Azimut Internatioanl Awards
Even though it was just launched this past May 2014, it has already received two prestigious awards in the USA and China. Named Best Yacht of the Year 2014 by renowned magazine Robb Report China, the Azimut Grande 95RPH earned the "Best of the Best” classification that identifies the most extraordinary products in the luxury sector. In doing so, it has joined the ranks of world famous brands like Ferrari, Piaget, Ducati, and many others. The Italian boatyard's new 29-metre vessel impressed the jury with its elegance and style, its welcoming interiors, and its incredibly roomy flybridge (more than 60 m2); so much so that that they awarded it "Best in Class" among the other boats in its category. Similarly, the boat's superior performance made quite an impression on the jury at the AIM Marine Group Editor's Choice Awards. Held in conjunction with the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show 2014, the Editors’ Choice Awards is sponsored by AIM (Active Interest Media) Marine Group representing the following publications: Yachts International, Power & Motoryacht, Sail, Soundings, Soundings Trade Only, Passagemaker, and BoatQuest.com. At the official ceremony on 29th October 2014 in Fort Lauderdale, the Azimut Grande 95RPH was awarded Best Motoryacht in the 90-100 foot category. The jury recognized the Azimut model for its extraordinary design, innovation, technology, and creativity. These awards are significant for the Italian boatyard because they indicate the USA and China markets' enthusiasm for these new models, two strategically important markets for the Azimut|Benetti Group.
Bavaria Opens Office in the USA
In October Bavaria opened its new office in the USA at Fort Lauderdale in Florida. This is the second direct representation from the German Shipyard and follows the Bavaria Shanghai office opened recently. Under the name of Bavaria Yachts America, this office based in Florida will supervise the US market, Canada and the entire South American region. The Bavaria Yachts America operation is represented by Vincent Guiot, Sales Director at Bavaria. The first test of this new Bavaria office in the United States was the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Out of the Bavaria product range for motor boats, the Bavaria Virtess 420 Fly and the Virtess 420 Coupe were displayed. Customers from all over the United States visiting the show appreciated the brand Bavaria very much and the first orders were closed following the show. With the opening of this head office in Fort Lauderdale, Bavaria is making a clear commitment to the “Americas” market. The expansion of the dealer network and participation to all major shows such as Miami Boat Show, West Palm Beach, Rio de Janeiro, and Cartagena will strengthen Bavaria presence for 2015.
Beneteau 50th Boat Show
The third Boat Show opened its doors at the heart of the huge construction work that prefigured the Défense business district. Beneteau entered the French sailing scene, confidently showing its first polyester boats. At the same time, Suzuki wrote the first page of its motorboat history. In fifty years, we have come a long way since then. The Boat Show became the Nautic at Porte de Versailles and Beneteau and Suzuki have become two undisputed world leaders, working together and enjoying an increasing number of partnerships. Like an ode to the currents that carried them, Beneteau and Suzuki will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their presence at the Paris Boat Show. To create a connection between the two brands, four legendary Suzuki VanVan motorbikes have been customized in the anniversary colours of the two brands. So, as a prelude to the Show, three Beneteau Flyers will symbolically sail along 50 km of the River Seine, from Ile des Impressionnistes to Port Javel in Paris 15th arrondissement, escorted by this motorbike squad riding alongside. After these ‘Furious 50s’, the Flyers and VanVans will head to the Beneteau stands of the Nautic and these unique versions of the legendary Suzuki motorbike, redesigned by Style & Design and prepared by MFC Paris will be offered to the buyers of a boat whose purchase agreement is signed during the Show, following a draw. Designed by Style & Design, it is worth recalling that the new generation of Beneteau Flyers benefits from the latest technology developed by Suzuki Marine for its motorization. This close collaboration comes with European agreements between the engine manufacturer and the Vendée boatyard for the development and renewal of all of its outboard ranges.
