There's never a dull moment in the Boating Industry - MarineBusinessWorld Oceania newsletter
by Peter Rendle 16 Dec 2021 23:00 GMT
The Boatyard Bash © The Boat Works
Despite the effects of Covid on the whole of the Australian economy, the boating industry continues to grow, and with it the infrastructure and support facilities.
This week the Boat Works threw open the gates to their Superyacht yard to welcome 400 guests for a Carnivale-themed 'topping out' party celebrating the completion of the first of the four new 20-metre sheds. With the backdrop of a marina packed with vessels 50 to 100-feet, palm trees and a vivid summer sunset, guests' samba-ed and shimmied to the sounds of Lisa Hunt. Befitting the theme, guests donned their best tropical fiesta attire (some more audacious than others) and partied 'til late in the Gold Coast's largest Mega Sheds. "There has been unprecedented demand for boats over the past 12 months," observed Shane Subichin, General Manager at The Boat Works. "New and brokerage boat sales are up 50 percent according to our partners on-site, and the demand for berths, storage, service and refit work is also rising."
In Sydney the advent of electric propulsion has opened up an opportunity for a new business on Sydney Harbour. While many of us are watching the transition to hybrid and electric vehicles on our roads with keen interest, an important electric transport revolution is also under way on Australian waterways. Some of the nation's iconic and best-known harbours, rivers and lakes are seeing electric outboards lead the charge towards clean and quiet boating options as Australians increasingly enjoy their own states and territories for Covid-era holidays and weekend escapes.
And it's no passing fad - just ask Nick Tyrrell from GoBoat Australia. Nick launched his electric hire boat fleet in Canberra (on Lake Burley Griffin), in 2017. He was inspired by similar all-electric boating operations he experienced whilst visiting Stockholm a couple of years before.
Electric propulsion is not limited to leisure craft. Incat Crowther is pleased to announce a contract to design an Incat Crowther 32 electric ferry for Fullers360 of Auckland, New Zealand. To be built by Q-West, the ferry will be the designer's sixth from the builder and will join ten other Incat Crowther ferries in the Fullers360 fleet. Fullers360 announced it has reached this milestone in its decarbonisation journey with Auckland's first electric hybrid fast ferry for Fullers360's Auckland ferry fleet. This critical first step will reduce carbon emissions by 750,000kg per year on the Devonport route alone.
Traditional engine suppliers are also addressing emission issues. It started on a napkin, progressed to a sheet of notebook paper and was first to market certified to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 Final and International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier III emissions standards. And it was created in the midst of a whirlwind journey that took Caterpillar engineers aboard more than 50 vessels and into dozens of shipyards worldwide. "It" is Caterpillar's combination of a fuel-efficiency-optimized engine and a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system — a solution that not only reduces NOx emissions, but also can lower a customer's owning and operating costs in the process.
More than 150 Cat® Tier 4 Final/IMO Tier III marine engines are now at work aboard vessels worldwide. "We literally started with a white sheet of paper and designed it from the bottom up as a marine product," says Tom Manning, the design engineer responsible for marine aftertreatment projects. "We had some existing solutions in mind we thought might work, but decided to go out into the marine marketplace to get a better understanding of exactly what our customers needed."
A new product this week comes from Gineico. The newest addition to the Quick Gyroscopic stabiliser family is the X10 and the technical data on this unit is impressive. From a size perspective the X10 is just 48.8cm square. That is an incredible 20cm smaller than competitor gyro brands! That significant size advantage makes it very easy to find a suitable spot for the X10 gyro in any new design, leaving more space for other equipment like generators or AC compressors. It is equally easy to retrofit the little X10 gyro in existing vessels where you would otherwise be forced to tear your vessel apart to find room for the bulkier gyro brands, or as often happens, you are forced to use a smaller gyro that does not have sufficient anti-roll torque to stabilise your vessel.
According to the team at Gineico Marine the incredible growth they have seen in demand for the Quick Gyros since they were first released in 2019 comes from the comparative advantages in smaller overall size of the units, the relative simplicity of the design and the higher anti-roll torque and better performance in any sea conditions. Add to this the long list of happy customers... Notwithstanding the fact that this brand only appeared on the international and local market in 2019, Gineico have thus far sold 70 Quick Gyros in Australia and New Zealand and according to Gineico Marine Quick Italy have sold nearly 2000 units around the globe including in America.
On the sailing scene Australian Sailing CEO and Commonwealth Games President, Ben Houston, and Vice-President of World Sailing and Chair of the Sport Integrity Advisory Council, Sarah Kenny, have joined a team of sporting directors and governance experts to help develop a new free online resource launched by Sport Australia, the 'Start Line'. This free online resource aims to help directors at all levels of sport govern successful sporting organisations from community level to elite. Participants will also improve their knowledge of the fundamentals of directorship, and support their contribution and impact to their sport. "The Start Line is a fantastic opportunity for directors of sporting organisations at all levels to build their governance skills." Houston said.
More sailing news from Lorraine Duckworth at ATL Composites. Ahead of a journey from Brisbane to Albany, WA preparing for a circumnavigation of the Antarctic in January, Lisa Blair met with Lorraine to stock up on West System products to keep her yacht ship-shape during her odyssey. Lisa's 15.25-metre Hick 50, called "Climate Action Now", has undergone a structural upgrade completed by the specialists at Wright Marine at Rivergate Marina & Shipyard, with Lisa carrying out much of the refit work herself.
In 2017, Lisa became the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica, but a dismasting meant she did not beat the record, held by Russian, Fedor Konyukhov. Now, laden to the gunwales with kit - both scientific for undertaking several research projects on the waters and the seabed during her epic voyage, and spare parts for every kind of repair job while under way - Lisa is ready to take on the challenges of the Southern Ocean.
And staying with sailing, Dimension-Polyant's bestseller Hydra Net® radial is now manufactured with bio-based Dyneema®. This makes the leading manufacturer of sailcloth the world's first and only supplier of a climate-neutral sailcloth with bio-based raw material. The new bio-based Dyneema® fibre contains HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) from renewable raw materials and thus has a significantly lower carbon footprint than the conventional Dyneema® fibre with the same technical properties. The quality, durability and performance of the new sailcloth remain unchanged. Hydra Net® radial will now be produced exclusively in this more environmentally friendly version at the Kempen plant and will replace the previous product.
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Peter Rendle - peter.rendle@marinebusinessworld.com