FlexiSail had a great position at Excel, right by the ‘BoardWalk’ which looks down on all the sailing yachts near the entrance.  It’s a good start to the season.  For more information on our client go to www.flexisail.com or if you want to receive their news stories, let me know.  Marina.

The company, which introduced some half a dozen new products to its NMEA2000® range during 2011, saw sales rise by 45% during the year compared to 2010, and net profit rise by 51%.  A combination of the increased product range and expanded distribution networks has contributed to the rise in business.  “We designed some key new products during 2011 in response to specific customer demand which then went on to be a success amongst other boat builders around the world,” explains Offshore Systems’ Managing Director Bruce Coward.  “In particular, our new high resolution sunlight readable BlackGlass™ frameless colour touchscreen displays in 10.4” and 15” sizes and our new NMEA2000 Display Computers have been in great demand, along with our custom monitoring and control software.”

He adds “All our new products are developed in line with the need for clear and simple-to-operate information provision and displays, and which are easy for boat builders to install and set up.”

Offshore Systems added a key new American distributor, Gemeco, to its worldwide network in September, and the strengthening of trade in the US has contributed significantly to the company’s giant strides forward. Sales have also increased steadily and substantially in Europe.

To meet the increased design and manufacturing output Offshore Systems has hired three new engineers, and increased its Hampshire office space to provide a facility for the bigger engineering department.

“As well as appointing a number of new distributors in 2011, we signed up to some significant contracts during the year with leading boat builders in both the commercial and leisure market sectors,” said Bruce. “We exhibited again at METS and at IBEX for the first time, and both shows brought us into contact with a strong customer demand.”

It was remarked by a number of people that new product launches were a bit thin on the ground this year.  However we did organise a press launch for our client B&G on the first day – showing the new Triton instruments for cruising and day racing sailors.  The own-label real ale that we organised as part of a ‘best of British’ theme went down a storm and added a great personal element to the refreshments.

Our thanks to the team at Itchen Valley Brewery for brewing the excellent beer and organising the bottling all in double quick time.  We’ll definitely be going back to them soon.

The marina at the show was designed and built by another client of ours – Walcon Marine – and it was bigger and better than ever with over 380 boats afloat.  The Sunseeker display in particular seemed to go on for ever, and a couple of us had a quick tour of the Predator 130 (RRP £13m) following an interview conducted with Sunseeker FD Sunny Thakrar for Boating Business.  All in a day’s work.

The BRIC countries continue to be the focus of marketing efforts for new builds, although not all are convinced that China, with its lack of maritime heritage, will turn out to be the sales Nirvana that many hope it to be.  The news last week that Brazil has raised its import duty on imported leisure boats from 20 to 35% was also unhelpful.

Clients of ours present at the show included Lantic Entertainment Systems – launching their new Wireless Audio Centre control software, Alewijnse Marine Systems, Design Unlimited, Navico and Infiniti Yachts.

Boat of the Show as far as we were concerned was the 44m catamaran Hemisphere, with a beam of 16.6m (54.5 ft!), which was truly immense and combined all the space of a motoryacht with the ability to turn the engines off and actually go sailing.

However, apart from being tied up with working with our clients to prepare for the new show season we are experiencing a sudden demand for case studies – specifically client case studies that allow sales personnel to demonstrate to potential new customers projects on which they have previously worked. It’s not rocket science, but in these tough times everyone’s pulling out the stops to win new business and a set of nicely designed, professionally laid out case studies not only has infinitely more impact than a brochure containing a list of goods and services, but also in themselves say something about a company’s pride in its work and attention to detail.

Anything on our industry from the Financial Times is always well worth reading as not only is it universally read by the great, good and wealthy, but it has a knack of putting yachting into a wider context that you don’t get – understandably – from the specialist media.  That said, it doesn’t contain any great revelations this time around as to the future of the yachting industry, but it does manage to combine a sober assessment of future prospects with a reasonably upbeat assessment for those that survive the shake-out.
It’s also worth remembering for many people sitting on their train or plane it may be their first introduction to the world of yachting, so it’s worth checking out.

Portland site from the National Sailing Academy

Gold medallist Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson gave a great talk on the preparations that he and his fellow UK contenders are making for next August and we were also briefed on all the organisational plans being made shoreside.

And a big hats-off to the local authorities for building a lovely dual-carriageway that abruptly narrows down to single lanes with lots of traffic lights well before you get anywhere near the Portland causeway!  To be fair I guess it’s primarily to get spectators to the beaches  on Weymouth Bay to the north east, but during the Olympic fortnight and the run-up before it looks like the only sensible way in and out of Portland will be by water, not land.

Most of the companies exhibiting were offering support services for the local yachts and on the whole selling to the professional market rather than owners or general consumers, but it had a good buzz and plenty of familiar faces.  It’s always great to find an excuse to head down to Antibes, although the 6am flight out of Gatwick is a bit of a struggle…