The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has awarded seven 2016 Best in Category International Achievement Awards (IAA) for design excellence in specialty fabrics applications at the 2016 IFAI Expo. IFAI Expo is the largest specialty fabrics trade show in the Americas, held this year at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C. For more than [...]

Rick Berkey shows tour participants his mobile sewing and repair vehicle. Rick’s Custom Marine Canvas and Sail Repair, Cornelius, N.C., was the second stop on the IFAI Specialty Fabrics tour Oct. 19. The tour was as part of the IFAI 2016 Expo in Charlotte, N.C. Rick Berkey, owner of Rick’s Custom Marine, welcomed [...]

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) has announced that its New Powerboat Registrations Report has just been updated with advance August data. Most segments are up year over year (YOY) ranging from 1.7-12.6 percent. The exception is sterndrive boats, which continue to lag, down 1.2 percent for the category overall. Contact Vicky Yu, director of [...]

Members of the global marine industry are being encouraged to attend the Sustainability in the Marine Industry conference Nov. 14 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Early-bird registration closes Monday, October 17. The conference will explore sustainable design and construction concepts. The conference will also address progress on boat and yacht disposal and recycling processes. Organized by Quaynote [...]

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and leaders from chemical industry are conducting compliance webinar Thursday, Oct. 13, on California’s Proposition 65. In April, California added the substance styrene to the Proposition 65 regulatory warning list. Webinar topics will discuss how styrene is proposed to be treated under the regulation and how the boating industry [...]

Emigsville, Pa.-based Herculite Products Inc., the leading innovator in high performance and custom fabrics, hired Buddy Silva as their new western regional sales manger-awning and marine. Silva comes to Herculite with many years of sales and business development experience. He earned the Marketing Excellence National Award and is a present/past director on two textile industry [...]

The board of directors of the Chamber of Marine Commerce appointed Raymond Johnston as interim President effective October 1, 2016. Johnston will oversee the implementation of the merger between the Chamber of Marine Commerce and the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA). Under the terms of the merger agreement the Chamber of Marine Commerce and the CSA [...]

If you weren’t at the MFA Southwest Regional Workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, you really missed out. MFA marine shops: Sharps Tarps and Sewlong Custom Covers hosted the one-and-half day event that took place on September 23-24, 2016. There were 40 in attendance. The event started out with a meet and greet at Legend’s [...]

The U.S. Congress passed an important bill last week that directly impacts the recreational boating industry, according to the National Marine Manufacturing Association. The House voted 399-25 to pass the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), approving critical funding improvements and upkeeps for U.S. waterways and harbors. The Senate had passed its version of WRDA earlier [...]

Advance data indicates new powerboat registrations were up 7.2% year over year (YOY) for the 12 months through July. Larger boats – 33’+, while lower in volume, were up 12.6% on a rolling twelve month basis (R12M) YOY. PWC, Pontoon, and saltwater fish segments continue to be the high-volume growth leaders: up 10.4%, 9.4%, and [...]