BOATDAY LAUNCHES NEW SHARING APP IN MIAMI
BoatDay, a Miami-based boating app that makes the boating experience accessible to everyone, launches just in time for boating enthusiasts to enjoy Miami’s hot and sunny summer. The BoatDay app creates a convenient way to easily connect boat and water enthusiasts eager for a day out on the water with boat owners who are willing to welcome Guests on-board for a BoatDay. Guests can enjoy the full boating experience by joining registered hosts for everything from fishing, entertaining, cruising and more, all at economical per-person prices.
“We created BoatDay to provide all those interested in boating experiences with a more convenient, reliable, and affordable way to enjoy a day on the water,” said BoatDay Co-Founder Kimon Korres.
The concept is simple: users download the app and can browse and choose from a variety of boating activities to partake in, or refine their search to find the perfect BoatDay for their schedule and needs. Filters will match users with BoatDays meeting their criteria, including the Hosts who are willing take them out on the water. Unlike standard boat rental services and websites, BoatDay is unique in that it delivers to the user the entire boating experience without responsibility of driving a rented boat, finding a captain or paying excessive rental amounts. All BoatDays are priced per-person, which ensures that users’ boating costs are always reasonable.
All BoatDay Hosts are fully screened, including criminal background checks on national and county databases, as well as DMV records and sex-offender registries.
While BoatDay also requires that all Hosts possess their own private boat insurance, each Host is will benefit from half a million dollars in excess liability coverage for each BoatDay.
YAMAHA MARINE ANNOUNCES NEW SUMMER PROMOTION
JULY 15, 2015
Yamaha Marine Group announced today the “Super Sizzlin’ Summer Sales Event,” a retail promotion that offers two different consumer benefits depending upon the technology and horsepower of the eligible outboard purchased.
“This promotion covers a wide array of Yamaha outboards, ranging from 2.5 to 350 horsepower, including new Yamaha four strokes released in 2015,” said Dale Barnes, Division Manager, Marketing, Yamaha Marine Group. “The ‘Super Sizzlin’ Summer Sales Event’ has something for everyone and gives customers a great way to build value into their outboard purchases.”
The consumer benefit for purchasing a new eligible Yamaha 2.5- to 50-horsepower four-stroke outboard is a credit based on MSRP of up to $300 toward the purchase of goods and/or services at the authorized participating dealer that sold the outboard, at no extra cost to consumer.
The consumer benefit for purchasing a new eligible Yamaha 60- to 350-horsepower four-stroke outboard is a two-year Yamaha Extended Service (Y.E.S.) plan at no additional cost to the purchasing consumer.
The promotion is effective for new select, eligible outboards purchased and warranty registered between July 15, 2015, and August 31, 2015.
New report shows U.S. fishing participation rate holding steady
Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation
July 15, 2015
Forty-six million Americans, or 15.8 percent of the U.S. population ages six and older, participated in fishing last year according to the 2015 Special Report on Fishing released today by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show (ICAST) in Orlando, Fla. Produced in partnership with the Outdoor Foundation, the report details the state of fishing participation throughout the country in 2014, offering detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region.
“We are pleased with the findings of this report, including the 2.4 million newcomers who tried fishing for the first time in 2014,” said RBFF President and CEO, Frank Peterson. “Fishing remains a popular outdoor activity and with increasing numbers of newcomers, we look to growing overall participation in the future, securing critical support for state conservation efforts.”
Now in its seventh year, the report provides a comprehensive look at overall trends in participation. The report also looks into barriers, motivating factors and preferences of key groups while also identifying opportunities for engaging new audiences. As both foundations look to tap into the growing youth and Hispanic populations, special attention is paid to these segments of the U.S. population in the report.
“Recreational fishing is an essential piece of America’s outdoor tradition, often leading children to a love of the outdoors and a healthy, active lifestyle,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation. “We hope this report will help the fishing industry – and the entire outdoor industry – engage young fishing participants and ultimately create the next generation of passionate outdoor enthusiasts.”
Key findings from the report:
Outdoor Activity – Among adult outdoor participants, fishing is the second most popular outdoor activity
Newcomers – More than 2.4 million people, had their very first fishing experience in 2014
Women anglers – Over 47% of first-time fishing participants are female
Social – Nearly 82% of fishing trips involve more than one person
Youth – Fishing participation as a child has a powerful effect on future participation – more than 85% of adult anglers fished as a child, before the age of 12
Future Participants – Almost 4.3 million youth (11%) would like to try fishing, a growth opportunity for the industry
Number of outings for Hispanic participants – Hispanic Americans fishing participants average 25.8 days on the water per year; over six days more than the average for all fishing participants (19.4 days)
Spontaneous – 81% of fishing trips are spontaneous or planned within a week of the trip
Motivation – Spending time with family and friends continue to be the largest reason to participate in fishing, specifically, 72.2% for ages 6-12 and 66.8% for ages 13-17
To download the report, as well as an infographic detailing the top findings, visit the Take Me Fishing Resource Center.
