Fair sailing at Whitsunday Rent a Yacht

by Jeni Bone on 12 Apr 2010 Category three storm, Cyclone Ului devastated the Whitsunday region just two weeks before the lucrative Easter period, leaving in his wake millions of dollars in damage and businesses that are finding it tough to manage their operations and clean up.

One of those hardest hit was industry stalwart and charter pioneer in the region, Whitsunday Rent a Yacht. Idyllically located on the Shute Harbour side, the business was slammed by winds that at their worst, clocked up to 200 kilometres an hour.

After days without power, phones and email, and a damage bill of more than $2m, the company is working hard to get back to normal.

According to Glenn Read, managing director, most of the fleet was damaged. 'Out of 35 boats, we had two that were unscathed,' he says, adding that while insurance covers the boats, it was difficult to run the business and earn income while boats were out of service.

Just two weekends prior to Easter, the company cross-chartered with other businesses in the region and reported steady business over the period, despite concern that tourism would slow.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and State Member for Whitsunday Jan Jarratt responded to the disaster with the allocation of $75,000 in tourism funding to encourage people to holiday in North Queensland, running a campaign with the slogan: 'Cyclone? What Cyclone?' to assure people in southern states that the Whitsundays was still open for business.

'We moved quickly to develop a response plan to help mitigate the effects on the tourism industry from Tropical Cyclone Ului, which crossed the coast near Airlie Beach as a Category 3 storm early on Sunday morning,' she said.
'Tourism is the life-blood of the Mackay and Whitsundays region and many resorts and hotels were left unscathed by Ului,' she said.

For his part, Glenn believes the campaign was positive for the area. 'The press sensationalised a lot of it. Abel Pt Marina over the other side of the hill wasn’t as badly hit, due to the direction of the wind. The media showed footage of cyclones from years ago. I couldn’t say for sure, but the town seemed to be alive and busy over the Easter break. I am guessing it was ok.'

Whitsunday Rent a Yacht, which has been around for 30 years and under its present management for 11, has staff and additional contractors working almost around the clock on repairs to its fleet. 'We have our own slipway here, but anything we couldn’t do we farmed out to other yards in town and Mackay. We hope to be back to normal by July. We have a couple of months now when it’s traditionally pretty quiet and then August is when the peak season begins.'

Glenn says the company is working 'mostly business as usual' and there is still healthy enquiry from all over Australia and internationally. Fortunately, the company did not have to lay off staff and 12 boats are back and running. 'We’re pushing ahead. Ului was a hiccup, certainly to our business. But within three months we aim to be at 90% capacity again.'

In July, Whitsunday Rent a Yacht is looking forward to the arrival of three new boats which will take some of the pressure off and give cause for celebration for some extra capacity. All catamarans, they are a Seawind 1160, Lagoon 380 and 400 – the first of its kind in Australia.

'We are excited about it,' says Glenn, 'although this has been planned for a long time prior to the cyclone. It will mean newer boats and more variety for our clients.'

More at http://www.rentayacht.com.au/home/