Boating Industry

March 2016

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March 2016 | Boating Industry | 15 [ Miami Boat Show Highlights ] www.BoatingIndustry.com Andy Gamble will continue as sales manager at Wellcraft, as will Bruce Sargent at Glastron, with both reporting to Nick Harvey, president of Jean- neau of America. Four Winns and Scarab will fall under Beneteau, with Andy Lindsay as sales manager, reporting to Laurent Fabre, president of Beneteau of America. Roch Lambert, who has served as president of Rec Boat Holdings since shortly after Plati- num Equity acquired the brands out of bank- ruptcy in 2010, will be leaving the company. Beneteau acquired the brands from Platinum Equity, a private equity firm, in June 2014. Lambert has helped position for its current success, Gastinel said. "Roch has really turned around the com- pany," he said. "He has created a really strong foothold for the group." It's natural for dealers to be nervous about the change, Gastinel said, but he stressed that Beneteau will continue to support the former Rec Boat Holdings brands. "We absolutely want to keep investing in all four brands," he said. "This is very important to us, this is critical to us." New jet, cruiser engines, accessory from Indmar After introducing its Raptor inboard engines last year, Indmar showed off its new jet and cruiser engine series, along with Strainer Pro, the first sea strainer with a built-in flush kit. "The response to the Raptor launch was overwhelming. The most frequent comment by far was 'Please make this engine available in Jet Boats' or 'Put this in Cruisers!' That's precisely what we are doing now," said Scott Clack, vice president of Indmar Marine Engines. "The all- new Jet and Cruiser engine series heralds a new chapter in the success story of Indmar and sets new standards in those segments as we position Indmar even more aggressively as a dynamic in- board marine engine brand." Like the ROUSHCharged Raptor series (named one of Boating Industry's 2015 Top Products), the two new segments will be built on Indmar's Ford based inboard marine engines. Ilmor enters the sterndrive market Ilmor debuted its "One Drive" at the show, avail- able in single- and twin-drive configurations. "When we crafted the Ilmor 'One Drive' package, we wanted to give recreational boat- ers a driving experience never before offered in gasoline powered boats," said Ilmor president Paul Ray. (Read more on this in the Market Trends article on p. 28) NMMA announces CSI award winners, innovation awards NMMA named 46 recipients of the 2015 Marine Industry Customer Satisfaction Index Awards for excellence in customer satisfaction at the annual Industry Breakfast. Starting with this year, CSI award winners are being named at Miami instead of the IBEX show, in a move that the association hopes will put more attention on the awards with consumers. Award recipients achieved and maintained an independently measured standard of excel- lence of 90 percent or higher in customer sat- isfaction over the past program year, based on information provided by customers purchasing a new boat or engine during the period between April 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015. Participating manufacturers must survey all new boat buyers during this period. For this reporting period, the program surveyed nearly 67,000 customers. "Measuring our customer's satisfaction lets us know more about what they are thinking, what they are saying, and allows us to learn and adapt, ultimately reaching a point where we have truly earned their praise," said Robert Newsome, vice president of engineering standards for NMMA. "We congratulate these 46 manufacturers for their commitment to their customers and cre- ating exceptional boat ownership experiences." Also at the industry breakfast, NMMA and Boating Writers International announced win- ners of the annual Miami International Boat Show Innovation Awards. This year's program evaluated 77 products across 31 categories. The judges ultimately selected 17 winners in 16 cat- egories and three honorable mentions for a total of 20 honorees. The Innovation Awards judg- ing committee is comprised of BWI members who perform product testing through- out the year and have specific expertise in marine products and equipment. The full list of award winners is available at BoatingIndustry.com. Garelicks named Freedman award winners Ken and Rick Garelick, president and senior vice president of Garelick Manufacturing Co., won this year's Alan J. Freedman Memorial Leadership Award. Cousins Rick and Ken are the second gen- eration now leading Garelick Manufacturing Co. Their fathers Joe and Saul were brothers who founded the company and handed down the reigns of leadership to Rick and Ken in the late 1980s. "NMMA congratulates Ken and Rick Garelick on receiving the Alan J. Freedman Award and thanks them for their unwavering dedication, support and passion for the marine industry," said Dammrich. "We are proud to work alongside Ken and Rick as innovators who have made substantial contributions to marine manufacturing and continues to help make boat- ing the preferred choice in recreation." In November 2015, Garelick Manufacturing was acquired by Brunswick. Garelick Manufac- turing is the winner of three NMMA Innova- tion Awards, the 2003 Motor Boating Magazine Boat Keeper Product Award, 2005 Motor Boat- ing Magazine Best Product Award, 2011 Twin Cities Business Magazine Small Business Success Story and the 2015 National Marine Distributors Association Supplier of the Year.

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