Two new appointments at the head of major organisations
by Peter Rendle 20 Jun 2019 15:00 PDT

BENETEAU Monte Carlo 37 in Paris © Click&Boat
Two new appointments this week, one overseas and one in Australia.
The Board of Directors of Beneteau S.A. has announced that Mr Hervé Gastinel's duties as Chief Executive Officer and his other positions within Groupe Beneteau ended on June 15 and 16, 2019. The Board of Directors has appointed its Chairman, Mr Jérôme de Metz, as Chief Executive Officer, replacing Mr Gastinel. Alongside this appointment, the Boat Division's Management Board is also evolving to unite the Group's teams, brands, design units and plants around a stronger shared project.
In Australia the Boating Industry Association has announced the appointment of Darren Vaux as President. Much respected Alan Blake has stood down as President after six years, and nine years as a director. Incoming President Darren Vaux has been a director of the BIA since 2005 and is a Past President of the BIA NSW, former Chairman of the Boating Industries Alliance Australia, former Chairman of the Marina Industry Association of NSW, Vice President of the Marina Industries Association, and Chair of the Maritime Advisory Council in NSW. Darren Vaux is also a member of the Board of the International Council of Marine Industry Associations.
On the sailing front, the leading annual conference for the business of sailing and yacht racing will take place on November 25-26 in Bilbao, Spain. The 12th edition of the Forum will once again provide a unique opportunity to network, debate the future of the sport and make business. The sport's leading personalities will be present on stage to share their views and the sport's leading brands will exhibit their latest innovations. Yacht clubs and federations will grab the opportunity to promote their venue and the events they organise. Early reservations are accepted and an Early Bird rate will be valid for the top 80 registrants.
Galeon are the latest power boat brand to set up a dealership in Australia and PowerBoat-World editor John Curnow took the opportunity to have a closer look. He reports: "Galeon had decloaked to announce their arrival in Australia only a few weeks before the 2019 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. Manufacturing 150 boats per annum, and doing very well in the United States thank you very much, Galeon was both keen to have a presence here, but also not in a rush. They had been looking for an Australian partner for four and half years actually, before selecting Todd Holzapfel, and Alexander Marine Australia."
For companies involved with marinas, the Marina Industries Association (MIA) is offering a two-day marina study tour visiting marinas and boatyards on Sydney Harbour and South Sydney - Port Hacking and Georges River. The tour is scheduled to enable participants to also attend the Sydney International Boat Show (1-5 August). You can register here.
New products this week include Icom's IC-M85E ultra-compact and powerful Marine Handheld with Land Mobile Features, a perfect solution for communication in commercial environments. The IC-M85E is the most compact (56x92x29 mm) and lightweight (246g) (with BP-290, FA-SC58V and MBB-3) commercial grade marine and land mobile hybrid radio in the world.
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Aveagooden,
Peter Rendle