Some years ago John Charnley decided to build his dream yacht in which he and his wife would cruise the world together.

The yacht he built became the Discovery 55 and was so successful that John was unable to realise his dream immediately, developing the company and building these outstanding cruising yachts.

At the start of a new era for the world’s oldest and largest sailing regatta of its kind, Cowes Week Limited has appointed award-winning consumer lifestyle agency
Focus PR to carry out its media communications in 2009.

The nine-month integrated PR programme will continue to build the positive reputation of Cowes Week with sailors and non-sailors alike. 

A French ship has begun repairing two undersea cables in the Mediterranean that were severed on Friday, disrupting internet and phone communications.

An ROV will locate the ends of the cables on the sea bed and bring them to the surface to be re-connected.

They were cut within 5 minutes of each other, possibly by a trawler net.

It is with great pleasure that Forty Plus Four yacht brokerage announces its opening.
 
Forty Plus Four has been formed by two, well known members of the industry.  Chris Ibbotson and Marcus Munt, who have both previously worked for large international brokerages and have now joined forces to create their own “new brokerage”. 

The pair have worked well together over the past few years and feel that they can bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and contacts to their new venture by continuing this strong team.

Finding funds to finance growth is key if Pearl Motor Yachts is going to reach the crest of the wave.

Iain Smallridge thinks his Pearl Motor Yachts is poised for expansion. He wants to add new models, increase output and tackle new emerging global markets, particularly in Russia and the Far East. But to do so he needs to find a serious injection of funds.

The problem is that the 10-year-old, Stratford-upon-Avon based business has only this year, for the first time, turned a profit. Margins are low and competition from big name brands such as Sunseeker and Fairline intense.

In support of its UK market, Dometic Marine, the world leader in marine air conditioning and sanitation systems and equipment, has recently appointed Alan Diamond as the new UK Marketing Manager.

Diamond will be responsible for marketing of all UK marine product lines including air conditioning and sanitation systems. In addition, his role will see him manage exhibitions such as London and Southampton Boat Shows, as well as support the sales team in strengthening the Dometic
Marine brand within the UK.   

Somali pirates have seized a British-owned cargo ship and a Taiwanese ship, maritime officials say, after capturing three other vessels over the weekend.

The UK-owned Malaspina Castle was boarded in the Gulf of Aden, while the Taiwanese ship was seized near the Seychelles, according to reports.

A French yacht, a Yemeni tugboat and a German ship were also captured in the pirate-plagued waterway at the weekend.

The region is heavily patrolled by a growing international naval coalition.

Hedley-Doe Developments will be launching a new pollution cleanup solution based upon their advanced pump technology at Seawork 2009, Stand S19 (Small Business Enterprise Zone).

The HD 80T has unique features which make it particularly suitable for use in situations that could not be addressed by more conventional pumps, such as rapid removal of the hazardous materials and viscous sludge associated with pollution events. This pollution cleanup solution utilises a single easily managed device, engineered to operate in extreme conditions, powered by a simple hydraulic connection and yet capable of moving up to 80 cu metres (17,600 imp gallons) of water per hour.

Leading aids to navigation supplier, Hydrosphere UK Ltd, has confirmed it will be attending Seawork 2009. The Hampshire-based company will be using this year's show - its ninth consecutive Seawork exhibition - to demonstrate its growing range of buoys, lights and auxiliary navigation products from Carmanah, Mobilis and Vega Industries.

Says Andy Reid, managing director, Hydrosphere UK Ltd: "We are very pleased to be exhibiting at Seawork 2009.  The exhibition is always a busy event for Hydrosphere and is a good barometer for the industry in terms of innovation and the state of the market.  This year, we will be exhibiting flagship products drawn from right across our product range.  We will have exciting new products to launch at the show, which will reaffirm that the companies whom we are proud to represent, are indeed leaders in their industry."

Side Imaging Sonar from Humminbird was one of the outstanding products at Seawork last year. It won the Innovation Award for Marine Electronics and was also voted Technical Innovation of the Year at the Fishing News Awards. This exclusive technology will be shown on the stand and on water demonstrations will be taking place. 

With Humminbird’s side imaging sonar you can see high definition images beneath the boat viewing up to 480 feet of coverage from side to side.  Three side imaging models will be on display, the big screen Humminbird 1197c SI Combo, the 997c SI Combo and the new 798c SI Combo. Units come complete with GPS and chartplotting capabilities and use high accuracy 50 channel GPS/WAAS receivers. They are also stand alone units so no towed transducers or additional software are required for side imaging operation.

