Restrictions eased but state border closures remain - Australian MarineBusinessWorld.com newsletter
by Peter Rendle 21 May 2020 22:00 UTC
Recreational Boating © Cobalt Boats
The restrictions on movement within the states continue to be relaxed but border barriers remain in place. In NSW The Boating Industry Association (BIA) today welcomed the relaxation of restrictions on recreational boating in NSW following encouraging signs of containment of COVID-19.
Darren Vaux, BIA President, thanked the NSW Premier and Health Minister for their support for boating. "Recreational boating in NSW is on the road to recovery", Vaux said. "The State Government today confirmed that members of a household can go out boating in all forms of recreational craft which importantly includes the most popular type of boat, the family runabout. This means a typical family household can go out together as there does not need to be 4 square metres of space for each person onboard. Meanwhile people who are not from the same household can also go recreational boating but should maintain a physical distance of 1.5 metres from others, as is reasonably practicable.
Webinars are becoming commonplace as businesses find ways of maintaining communications and the MIA have announced their latest offering. The breakwater could make or break the viability of a marina. Designing and constructing the right breakwater must not only shield vessels from excessive waves and currents but also provide an effective hydrological solution to ensure the environmental and economic sustainability of the marina. This webinar will highlight what marinas need to know about breakwater design and construction and also how to maintain a breakwater so it lasts.
Overseas the Yacht Racing Forum is already creating an agenda for its next meeting in November. A member of the organising team said, "the world has changed dramatically since the last Yacht Racing Forum in Bilbao. We are heading into a blank year, with no sailing events, the greatest circuits cancelled, our source of profit dried up. The competitive sailing industry, like the entire world, is caught in a storm that will not spare the weakest. As soon as the situation stabilizes, it will be high time for us to get together, to discuss the foundations of our sport and its future. Can we turn this unusual situation into an opportunity? Let's hope so. The Yacht Racing Forum 2020, in Portsmouth, UK in just over six months' time, will give us the opportunity to address the key issues of the moment, and discuss how to get our sport back on track after a lost season and a complete disruption of the supply chain."
However, the Covid-19 situation does not appear to be slowing down the sales of new power boats. In Australia, Mark Jardine interviewed Maritimo lead designer Tom Barry-Cotter. Maritimo, established by Tom's father Bill Barry-Cotter in 2003, is Australia's premier luxury motor yacht builder. The company's world class manufacturing plant, located within the Gold Coast City Marine Precinct on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia directly employs approximately 200 people as well as hundreds of suppliers and contractors.
Maritimo has taken high performance, luxury boating to a new level with the introduction of exclusive new upgrades available for its highly successful X-Series range of sport motor yachts. The company has 'unleashed the R Performance Edition and lifestyle upgrade' for the X-Series and interest has already been very strong.
Meanwhile E Marine Motor Yachts are pleased to announce the arrival of the new Back Cove 34O Hull # 035, which is in stock and available for immediate delivery. Unveiled by Maine, USA builder Back Cove Yachts in late 2018, the 34O was met by unprecedented demand in the USA and features an entirely new hull designed specifically for outboard propulsion.
Similarly, Alexander Marine Australia is excited to announce the arrival into Australia of a selection of award-winning models from Galeon Motor Yachts: the Galeon 500 FLY, Galeon 510 Skydeck and Galeon 640 FLY. The three Galeon models from the European manufacturer stand out from the competition for their category-leading innovation. Hallmarks of Galeon range include the ingenious 'Beach Mode', cantilevered side decks which extend the width of the cockpit for additional leisure space onboard.
For sailors an interesting new chase boat has been launched. Tornado Boats has launched a new, climate-neutral coach boat for sailing clubs, the Tornado 6m ZERO-E, in response to World Sailing's Challenge 2024. The 6-metre RIB is powered by Torqeedo's Deep Blue 50R outboard and a 40 kWh Deep Blue battery. World Sailing, the sport's governing body, set a challenge to the marine industry to "push the boundaries of low carbon innovation for support boats at international events." Challenge 2024 set two goals: to halve the number of combustion-powered coach boats at Olympic Class events by 2024, and to eliminate fossil fuel-powered official boats by 2025. World Sailing's research indicates they will reduce their carbon footprint by 30% simply by switching the support vessels to alternative drive systems.
Keep safe,
Peter Rendle peter.rendle@marinebusinessworld.com