Registration is now open for the Advanced Textile Association (ATA) Canada Division’s one-day workshop focused on the Canadian textile market. This workshop takes place Feb. 9, 2023, at Lasalle Canvas Inc., in Quebec, Canada. Participants will include business owners in the Canadian provinces involved in shade, architectural structures, marine tops, tarps and more. There will [...]

Registration is now open and speakers have been announced for the Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) Fabricators Conference and Showcase to be held Feb. 20–21, 2023, in Conover, N.C.  The event, which will be held at the Manufacturing Solutions Center at Catawba Valley Community College, is for fabricators involved in specialty and industrial textile markets. Education [...]

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) 2021 U.S. Total Boat Registrations Report is now available for purchase. There were 12 million boats registered and documented in the U.S. in 2021, up 1% compared to 2020. The top five states for boat registrations in 2021 were: Florida Minnesota Michigan California Ohio By region, the Great Lakes [...]

The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), the nonprofit organization that develops safety standards for the design, construction, maintenance and repair of boats, has registration open for its annual Standards Week, January 9-13, 2023, in New Orleans. Standards Week is dedicated to daily Project Technical Committee (PTC) meetings to discuss updates to Supplement 63 for [...]

Metal work on a boat is both a functional and an aesthetic decision. Here, Lakeside Marine Canvas of Buford, Ga., installed a “hoop back” frame on a cruiser to extend the bimini past what the manufacturer offers. Photo: Lakeside Marine Canvas Inc. Fabricating frames, tubing, hardware and other items can present a quandary for marine [...]

The clients wanted to make adjustments and add to their current stainless steel dodger and bimini frames to create a more functional cockpit area for cruising. They asked that strong, high-quality materials be used so the final result would be suitable for offshore cruising. A significant challenge was using, adjusting and adding to the existing [...]

I majored in marketing in college. I thought I was great at “packaging an idea” and running with it. Now that I have owned Onboard Interiors LLC in Marblehead, Mass., for almost 20 years, I understand that marketing changes with the world, and the marine world is a unique market for sure. Are boat shows [...]

Photo 1. A photo of the original boat interior of a 70-foot Hatteras. The clients initially wanted to replicate the color and pattern of these Wayfair pillows in the main salon; something that proved especially challenging. For most fabricators, long-term success doesn’t come from the easy jobs, but from the challenging projects. Using two case [...]

Photo 1. Clients were initially reluctant to accept the horizontal frame because it was a drastic change from the standard ‘K’ frame. However, the added square footage of usable deck area overcame these doubts, and the demand for horizontal frame systems and cantilever support systems is strong. Following the typical 10-to-20-year delay that “new ideas” [...]

Jan. 26–28, 2023 MFA Conference 2023  Sheraton New Orleans New Orleans, La. textiles.org/marineconference Feb. 20–21, 2023 Fabricators Conference and Showcase 2023 Manufacturing Solutions Center II Conover, N.C. textiles.org/event/fabricators-conference-and-showcase-2023 Jan. 19–21, 2023 NECPA Expo 2023 Sheraton Monarch Place Springfield, Mass. necpa.org Feb. 15–19, 2023 Miami International Boat Show Miami Beach and Downtown Miami Miami, Fla. miamiboatshow.com