Marine businesses are invited to come along to ‘Osprey Quay - Marine Day’, as part of the ‘Open 4 Business 2009’ fortnight of business events, focusing on Weymouth & Portland’s marine industry opportunities up to 2012.

The day starts with registration at 9am at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy on Monday 12th October with a series of speakers who will be focusing on this years theme of ‘Fit for Business – in the lead up to 2012’

This year we have a keynote speaker in Bernie Shrosbree, whose adopted title of Mister Motivator is very apt as the man responsible for training Ben Fogle, James Cracknell and Dr Ed Coats to race across the Antarctic earlier this year as featured in the BBC documentary ‘On Thin Ice’.

AL T. MARINE ELECTRONICS LLC, the Lake Worth Marine Electronics firm is to join Italy-based Telemar Yachting www.telemar-yachting.com, part of the Italian Shipping Group CG Telemar  www.telemargroup.com and become "Telemar Yachting the Americas" based in Fort Lauderdale.

"The opportunities for synergy are tremendous so it's a great opportunity to grow; for us it's a natural fit, giving us international scope not only in the yachting industry but also commercial vessels," commented Al T.'s General Manager Kirsten Tarafa.  "Just as important though, we're joining a solid team we have worked with for years who themselves are part of a global group with solid resources."

Following speculation on the BBC TV Politics Show about the possible disposal of the British Waterways (BW) property portfolio, BW released a statement yesterday, November 16. We print the statement in full below:
 
‘There has been speculation around the possible disposal of British Waterways’ property endowment in England and Wales ahead of the Pre-Budget Report.

The UK government decided earlier in the year, following a Treasury-led review, that British Waterways’ 1,400 canalside properties should not be sold.

The government has also said it keeps all assets under review in the light of current public finances.

The UK Border Agency (“UKBA”) has recently announced that it now has a fleet of five cutters patrolling the United Kingdom’s coastline. These fast patrol vessels form part of the recent transfer of some customs responsibilities from HM Revenue & Customs to the UKBA. Previously known as Her Majesty’s Customs Cutters, the vessels will now be called Her Majesty’s Cutters.

However, in response to a number of letters from RYA members who have been victims of ‘stop and search’ raids at sea, the RYA has approached the Minister of State for Borders and Immigration to seek clarification of the statutory powers of the UKBA cutter crews and boarding parties.

Private equity firm Bain Capital is expected to hand over the helm of German sailboat builder Bavaria Yachtbau to two distressed-debt investors, according to reports appearing in the financial press this week. US-based investors Oaktree Capital Management and Anchorage Advisors are thought likely to take equal equity stakes in Bavaria Yachtbau after buying its debt for a total of about €300m, reported Private Equity News.

Bain Capital bought Bavaria in 2007 at the height of the private equity boom for a reported €1.3bn, and is said to have put €400m of equity from its own funds into the deal.

Bavaria Yachtbau GmbH says Anchorage Advisors LLC and Oaktree Capital Management, which collectively control approximately 95% of Bavaria's €960m debt facilities, signed a binding agreement to restructure the company's balance sheet on Saturday October 3.

The company says the restructuring will create an industry leading balance sheet through a capital injection of €55m in cash and the write-down of over 90% of the senior and junior debt tranches.

Anchorage and Oaktree have been working collaboratively with Bain Capital and look forward to Bain's continued involvement once the deal - which is subject to regulatory and anti-trust clearance – has been finalised.

Marine DNA Ltd has acquired the UK on-line marine equipment retailer, BoatBitz.co.uk, as part of an expansion program into the marine general hardware business. 

Marine DNA Ltd is a joint venture company with Bristol based Marine Electronic Services Ltd and London based, Cactus Navigation Ltd as investors - two of the UK’s leading specialist marine electronic resellers.  It aims to introduce an expanded product offering to their 60,000 combined customers. 

BoatBitz has been established for 5 years and has grown to offer over 12,000 items of marine hardware through its comprehensive online site.

The powered trimaran Ady Gil, known as Earthrace during her biofuelled circumnavigation, has had 8ft of its bow sliced off by Japanese whaling vessel the Shonan Maru II. Five of her crew, one with cracked ribs, have been airlifted off but recent reports suggest her skipper, Kiwi Pete Bethune, is staying onboard to salvage either the boat or some equipment.

Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, new owners of the Ady Gil, told Kyodo News the Shonan Maru II, a vessel sent by Japan to ensure the security of its whaling fleet, deliberately rammed his group's US$1.8 million vessel Ady Gil and ''sheared the bow right off.''

The 12th annual Seawork International exhibition and conference was up all round. 
• UP! 479 exhibitors – 10% up on last year
• UP!  7049 visitors – 8% up on last year
• UP!  789 overseas visitors – 11.2% up on last year

Overseas visitors showed a strong increase and were enhanced by naval attachés from South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Chile.  Captain Oscar Vargas, Head of the Chilean Naval mission was so impressed with his first visit to Seawork that he intends to return next year with members of his London team. 

UK-based Genus Marine – Europe’s leading berth broker – reports the first real signs of recovery with its latest figures from boating hotspots around Europe

“Summer is usually the quietest time of the year for marina real estate,” explains John Brewster, Director of Genus Marine & Leisure. “This summer, however, we have seen a marked increase in sales activity in the Mediterranean with enquiries in the month of July outstripping all of the 2008 summer months combined.”

“The majority of berth sales occur in the off-season between late autumn and spring and, after a pretty gloomy start to 2009, we were all expecting a very quiet summer period.

A South West-based leader in marine engineering has signed an agreement to build new premises at Osprey Quay on Portland enabling the business to grow, potentially creating up to 20 new jobs.

Specialised Technologies Group Limited, which is currently located in Weymouth, has agreed terms with the South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) to build 25,000sq ft of commercial engineering and office space.

The company has been working with South West RDA and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council for some time and detailed plans for the new facilities have already been approved by the Borough Council. Construction is due to begin in September and completed by Christmas 2010.

Nine Chinese seamen were missing as fire crews battled a blaze aboard a Taiwanese oil tanker carrying 58,000 tonnes of naphtha fuel in the Malacca Strait after it was in collision with another ship.

"The MT Formosa Product Brick is on fire and is now listing on its left side. We fear it may sink," said Rizal Ramli, a Malaysian marine police chief.

The tanker and a Greek-managed bulk carrier collided off Port Dickson, about 100 kilometers south of Kuala Lumpur, in clear weather on Tuesday night. Sixteen crew members, mainly Chinese, were rescued.

Following a month working alongside retiring CEO Rod Carr, new CEO Sarah Treseder now fully takes the helm and is looking forward to the challenges the role will bring.

“Coming to the RYA is a great opportunity for me to combine my passion for business and my passion for being on the water and to make a lasting contribution to the RYA and all it represents. It is exciting and it will be demanding, but I am looking forward to the challenge”, commented Sarah.

Sarah brings with her a wealth of experience and expertise from the business world, from newspapers, international business and most recently luxury events, as well as a passion and lifelong involvement in boating from, learning to sail with her family at a very early age, to enjoying weekends on canal boats and cruising on board friend’s powerboats.

The UK division of Marina Marbella, Europe’s biggest motorboat retailer, is moving its headquarters from Hamble Point Marina to new premises in Poole.

This April, after almost 20 years on Firefly Road at Hamble Point Marina in Southampton, Marina Marbella UK will be moving a short hop westwards along the coast to new premises in Parkstone Bay Marina in Poole, Dorset. The new offices are located amongst some of Europe’s most popular leisure boating waters, between Poole Quay and the prestigious Sandbanks neighbourhood.

Cygnus Instruments is the leading manufacturer of reliable, rugged underwater thickness gauges for divers carrying out maintenance inspections and corrosion checks.

Developed with the Cygnus-pioneered Multiple Echo technique, all Cygnus gauges ignore surface coatings and give only true, accurate measurements.

This technique ensures that successive returning echoes precisely match and are thus error-checked before a measurement is displayed. As a result, inspection time and costs are significantly reduced.

The commercial marine business seemed in robust health at Seawork 2010. While the sector tends not to be susceptible to the economic cycle, this year was driven by renewed impetus from marine renewable contracts. The exhibition saw 7000 visitors, with over 16% from overseas, including a DTI Inward Trade Mission and 32 naval attachés.  Seawork is increasingly important event for the European commercial marine industry and attracts a growing number of overseas exhibitors, including the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association, in addition to companies from across Scandinavia, Spain, Turkey, Australia and India. 

The ‘Meet the Buyer’ UK Trade & Investment initiative alone involved 50 exhibitors meeting buyers from 12 countries across Europe, Asia and South America. 

The other big change evident this year was the increasing proportion of visitors who elected to visit for more than one day.

