The primary objectives of the monthly online diary survey are to quantify the economic scale of recreational boating and to better understand the characteristics, habits and behaviors of recreational boaters. Types of information that will be obtained from the survey include the number of boats, boat characteristics, boating days, trips and locations, spending, special issues and boat owner characteristics.

Marina Industries Association president Andrew Chapman indicated that the Australian recreational boating industry was fortunate to have the survey underpinned by the expertise of the Michigan State University-based Recreational Marine Research Center.

“[The Michigan research center] has already delivered high-quality marina industry research for the marina industry in Australia,” Chapman said in a statement. “This wider industry project builds on the relationship with [the center], who are globally recognized for their recreational marine research.”

Boat owners will log on to the survey registration site and register to participate in the monthly online survey. Once they are registered, they will be emailed and surveyed monthly during the 12-month period.

Organizers said more than 20 boats of various sizes, types and descriptions will be dockside and available for demonstration rides.

One highlight will be the debut and demonstration of several recent models of the “Water Car,” a Southern California-designed and manufactured amphibious vehicle capable of speeds of as much as 50 mph on water and more than 100 mph on the highway.

“There’s nothing as good as a test ride to know that you’ve made the right choice in a new boat, and Lake Elsinore’s new La Laguna Resort and Boat Launch is the perfect place to do it,” event organizer Bob Brown said in a statement.

“Besides boats in-water for demos there will also be a generous assortment of boats, new and used, on land in addition to a host of popular marine accessory and services vendors. Whether you’re a boater now or hope to be one in the future, Boating Demo Days is exactly the right environment and opportunity to find out more about the sport and perhaps make that purchase you’ve always wanted.”

Boating Demo Days opens to the public at 10 a.m. on May 18 and 19. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 6 to 10. Children 5 and under will be admitted free.

There will be food and beverage concessions and a beer garden at the site.

“This is a unique opportunity for the general public to enjoy a day on the water and find out what boating is all about,” Brown said. “It’s been nearly a decade since a genuine ‘boating demo’ event has been offered in Southern California. The time seems right to get people back out on the water in time for summer vacations.”

The average time it took to sell a boat increased by 4% in April, from 275 days to 285, according to YachtWorld.com member yacht brokerage firms reporting in their proprietary database, SoldBoats.com.

As in March 2013, the sailboat segment fared a little bit better than powerboats. Sailboat unit sales increased 1% with 535 sold and powerboat sales declined 1% with 2,469 sold. The value of the sailboats sold rose 7% to $41 million; powerboat prices were down 4% to $259 million.

The weakest sales were at the extremes of the market. Sales of boats under 26 feet declined 7% to 994 and sales of boats 56 to 79 feet fell by the same percentage with 69 boats sold. Sales of boats over 80 feet declined 25%, from 24 to 18.

The middle of the market was comparatively stronger, showing double-digit percentage increases. In the 36- to 45-foot range, sales climbed 10% with 637 boats sold. In the 46- to 55-foot range, sales rose 12 percent with 152 sold.

In the popular 26- to 35-foot range, sales declined by 1 percent with 1,134 boats sold. Notably, the average sales price increased for boats under 26 feet and 26 to 35 feet. Among the smallest boats, the average sales price rose from $20,458 to $22,079. In the 26- to 35-foot range, it climbed from $50,954 to $53,828.

Source: TradeOnlyToday: John Burnham

The Warwick Beacon said the report was one of 3 developments — a symposium and the release of 2 surveys — that occurred between early April and May 2013. The 2013 Southern New England Recreational Fishing Symposium in Warwick was hosted in April by the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association in conjunction with the URI Coastal Institute, followed by a new for-hire — charter and party boat — economic impact study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s regional research center.

NOAA’s estimate on the annual economic impact of recreational fishing in Rhode Island totaled $179 million. In the Northeast, the impact of the for-hire industry was estimated at $334 million, and preliminary data from the 2012 Northeast Recreational Boater Survey indicated that the economic impact of recreational boating could be as high as $220 million in Rhode Island, according to The Warwick Beacon.

The data show that it is in the best interest of Rhode Islanders to advocate for the yachting industry, recreational fishing, the environment and fish that live in the waters because they have a significant impact on residents.

Dubbed ‘Yacht Solutions at Italthai Marine’, the new facility is being set up in response to the demand for more superyacht refit and repair facilities in the Asian region – from both owners of superyachts based in Asia and those travelling from Europe and the Americas.

Located near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River in Samut Prakarn, just south of Bangkok, and easy to navigate to from the Gulf of Thailand, Italthai Marine provides the perfect site for such a facility. Its location, with convenient access to the Thai capital, and only 45 minutes from Suvarnabhumi International Airport (the transiting hub of Southeast Asia) is ideal because it is extremely appealing to owners, captains and crew due to the vast range of crew facilities close to hand. This deep water facility was needed by Yacht Solutions to cater for larger refit and build projects as well as shorter emergency and maintenance projects.

