Yachting

NEWS

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IN BRIEF

Portaferry festival

The Portaferry classic boat and

music festival is inviting classic

boats to Strangford Loch from

17 to 19 June. The festival will

include music, classic cars,

theatre and a farmers’ market as

well as the sailing regatta.

Tayport all-tide access

Tayport Harbour in Fife has

been dredged and can now be

accessed by most yachts on all

but the lowest spring tides. The

entrance channel is now 0.8m

below chart datum and the

harbour is 0.6m below CD.

Contessa 26

anniversary

The iconic Contessa 26 is 50

years old this year. 20 boats

have signed up for the 50th

Anniversary Rally (29-31 July), in

Lymington, and it is hoped more

yachts from the class will also

come. http://www.contessa26.net

Volunteer skippers

wanted

Team ViSA GB (The Visually

Impaired Sailing Association

of Great Britain) is looking for

experienced sailors, particularly

offshore Yachtmasters with a

valid commercial endorsement

to sail as volunteer skippers.

http://www.visa-gb.org.uk

Killcord failures

An RYA survey has found

that basic safety features on

outboard engines are worryingly

unreliable. One third of outboard

users have experienced the

failure of a killcord or kill switch.

Gun smugglers on trial

Three men and a woman have

gone on trial accused of illegally

importing 31 automatic weapons

into the UK. The gang is accused

of smuggling the weapons

across the Channel by boat.

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The marine industry in

the UK is beginning to

recover from the recession,

new evidence shows. A

global survey published by

Interconnection Consulting

has found that 2014 was the

lowest point for new yacht

sales in the UK, when 550

new sailing yachts between

26ft and 60ft were sold.

In a modest increase, 559

yachts were sold in the UK

in 2015, and this fi gure is forecast

to increase to 611 by 2018. This

remains signifi cantly lower than

the 707 new yachts sold in 2009

at the start of the recession.

This puts the UK slightly ahead

of the rest of Europe where 2015

sales were lower than in 2014 at

6,432. A recovery across all yacht

sizes in Europe is not expected

until 2017. Germany is still the

largest market for new boats in

Europe, and motorboats continue

to dominate, accounting for 65

per cent of all new boats.

British Marine (BM) fi gures also

show growth in the UK marine

industry for a fourth consecutive

year. BM’s bi-annual industry

trends survey shows that revenue

across has increased by 1.1 per

cent from 2013/14 to £2.97bn in

2014/15, driven by an improving

domestic market, although

exports remain challenging. Yacht

brokerage is one sector that

appears to be recovering with just

under half of brokers reporting

improving sales.

Sue Grant, managing director

of Berthon International, was

upbeat. ‘We see a lot more

activity in the market than a few

years ago and new blue water

yachts are selling well,’ she

said. ‘As the pound falls

against the euro, buying

a new boat from abroad

is going to become more

expensive, which could

increase demand for

high-quality second hand

boats, but good pricing and

presentation are key.’

The possibility of a UK

exit from the European

Union is behind the currency

movents, said Laura Parsons,

spokesperson currency traders

TorFX: ‘After the referendum was

announced, UK fi nancial markets

have been thrown into chaos. The

pound plummeted to a 16-month

low against the euro. Sterling

could lose 15 per cent of its value.’

Matt Attree, sales director at

Clipper Marine, the Bavaria dealer

and yachtbroker, was also feeling

positive: ‘2015 was a record year

for us both in new and used

boat sales, and saw us return to

pre-downturn levels. The number

of boats built has gone down,

driving demand for used boats.’

PHOTO: GRAHAM SNOOK

Domestic sales and

high-end yachts are

driving a recovery in

the UK marine industry

A large number of UK yacht brokerages

reported business to be improving

PHOTO: ALAMY

UK leads Europe in yacht sales recovery

MAY 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 5