective hasn't: help Race Committees deliver better sailboat racing.
Axopar is expanding its premium helm offering with the introduction of the Simrad NSO 4 multifunction display platform on selected models. NSO 4 provides a fully integrated touchscreen helm alongside the existing NSS 4 display, giving owners a cleaner, faster and more intuitive helm experience with the freedom to choose the interface that best suits the way they drive.
More industry news at www.marinebusinessworld.com/Oceania updated daily.
Peter Rendle - peter.rendle@worldmarine.media