Speaking to the Phuket Gazette, YS Managing Director, Gareth Twist, elaborated on the reasons why Bangkok was the ideal choice for establishing such a dedicated superyacht facility, and not Phuket.

“There [in Bangkok], we can handle yachts as big as 95 meters long, up to 20 meters wide and weighing as much as 3,500 tonnes, whereas in Phuket, we can only handle [superyachts that measure] up to 45-50 meters long, 10 meters wide and weighing up to 260 tonnes.”

Asked if there are any plans or ambitions to build a similar high-capacity facility in Phuket in the near future, Gareth responded: “Definitely. We’ve got the funds and plans to build such a yard in Phuket, but acquiring the ideal piece of land, with good deep water access, has been an obstacle.

Meanwhile, Gareth’s brother, Simon Twist, has relocated from Phuket to the Thai capital as part of the latest partnership with Italthai Marine.

“As a major yachting hub, Phuket has a good yachting skill base, and this is our strength… We will continue to send personnel, who will be groomed in Phuket, before going up to Bangkok.”

Gareth went on to highlight the growth that his company and the island’s industry, overall, has seen in the past year. Currently, more than 90% of his firm’s business is dealing with superyachts. This is compared to last year, when only abut 60-70% of the business came from such large vessels, he said.

“In the past year, some 60 superyachts came through Phuket. Of these, Yacht Solutions worked on about 16… Our business volume from superyachts has grown three-fold and we expect the industry to continue to see strong growth,” he said.

Yacht Solutions at Italthai Marine will utilize a 112,000 square meter facility offering full ship building and repair capabilities plus a bonded warehouse and in-house design office. The facility is ISO 9001:2000 rated and boasts a lifting capacity up to 95 meters and 3,500 tonnes. It has access to two 115 meter dry docks, 300 meter alongside berthing, a floating dock up to 160 meters and 5000 tonnes lift capacity, making this the largest superyacht repair facility in Southeast Asia.

“We have been in the marine refit and repair business in Thailand for over 10 years and we have been looking for a deep water facility for the last two years,” said Gareth.

“We are very excited to be at Italthai Marine as this is the perfect site for us. Yacht Solutions at Italthai Marine expands our superyacht capabilities for hauling-out, and opens up a great yard option for any resident yachts and superyachts passing through the Gulf of Thailand.

“This facility is accessible to all of Southeast Asia being less than 800 miles from Singapore. We are very excited with this partnership as it offers a natural progression for our business.”

The superyacht industry in Asia is growing and recent trends show that there has been a year-on-year increase in the number of superyachts, either in the region or transiting through the region. Yacht Solutions at Italthai Marine is very keen to attract those yachts to this new facility in Thailand for planned or emergency refits, repairs or conversion work.

Source: Phuket Gazette

After hearing about all the debris littering New Jersey waterways, boat dealers and marina owners are reporting that customers are too worried to boat this season. So members of the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey decided to address the issue firsthand.

The group decided to prove waterways were once again navigable by shooting videos while boating on waterways around the state.

Parts of New Jersey are still struggling to recover after Hurricane Sandy tore through six months ago and, as a result, some marine businesses continue to take a hit. After scrambling to get things back up and running, boat businesses are facing a new challenge.

After hearing about all the debris littering New Jersey waterways, boat dealers and marina owners are reporting that customers are too worried to boat this season. So members of the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey decided to address the issue firsthand.

The group decided to prove waterways were once again navigable by shooting videos while boating on waterways around the state.

“We pretty much spent all winter getting our facilities up and running so we could be ready for the spring,” Don Ditzel, of Comstock Yacht Sales and Marina in Brick, New Jersey, and vice president of the MTA/NJ, told Trade Only Today. “We do not want to sit here saying everything was fine if it wasn’t, so the only way to prove it was fine was to go boating and freeze.”

Gov. Chris Christie, known and often respected for his outspokenness, had emphasized the debris during some public meetings, Ditzel told Trade Only.

“I don’t know if they were scare tactics, but it almost put boating in New Jersey as a wash this season,” Ditzel said. “We wanted to say kind of the opposite. We’ve been boating since early March and we’ve encountered no issues. I personally think these facts were coming out to push for more federal aid to our area, which is fine. It’s just that it would negatively affect my business, as well as many others in the area, by people either boating or not boating.”

Small businesses, including those focused on the marine industry, are still struggling in many parts of the state, said MTA/NJ executive director Melissa Danko.

“It’s been a hard six months for everyone here and it’s still hard, so we just wanted to have something positive to show people,” Danko told Trade Only. “A lot of people lost homes entirely. It’s still very raw here, especially along the coast. Our members were getting more and more calls from customers asking, ‘What’s in the waterways? Are they safe?’ ”

Danko says the group has been working closely with state departments and knew the work was being done, but the word wasn’t getting out to boaters.

“We gave information at boat shows, but I don’t think any of us felt like it was enough,” Danko said. “We all just realized we needed to do something more, get out on waterways ourselves, get someone to take video and it all sort of evolved from there.”

Some channels are cleaner now than they were before the storm.