FLW Goes to China
July 17, 2015
FLW announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Sunny Lake (Beijing) Sport Development, LLC, from China to begin sanctioning FLW bass fishing tournaments in the Eastern Asian nation at a contract signing today at the 2015 ICAST show in Orlando. The agreement was signed by FLW President of Operations Kathy Fennel and Gang Li, vice president of the Florida Culture Exchange Association (FCEA), representing Sunny Lake Sport Development.
“We are very excited to bring FLW tournaments to China,” says Li. “The agreement between FLW and the FCEA will be a fantastic partnership that will be a very effective combination of sports media and marketing platforms.”
China will run a series of FLW tournaments that advance anglers, who are citizens of the host country, to a new International Division at the Rayovac FLW Series Championship beginning in 2016. Two anglers will compete as pros, with FLW providing Ranger boats, and two will compete as co-anglers.
China is the third country to sign on for international sanctioning, joining Canada and South Korea as FLW partners under the new program. The highest-finishing pro from the newly introduced International Division at the Rayovac FLW Series Championship will advance to the following year’s Forrest Wood Cup for the chance to compete on the sport’s biggest stage for $500,000 – the biggest payday in bass fishing. FLW will also provide a Ranger boat for use in the Forrest Wood Cup.
“We are thrilled that China has signed on as the third country to begin hosting FLW International Division events,” says Fennel. “Competitive bass fishing is poised for explosive growth, and FLW is leading the way. We have long touted our anglers as the best in the world, and now with the integration of our new International Division in the Rayovac FLW Series we will truly see global competition.”
Additional FLW qualifying tournaments in other countries are forthcoming.
FLW announced the 2016 Walmart FLW Tour regular-season schedule today in a live press conference held at the 2015 ICAST show in Orlando, Fla. With the help of six veteran Tour pros, the company unveiled each of the six events, one-by-one, to a crowd of observers gathered around the FLW booth. The dates and locations are:
2016 Walmart FLW Tour Regular-Season Schedule
- February 4-7
Lake Okeechobee
Clewiston, Fla.
Hosted by Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort and the Hendry County Tourism Development Council - March 17-20
Lake Hartwell
Anderson, S.C.
Hosted by the Anderson Convention & Visitors Bureau - April 14-17
Beaver Lake
Rogers, Ark.
Hosted by Visit Rogers - May 5-8
Pickwick Lake
Florence, Ala.
Hosted by the Florence/Lauderdale Tourism Bureau - June 9-12
Kentucky Lake
Gilbertsville, Ky.
Hosted by the Kentucky Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau - June 23-26
Lake Champlain
Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau
BELLINGHAM MARINE COMPLETES WORK ON FLORIDA WATERFRONT PROJECT
The city of Fort Pierce, Fla., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 13 to celebrate the completion of its $30 million waterfront redevelopment project and National Marina Day.
The restoration and hazard mitigation project included the construction of 13 islands and a new marina and floating wave attenuator in the city’s outer basin designed to protect the region from hurricanes and storms.
Bellingham Marine was hired as the design/build general contractor to design and manufacture the new concrete floating docks, floating wave attenuator and gangway systems.
“This was a complete turnkey project,” Kevin Thompson, general manager of Bellingham’s Southeast Division, said in a statement. “We self-performed everything from the top of the gangways down, including all utility work; the only work we did not do was the pile driving.”
In 2004 hurricanes Frances and Jeanne destroyed the slips in the city’s outer basin and damaged many of the slips in the inner basin.
What followed was a 10-year process. Funding could not be accessed to rebuild the outer basin until a plan to protect them was approved and permitted. The city explored a number of options and decided on an island concept.
The bulk of the funding for the nearly $31 million project was provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city’s insurance proceeds from the hurricanes. The state provided $3 million in disaster funds.
“A special thanks to all the firms and individuals involved — Tetratech, Moffatt & Nichol, Bellingham Marine and Hal Jones; we were blessed to have some of the industry’s greatest visionaries and best talent working on our project,” said Ed Seissiger, engineering project manager for the city of Fort Pierce.
“It was a long, and at times, challenging journey to get to where we are today, but we are extremely proud of what the team has accomplished and all that has been created for the city as a result of our efforts.”
“Others in Florida have done rubble islands as a form of storm surge protection, so we knew the concept was viable, but we wanted to create lagoon habitat, as well as provide habitat for shore birds on the islands; we wanted something that would not only protect the marina and the city’s waterfront, but enhance marine life,” Seissiger added.
In December 2010 the city received the final approval needed from the Army Corps of Engineers to start construction of the islands. The islands sit about 700 feet offshore; the largest of them is about 14 acres and the smallest is one-tenth of an acre. The islands will provide juvenile fish sanctuary; mangroves and oyster shells were planted to attract birds, oyster larvae, fish and other marine life.