CRN and Riva Finest Art on Water
“The Finest Art on Water” will be shown as part of the Rich Pickings. Displaying Wealth exhibition at the Museum Für Kunst Und Gewerbe, Hamburg. The exclusive collection by Christian Jankowski has been created in partnership with CRN and Riva, which are two Italian luxury yachting brands of the Ferretti Group. In collaboration with the magazine POP. Kultur und Kritik, Rich Pickings. Displaying Wealth brings together 20 contemporary approaches from a wide range of countries and artistic methods. Artist Christian Jankowski aims to engage directly with the idea of sales and exchange and the value of luxury goods. “The Finest Art on Water” is not only a yacht but also a piece of art that fully immerses the spectator. Visitors to the exhibition will explore the presentation of wealth in contemporary society, and through “The Finest Art on Water”, be confronted with the idea of luxury objects; that artwork can generate cultural capital and elevate the buyers above the level of conventional taste and material consumption. Jankowski collaborated with yacht builders CRN, the Italian shipyard specialised in the construction of fully customised steel and aluminium maga yacht over 40 metres, featuring a 68m vessel, whose exteriors and interiors lines were designed by Officina Italiana Design, and have been produced by the shipyard in the contemporary artwork. The Aquariva Cento, a limited edition boat, also designed by Officina Italiana Design, that can be available as a tender for CRN superyachts, will also be sculpturally displayed as part of the installation, simultaneously challenging an art audience and yacht lovers alike.
Ferretti Group Opens First Flagship Showroom in Shanghai
Ferretti Group, world leader in the design, construction and sale of luxury motor yachts, proudly announces the opening of its first Flagship Showroom in Shanghai, located in the prestigious Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Pudong. The new Showroom sits on the bank of Huangpu River, in a beautiful location inside Mandarin Oriental Hotel. This place represents welcome, elegance, excellence, Italian style and the ‘Made in Italy’ quality, which are the key values of Ferretti Group. The design is by Officina Italiana Design - the studiothat designed the whole Riva fleet - which already gave its unmistakable mark to the previous Showroom, opened last June in Qingdao. The new opening demonstrates, one more time, Ferretti Group’s determination to expand the Mainland China business and the efforts to enhance the brand awareness and reputation in the most important market of Asia Pacific. Ten years ago, Ferretti Group pioneered the global luxury yacht industry by opening a representative office in Shanghai. Today, after years of efforts and investments, Ferretti Group is leading the industry in a fast growing market with unrivalled capabilities. Today’s celebration is for those past years and contextually marks the beginning of a new exciting era.
Gulf Craft Extends Service Portfolio
Gulf Craft, one of the world’s top 10 superyacht-building shipyards, has launched a new online portal to list yachts and boats for resale. The new listings webpage on Gulf Craft’s 360-degree service portfolio. The company offers to buy back its own boats and yachts from owners of Gulf Craft products looking to trade-in and trade-up. The pre-owned craft are then listed online for purchase by other interested buyers. The webpage offers buyers the ability to tailor their searches by model, brand, year of delivery and location as well as send purchase queries to the Gulf Craft team. As part of the policy of selling used craft, Gulf Craft will provide factory warranty of up to 6 months making the vessels ‘certified preowned yachts and boats’. The announcement comes just ahead of the Dubai Pre-owned Boat Show 2014 which will take place from November 27th to 29th at Dubai Creek Marina. Last year’s event attracted more than 5000 visitors.
Mulder Turkey Dealership
In addition to Russia and France, Mulder Shipyard is now also being represented in Turkey. Mulder Shipyard signed an agency agreement with Ahmet Hanif, the Managing Director of the Turkish HNF Yachting during the Cannes Yachting Festival. HNF Yachting is very experienced in selling large sailing yachts. With the Mulder Shipyard dealership, they will expand the sales of high quality luxury motoryachts. HNF Yachting represented Mulder Shipyard at the International Istanbul Boat Show last September.