“Even things that have been in the water for years are getting cleaned up,” Danko said. “That’s a message we’ve been trying to publicize.”

Hopefully, there is aid on the way for some of the affected businesses, Danko said.

“We’re still fighting really hard to get businesses money,” Danko said Monday afternoon. “The federal government just released $50,000 in business grants and low-interest loans. That’s really good. We just have not seen a lot of money for businesses yet.”

Source: Soundings TradeOnlyToday, (Reagan Haynes)

I knew his father, Warren Schafer. He owned Fisherman’s Paradise, almost the Bass Pro Shops of the old days. A very nice family and good people in every way. I wish everyone in this business was as friendly, cooperative, and straight-shooting as the Schafer family.

The American Boating Congress, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and a meeting of the Growth Summit Recreational Boating Leadership Council headline the agenda, but various associations and committees will use the gathering to discuss group strategy.

The Leadership Council, created at the third growth summit last December, will serve as a steering committee to oversee and coordinate efforts to create a national industry wide coalition of recreational boating stakeholders.

The council’s 6 committees are Diversity; Youth; Affordability; Advocacy; Education & Training; and Marketing & Communications. The council will meet from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday at The Liaison Capitol Hill hotel.

That day, the States’ Organization for Boating Access will hold several focus group sessions from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the same hotel.

Wednesday morning sees board meetings of the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas, which includes its newly created Young Leaders Advisory Council; the American Boat Builders & Repairers Association; the Association of Marina Industries; and the NMMA’s Political Action Committee, which will also host a private reception.

An ABC welcome lunch Wednesday formally opens another industry wide full-court press of U.S. senators, House members and their staffs on several issues key to the yachting industry’s health and growth. Those issues are:

• E15 — The NMMA supports two bills: HR 1462, which would cap ethanol in gasoline at 10%, and HR 875, which would repeal the EPA’s waiver approving sales of E15 until the agency seeks an independent scientific analysis from the National Academy of Sciences to explore the harmful effects of the blend.

• Access — Attendees will oppose proposals to restrict access to Biscayne National Park, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Everglades National Park.

• Dredging — Members will push legislators on the critical issue of dredging projects that keep waterways navigable and their neglect in the recent economic climate. Reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act, in particular, will be stressed.

• Tax deduction — Attendees will advocate protection of the interest deduction for boats and yachts qualifying for a second home.

Hill visits to the House and Senate office building by contingents from each state will be held Thursday afternoon.

Trade Only Today will deliver daily reports this week from ABC.

The 2013 ABC is hosted by 31 marine industry organizations.

Source: Soundings TradeOnlyToday

Ital Thai is Thailand’s largest and most established shipbuilding company, while Yacht Solutions has built a reputation over the past decade for sophisticated refitting of superyachts.

Under the deal, Yacht Solutions is to set up a superyacht refit and repair facility to meet growing demand from owners of superyachts based in Asia and others traveling from Europe and America to take advantage of the lower costs offered in Asia.

Located near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River in Samut Prakan, Yacht Solutions at Ital Thai Marine (YSITM) will be a 112,000-square-metre facility offering full ship building and repair capabilities plus a bonded warehouse and in-house design office.

YSITM boasts a lifting capacity up to 95 meters and 3,500 tonnes. It has access to two 115 meter dry docks, 300 meters of alongside berthing, and a floating dock up to 160 meters and 5,000 tonnes lift capacity, making this the largest megayacht repair facility in Southeast Asia.

Gareth Twist, managing director of Yacht Solutions explained, “We have been in the marine refit and repair business in Thailand for over 10 years and we have been looking for a deep water facility for the past two. This is the perfect site for us.”

Wirat Chanasit, managing director of Ital Thai Marine said, “We are delighted to offer a superyacht division at Ital Thai Marine shipyard.

“Yacht Solutions brings a highly skilled superyacht management team including exterior finishings and painting, interior fit-out and engineering. YSITM has full access to our facilities and our 300-strong workforce”.

When a 43′ sailboat in the next slip was sold in a couple of months, I was astounded as to how that happened so quickly. I talked to the seller and found out that the yacht broker he used also sold a trawler recently in our condo complex marina. I asked for his name and contact information and was told his name is Jeff Sorgen of Denison Yacht Sales.

I contacted Jeff and we went over my boat. He said he would be able to sell it in a few months; I was skeptical, however, I found that Jeff had just sold another trawler in my complex, so I signed the agreement. Jeff out did my expectations and after showing my boat to a number of people, had a signed buyer’s offer for me in about six weeks. Between a little negotiation, getting the survey done and formally closing, it took another month. All I can say is, WOW!!! I wish I had met Jeff a year earlier.

I have dealt with other yacht brokers in the past and was less than satisfied with their results, but Jeff Sorgen out did them all. I am a very particular person in deciding who I do business with, but Jeff met all my expectations. He is a knowledgeable, professional, candid, honest, yacht broker, but above all, he has a very good track record of selling boats quickly.

If you want to sell your boat, whether it be a sailboat, trawler or motor yacht, I highly recommend Jeff Sorgen.