Seawind Group Holdings released out of Voluntary Administration

by Brent Vaughan on 10 Oct 2012 The holding company of Seawind Catamarans and Corsair Marine, Seawind Group Holdings Pty Ltd, was released out of Voluntary Administration on October 9th 2012 by the Administrators, BRI Ferrier.

As a result, the company is pleased to be back to business and fully operational.

Thanks to the support from Seawind's long established suppliers and creditors, the Administrators brokered an agreement to allow the company to move forward without any external administration and get back to building the award winning range of cruising catamarans that the company are renowned for around the world.

This course of action was recommended by BRI Ferrier after a formal assessment of Seawind's financial position.

Seawind's Managing Director, Richard Ward, comments, 'This year has been the most challenging in the 30 years I have been in business, however I have been humbled by the support of our suppliers and would like to offer my thanks to give Seawind this opportunity to move forward and focus on the next 30 years of building great multihulls.'

The net result of the administration process will see a restructure of the manufacturing operations with the closure of the Australian production facility located in Wollongong.

This is a sad outcome for Seawind after 30 years of continuous Australian production but the Directors of the company feel that there was little other option. Regrettably, high manufacturing costs and the continuing strong Australian dollar have meant the Australian built catamarans have become uncompetitive against the many imported models.

Following the completion of the last three Seawind 1250's on order, one of which has just been launched and delivered to a delighted new owner, future production of the Seawind 1250 will likely move to the Seawind / Corsair Marine facility in Vietnam, where the Seawind 1000XL2 and Seawind 1160 are already being built alongside the range of high performance Corsair trimarans and the magnificent Corsair 50ft catamaran.

Corsair Marine, originally based in California, USA, has been established for over 25 years, with the last six years of production in Vietnam.

Since moving production to the Corsair Marine factory, several boats have already been shipped to Australia and launched including Seawind 1000XL2's and Seawind 1160's, with many more on order scheduled to soon ship to Australia, the USA and Dubai.

An imported Seawind 1160 arrived by ship and launched just this week from Botany Bay's shipping terminal in Sydney.

Seawind Catamarans will continue to offer after sales service and warranty support for future and existing Seawind owners in Australia and around the world, either directly from Seawind itself or through the Multihull Central company whose headquarters are in the purpose built multihull marina of Rozelle Bay, Sydney Harbour.

This year Seawind celebrates 30 years of manufacturing catamarans and this restructure has now positioned the company to be more competitive in a global market and expand into export markets not before accessible due to the high Australian dollar and high costs of manufacturing in Australia. The company remains 100% Australian owned.

Seawind will be attending the Mandurah boat show in Perth this weekend and the 14th annual Seawind Pittwater Regatta will be on again at the end of the month. Seawind Catamarans website