Nordhavn Add New Broker
Chuck Pickover joins Nordhavn Yachts Southeast bringing with him nearly 30 years experience in yacht brokerage sales. He most recently spent time selling Nordhavns with Yacht Tech and is excited to come to Nordhavn where he can “build upon the experience and relationships” he developed there. A Miami native, Chuck always had a passion for the sea, and started his career in yacht sales with the renowned Allied Marine Group. Although inexperienced at the time, he made up for it with perseverance, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn. He spent the next 17 years at Allied selling hundreds of boats. He followed up his time at Allied with two years at Lazzara Yachts before starting his own brokerage firm, CMP Yacht Sales. He teamed with Sun Power Diesel and turned the partnership into the nation’s top Rampage dealership. Chuck’s vast knowledge of the boating market will serve customers well, no matter what boat they might be looking for, but he is especially keen to work with Nordhavn prospects.
Otam New Monte Carlo Dealer
Monte Carlo Boat Sales founded by Massimo Aggeri and Petteri Turunen, both with more than 25 years of experience in sales of prestigious brands like Riva, and currently partners of Sanlorenzo and Pirelli Inflatables, add the OTAM brand to their prestigious portfolio.
Outer Reef Makes Another Hit
A short update to let you know that Outer Reef Yachts has yet again won for the third time in a row the industry’s top award for outstanding quality, performance and customer satisfaction. The company’s latest 800 series launching Ti-Punch won the AIM (Active Media Interest) top award at a ceremony at the Fort Lauderdale yacht show this last week. AIM publish over six yachting titles and their respective journalists selected the Outer Reef 800 series for its top honours award.
Riviera Acknowledged Best of Best
The very versatile SUV collection from iconic Australian boat-builder Riviera is set to scale even greater heights after the series flagship 565 model secured Best Motoryacht honours at the biggest boat show in the world. The prestigious Editors Choice awards for the ‘best of the best' in production and semi-custom yachts were announced at a special gala presentation during the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, hosted by Active Interest Media (AIM) Marine Group. The sporty and adventurous 565 stood out from a sea of contenders for judges in the 50-59 feet category, endorsing Riviera’s credentials as a world-class builder of luxury yachts and reinforcing its position as Australia’s most-awarded boat-builder ever. Riviera chairman and owner Rodney Longhurst said the high-performance features and flexible design of the 565 SUV were certainly hard to ignore – catering for both the avid angler and the cruising entertainer. Mr Longhurst, on his return from Fort Lauderdale, paid tribute to the team of 430 international designers, engineers and master craftsmen at Riviera’s 14-hectare, state-of-the-art facility at Coomera on Australia’s Gold Coast. AIM Marine Group publishes a prestigious stable of boating titles including, Power & Motoryacht magazine, Yachts International, Sail, PassageMaker, Soundings, Anglers Journal and Soundings Trade Only. Mr Longhurst said the judges in each category were armed with precise selection criteria after editors from across the AIM Group nominated boats that were solid, well designed, built to high quality and performance. Riviera Director of Brand and Communications, Stephen Milne, said the team from AIM Marine Group’s Power & Motor Yacht magazine were scheduled to put the stylish and sophisticated new 6000 Sport Yacht through her paces this month.
Selene Rendezvous and Rally Success
After the success of the first event, the second Selene Yachts Rendezvous in June again took place in the beautiful Marina Punat in Croatia. The rendezvous saw nine yachts and their owners, various journalists and other interested parties come together to enjoy a varied programme. It included informative events such as a presentation about safety at sea, as well as exciting highlights such as a battle scene onboard. Naturally, the yachts were also taken out for a spin on the water as well. Immediately following the rendezvous, Selene Yachts hosted a rally for the Selene owners. This included a visit to the historic city of Rab and excursions to nearby nature parks, such as the Kornati National Park and Krka waterfalls. We are already preparing for a third rendezvous next year!
Selene Charter Service Europe
Selene Yachts Europe now offers people the chance to experience the pleasure of being onboard a Selene even if they are not yet ready to buy a brand-new yacht themselves. Since September Selene has three Trawler yachts available for charter. The Selene 54 Too Slow and Selene 62 Silver Fox can be booked from Port de La Napoule in France. This is the perfect starting point for a sophisticated trip along the French Côte d’Azur, with its wealth of picturesque and historic coastal towns. The Selene 53 Visa M has its home berth in the Adriatic, in Dalmatia, Croatia, which also offers a stunning coastline, as the owners of Nomades confirm.
