54 JUNE–JULY 2018 | International Boat Industry http://www.ibi-plus.com
Markets & Regions
EQUIPMENT | AUSTRALIA
easily moved about and conveniently stowed.
“We are a little unique when it comes to
desalination units as we offer an economic system
created for those wishing to avoid the overly complex
nature of other systems, which is simple, robust, and
designed for ease of use and maintenance,” says Ron
Schroeder, director and co-founder of Rainman.
Schroeder adds that the company is continuing
to grow steadily and has seen a 25% growth since the
previous financial year. Rainman’s main export markets
are North America and the Caribbean, but also around
the Med, Africa and South East Asia.
Rainman Desalination is actively seeking to expand
its dealer network globally. Exports now account for
around 80% of the business.
RONSTAN INTERNATIONAL
Ronstan is a world-leading manufacturer of sailboat
hardware, created through innovative thought and
real-world testing. The full range of yacht and dinghy
sailing products includes products such as
blocks, sheaves, travellers, furlers, rope cleats,
stainless steel fittings, sheet and halyard
winches and much more.
Peter Dowdney, Australasian sales
manager for Ronstan International,
says they had a bit of a strange year last
year with the domestic marine market
in Australia being extremely flat and
yet their export markets continued to
perform quite strongly.
“I am unsure of the drivers for the
downturn in the local market last year, but
it all seemed to coincide quite closely with the
timing of US elections and the sabre-rattling that was
taking place in Korea. I suspect that consumers were a
little spooked by what was taking place internationally
and just decided to hang on to their cash until things
settled down again,” says Dowdney.
He adds that the peak trading period in Australia
is usually the final eight weeks leading up to the
Christmas period. Last year, the usual business ramp-
up that occurs at this time simply failed to materialise,
and for the first time, trading results in January were
stronger than they had been in December.
“I am expecting to see a slight improvement in our
financial year figures over last year’s results. Export has
been our biggest area of improvement and if anything,
I feel that Donald Trump’s threats to increase trade
barriers for imports into the USA have helped our
cause on the export front.
“In recent years the Australia government has done
a great job of telling our trading partners, especially
across the Asian region, that we are open for business
and extremely keen to do work with them.”
Dowdney adds that evidence of this has been the
successful establishment of a raft of mutually beneficial
FTA’s with neighbours and key trading partners.
“While the FTA’s themselves are relatively new and may
not yet be delivering great benefits to industry,
the intent and the message behind them is clear.
Australia is a great country to do business with,”
says Dowdney.
On the domestic front, the retail market seems
to have recovered slightly and is almost back up to
pre-2016 levels. “We continue to enjoy strong support
from the local marine retail sector in Australia but
opportunities for us in the OEM market are getting
much harder to find,” says Dowdney.
“Australia once had a thriving sailboat building
industry but over the past two decades, this industry
has virtually disappeared with most of the surviving
builders moving offshore, post-GFC. Most of the
new boats that we are seeing in Australia these days are
being imported from either, Europe or Asia.”
Ronstan has been extremely successful over the past
30 years in building a strong network of international
distributors and the company continues to work
closely with them to expand business in over 40
countries around the globe.TMQ
TMQ International Pty Ltd continues to grow and
develop new products for professional mariners. An
Australian-owned and operated marine electronics
manufacturer and distributor since 1974, TMQ’s core
offering includes ruggedised autopilots, the C-Drive
steering control unit for dual or single rudders,
C-PLOT ECS, C-Trak Vessel Tracking software, and
Decktalk Intercom and PABX.
TMQ has recently expanded its range to include
NMEA products, working as elegant add-ons within an
existing navigation network. The NMEA Buffer and the
NET106 offer operators new connectivity expansion
and management options.
A popular ECS, TMQ C-PLOT integrates either
Navionics or Jeppensen C-MAP cartography, and users
can now use New Release C-PLOT 3D to map the
seafloor in real time.VEEM
Marketing manager Anton Errington-Wood says that
the VEEM propeller division saw the release of a new
propeller product range called Conquest in 2017, which
can be ordered off the catalogue and purchased from
propeller shops globally.
“The US propeller market as a whole achieved
steady growth with strong expansion in the
sportfishing market segment especially, leading to
an increased market share, plus the Italian superyachtSRonstan’s Clear
Start watch and its
RTech5 breathable
Smock TopWRainman is
looking to expand
the dealer network
for its range of
desalinators