Sailing dominates this week's news - The Australian MarineBusinessWorld.com newsletter
by Peter Rendle 6 Feb 15:00 PST
Yacht Racing Forum 2020 destined for Portsmouth Harbour, United Kingdom © Yacht Racing Forum
Sailing dominates this week's newsletter with news that this year's Yacht Racing Forum will take place in Portsmouth UK. The Yacht Racing Forum will take place for the first time in the United Kingdom, on 23 - 24 November 2020. The event will be based around Portsmouth Harbour, with the main conference taking place in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard's Action Stations and Boathouse 7.
As the leading annual conference for the business of sailing and yacht racing, this is the first time the Yacht Racing Forum will be hosted in the UK. In its 13th edition, the YRF attracts sports' personalities from all over the world: event organisers, sponsors, designers, professional sailors, boat builders, media, technical providers as well as insurance and finance companies.
New yachts from Europe were revealed at boot Dussledorf. Ed Penn from Performance Cruising Yachts attended the recent show and was on hand at the Elan stand to provide an overview of this exciting new model. Elan had one of the most elaborate displays at the show featuring the Elan E5 and recently launched Impression 45.1 mounted in pools of water giving an authentic look. The stand also incorporated cascading water running the full length of the entry walkway, a unique 360 Interactive experience of the new GT6 using touch screens to view every aspect of the new model, and even an extremely rare 1973 Porsche 911 2,7 RS (only two still existing in the world) to commemorate the cooperation with Studio F.A. Porsche that designed the deck and interior.
In Australia, The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) in Sydney and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) in Auckland take great pleasure in announcing Moonen Yachts as the naming rights sponsor of the inaugural Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race 2021. Moonen Yachts is a Netherlands-based builder of luxury superyachts recently acquired by Australian owners, Matthew and Louise Baxter. Welcoming the company as naming rights sponsor of the 1250 nautical mile race, Robert McClelland, Chairman of the RPAYC race organising committee said: "We are thrilled to be entering this partnership with Moonen Yachts. Their commitment to producing global voyaging vessels of the highest standard adds to the prestige and is a good fit for this new yacht race."
And SailGP has appointed Ribco, a leader in premium Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs), as the official chase boat partner for the upcoming Sydney SailGP. Following a hugely successful inaugural event last year, the Ribco RIBs will return to the iconic Sydney Harbour for the Season 2 opening event, held February 28-29, 2020. From luxury tender to offshore performance machines, Ribco RIBs are positioned as the most seaworthy, versatile and well-built luxury performance RIBs available in the market today. This makes Ribco RIBs perfectly suited to keep up in the chase with the turbo-charged foiling SailGP F50 catamarans, as they take part in the world's fastest and most exhilarating on-water racing championships.
Showing their support for the onward wellbeing of this industry and as part of the annual Australian Marine Industry Awards, the Australian International Marine Export Group (AIMEX) is pleased to announce a new award for 2020 focusing on developing the youth in the industry.
The 'Apprentice of the Year' Award will be added to an already extensive line up of existing award categories. This exciting new award will recognise and reward apprentices for outstanding performance and commitment to the Australian marine industry. It will grant opportunities for those nominated to be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication as well as celebrate the achievements of our future tradespeople whilst encouraging continued excellence and longevity in the workplace.
And finally, Multihull Solutions will be showcasing the multi-award-winning Fountaine Pajot Saona 47 sailing catamaran at the 2020 Club Marine Pittwater Sail Expo from 21-22 March. The Saona 47 has swept international marine awards, winning SAIL magazine's "Best Multihull Cruising Boat - 40 to 50ft" title as well as the 2018 Christofle Style Award for "Best Multihull Sailing Yacht Under 15m".
Aveagooden,
Peter Rendle peter.rendle@sail-world.com