Sunseeker Appoint New Chief Executive Officer
Sunseeker International today announces the appointment of Phil Popham as Chief Executive Officer. Phil will join the company on 1 January 2015. Phil joins Sunseeker from Jaguar Land Rover where he has had a long and successful career over the last 25 years contributing to a major UK-based automotive success story. He has worked most of his career at Jaguar Land Rover, latterly as Group Marketing Director but he has also held the positions of Group Sales Director, Managing Director of Land Rover, as well as working in North America and South Africa for the company. During his time at the company he presided over a period of rapid growth and success for these iconic brands.
Sunseeker Appoints New Financial Officer
Sunseeker International today announces the appointment of Hugues Jacquin as Chief Financial Officer, with immediate effect. Jacquin joins Sunseeker from Bombardier where he has had a long and successful career over the last 18 years within the Aerospace and Transportation Divisions. His mandates have spanned between North America, Europe and Asia. Sunny Thakrar, previously Group Finance Director, will now focus on his principal role as Group Executive Director, overseeing Design and Development, HR, Operations, IT and Supply Chain functions and with responsibility for driving change and performance improvement initiatives throughout the business.
Viking Really Big Show
The waves of people have receded, the boats have returned to their ports, and while memories will linger, the 2014 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is in the history book. And what a show it was. The Viking display of 15 boats attracted over 7,000 visitors during the five day run and for countless good reasons. We introduced our new flagship 92 Enclosed Bridge Convertible, the just launched 75 Motor Yacht and the inaugural appearance of the exciting 52 Sport Tower. Each day was marked with significant events like media press conferences to announce the new models with accompanying photo shoots. A flurry of notable awards flowed in including AIM Editor's Choice commendations for the 92 Enclosed Bridge Convertible and the 52 Sport Tower as best in their respective classes. Viking's co-founders Bill and Bob Healey were justifiably recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their concerted dedication, contributions and efforts to promote and grow the marine industry over the past 50 years. Viking president Pat Healey spoke at the American Boat Builders and Repairers Association Business Leaders Reception Breakfast. We even managed to christen a new Viking convertible in our display, while welcoming the thrilled owner into the Viking family.
Viking Is More Then Just Fishing
Another block of dates you need to mark on your calendar is April 8-11, 2015, when the 2nd Annual Viking Key West Challenge family fishing tournament takes place. Last year the inaugural event celebrated our 50th Anniversary and this year we have more fun times scheduled for the entire family including two great days of fishing, a kid's dockside tournament, a lay day pool party and barbeque, daily prizes, plenty of fun activities, and a bunch of great looking trophies to celebrate your participation. Get started by checking out the Viking Key West Challenge website or on facebook, reserve a slip at your favorite Key West marina and then email Viking. Slips are limited so don't delay.
Viking In A Win
Captain KJ Zeher kicked off the winter sailfish season with a win! Fishing on Mike Walsh's Viking 65 De Bait Able, the crew released four sails to take top honors at the 19th Annual Jeb Bush Florida Classic Sailfish Tournament in Fort Lauderdale. Captain Brian Komer on the Viking 62, along with the Honeywell Corporation and mates Mike Provow and Scott Adams, finished in Third Place. This charity event attracts elite fishing teams and has raised over $6.7 million to support the research and care programs of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Wider Surveyors Dinner in Fort Lauderdale
The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show offered a great opportunity to discuss the technical aspects of Wider 150' with new clients, brokers, and some of the world's finest marine surveyors. Wider Sales and Marketing Office, in collaboration with Wider Yachts USA and Camper & Nicholsons International, organized for an event at the Harbour Beach Marriott Hotel. After a lively discussion over cocktails and canapés, the formal presentation started. A group of recommended surveyors enjoyed a review of the company and an overview of the diesel electric system. Valuable feedback was exchanged, and many of the participants visited the Wider stand to discuss further details.
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