Regal, Chris-Craft back on a firm footing

by Bob Wonders on 4 Jun 2010 The global financial crisis left plenty of wreckage across Australia when it struck, even affecting manufacturers in the United States.

Two prominent US boat builders who were ‘battered' in Australia were Regal Marine and the legendary Chris-Craft, both of whom lost their local dealerships with the closure of the Chapman Marine Group and Going Boating.

Now, both manufacturers, Regal Marine, based in Orlando, and Chris-Craft in Sarasota, further south in Florida, must be feeling like all's well with the world.

They owe their survival on the Australian market largely to Steve Hannes, dealer principal and proprietor of Premier Marine.

Premier Marine, a boutique dealership in every sense of the word, has its headquarters on the Rose Bay Marina, in Sydney's eastern suburbs only a short drive from the city's central business district.

The dealership is responsible for Regal sales Australia-wide and for Chris-Craft in all states except Victoria.

Regal Marine's International Sales Manager, Bonnie Frenkel, was in Australia for the recent Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show and I would say it's a fair bet she would have liked what she saw, for Premier Marine successfully sold both Regal boats it had on display.

Steve Hannes first became involved with the recreational boating industry about six-years ago when his father, the late Jack Hannes established a boat importing business and offered financial support for Regal and Chris-Craft dealers.

The closure of the then dealership gave Steve the opportunity to take control of the Regal and Chris-Craft brands and in the two-years since he took that control customers of the two prestigious brands receive the dealership support they deserve.

As for Steve himself, he considers he is ‘living the dream.'

'Bearing in mind we can offer boats ranging in size from 19' to 53', we believe the dream of owning a boat is very attainable for most and with the magnificent Sydney Harbour on our doorstep we are in an enviable position to sell boats and care for our clients,' he explained.

Steve has described boating as 'family bonding at its best.'

'My fondest memories from my childhood revolve around boating,' he added.

With the Sydney International Boat Show (July 29- August 2) rapidly approaching, it's a case of all hands on deck at Premier Marine.

Brand manager Lee Poulson said Premier Marine would concentrate on three new releases for the show, the IPS-powered Regal 52 Sport Coupe and two Chris-Craft models, the re-designed 28 Launch and an all-new Corsair.

I was able to catch up with the delightful Bonnie Frenkel (Regal's international sales manager) during the Sanctuary Cove show.

Bonnie and I have become ‘old mates', having crossed paths now several times, including the Regal international dealer meeting in Florida three or so years ago which remains one of the best meetings of the type I've ever attended.

She admitted, of course, that the global financial crisis had ‘hurt' Regal Marine,

On the good side, however, she was able to report that more than 100 staff, some of whom had been laid off earlier, were hired and re-hired late last year.

'Losing our Australian connection did hurt, but I'm more than confident that Steve Hannes will see us through,' he said.

During the worst of the financial crisis, Bonnie said Canadian and some European dealerships remained ‘strong.'

'Sweden, Germany, Greece and France still provided us with good sales, as did the Middle East,' she explained.

'However, the strongest region for Regal remains South America; our #1 international dealer is in Brazil and Uruguay is also very good for us,' she added.

One innovation introduced by Regal which I have not yet had the chance to inspect is what might be called an ‘in-house showroom'.

The company took part of its reception area that was not being utilised, added some other space and now have a showroom in the factory with one of every model on display for prospective customers.

It sounds like a good deal, perhaps as good a deal as Premier Marine will offer for those in the market for one of the two best brand names to come out of the United States.

For further information contact Premier Marine, Rose Bay, Sydney, telephone (02) 9328-0999.