Tides Marine has been chosen to supply the Shaft Seals and Smart Seal Alarm System to Falmouth Harbour Commissioners for their 16m Pilot Vessel “Arrow”. This is the first commercial working vessel to be fitted with the new Smart Seal Alarm System.

The pilot boats in Falmouth Harbour regularly achieve in excess of 2,600 working hours per year and down time can be detrimental to the efficient working of the harbour. Will Davies, Assistant Harbour Master explained “We had experienced some problems with vibration and water in the stern seals.

Tides Marine offered us the dry, dripless solution. With their experience and knowledge of the systems used, they were able to help resolve the tail gear problems we were facing”.

From 2010 Blakes Paints is going to be rebranded under the name of Hempel with an official rebrand launch set to take place at the London Boat Show, 8th-17th January 2010.

Hempel, one of the largest privately owned paint companies in the world, purchased Blakes in 1993 and the rebranding exercise is designed to take Blakes from being a UK only brand and put it firmly into the Hempel fold which caters for a modern global market.
 
Blakes Paints is one of the most familiar brands on chandlers’ shelves in the UK. The Blakes’ brand is highly regarded and has a loyal but ageing customer base. It is the need to bring in new, younger customers which has prompted the rebranding with the aim of expanding the product range and giving it a more modern, youthful appeal.

The UK Ministry of Defence has selected world-class Ultrasonic Antifouling technology to help maintain the performance of its LCVP MKIV landing craft.

Ultrasonic Antifouling - the world's leading brand of electronic antifouling technology - has been chosen as a MoD supplier after a series of successful maritime tests.

Ultrasonic Antifouling uses electronic sound pulses to inhibit barnacle and algae growth on the underside of boats - maintaining maximum hull speeds and significantly cutting their fuel and maintenance costs.

Clyde Marine Training, the UK’s largest maritime training provider, has recently won a prestigious Glasgow Business Award in the category of Best Performing Business with 25 employees or less.

The Awards ceremony, which took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on 8th October, is firmly established as the highlight of the Glasgow business calendar.

Attracting high profile industry support and involvement, the Awards offer Glasgow businesses the opportunity to promote major achievements and celebrate success. Compere for the evening, Fred McAuley, entertained guests at the glitzy black tie dinner.

The board of Hatteland Display has employed Trond K. Johannessen as its new President & CEO, starting 1st Feb 2009.

The appointment follows a strong growth period where the company has increased revenue from NOK 64 million in 2000 to NOK 330 million in 2007.

In this period Hatteland Display has positioned itself as the leading player within the maritime display and computer sector.

Dehler Yachts, Germany's third-largest boatbuilder, went into administration today.

A recent bank guarantee by the government of the state of North Rhine-Westfalia did not succeed in preventing the company from going under.

One of the UK's leading distributors of marine electronics for leisure and commercial users, C A Clase, has received a prestigious award from KVH for selling the most TracPhone V7 systems in Europe.

"We are delighted to have out sold all other KVH distributors to win the award for the highest sales in Europe," comments Andrew Bush, Managing Director, C A Clase (UK) Ltd. "The V7 is a compact mini V-SAT satellite communication system which is significantly lighter and smaller than standard antennas.

Ten people have been ferried by helicopter from a stricken Royal Navy Antarctic patrol ship after it lost power off the tip of south America, the MoD said.

HMS Endurance was in the Straits of Magellan, the narrow channel separating the tip of south America from the islands of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, when its engine room flooded just after 3pm 16th Dec (7pm GMT).

A Norwegian shipping company has been fined nearly £500,000 after eight people, including a 14-year-old boy and his father, were killed when one of its vessels capsized off Shetland.

The Bourbon Dolphin tipped over as it towed an oil rig's anchor and chain during a routine manoeuvre about 75 miles north-west of Shetland in April 2007.

The 330-tonne chain, one of eight anchoring the Transocean Rather drilling rig to the ocean floor near the Rosebank oil field, suddenly began sliding across the new vessel's deck, pulling it over.

The company’s round the world yacht race is a global success but its shares are struggling to stay afloat.

Getting people to give up their jobs and pay up to £32,000 to spend months on a cramped boat, risking life and limb in force nine winds, is the easy part for William Ward.

Securing sponsors for the Clipper round the world yacht race is also fairly straightforward, such is the kudos and marketing potential associated with the biennial event.

What’s less straightforward for the chief executive of the Gosport-based Aim-listed business, is understanding why the 13-year-old firm’s share price is in a slump.