Dun Laoghaire Marina, MGM Boats and Frank Keane BMW celebrated the start of the 2016 boating season at the weekend, showcasing a range of 'the finest' boats and cars available in Dublin.

A number of both new and used craft were available to view off the gangway at the country's largest marina, including an impressive Lagoon catamaran, Jeanneau power and sail craft, all resplendent in the weekend's summer sunshine.

With just over three weeks til the clocks go forward and with the smell of antifouling in the air at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, it can only mean one thing; the Irish summer boating season is just round the corner. Boatyards around the country are getting busy in anticipation of a great 2016 season. Yesterday and today, both the Howth and Dun Laoghaire RNLI Lifeboats are being lifted on MGM Boatyard's 50–ton travel hoist (the only such hoist in Dublin Bay) for maintenance and service work that includes antifouling and anode changing.

Howth & Dun Laoghaire Lifeboats lifted yesterday & today for antifouling and anode changing pic.twitter.com/KlJJaajZpq

— MGM Boatyard (@BoatyardMgm) 2 March 2016

 MGM Boats offer a wide range of boatyard services including lifting, pressure washing, block off and launching. 

Leading Irish boat firm MGM Boats has opened a new sales office at Malahide Marina in North County Dublin to add to its presence on the East Coast of Ireland. The new office is located in the marina building, with access to the marina and boat yard.

Damien Offer, the General Manager of Malahide Marina, told Afloat.ie: 'It is great to welcome MGM Boat Sales on board. Their knowledge, expertise and professionalism will be a great benefit to all our customers wishing to sell and purchase new or second hand boats from their extensive listings. Their timing in expanding their offices is perfect with the renewed interest and buoyancy in the economy'.

'Our network of offices in Ireland and the UK, allow maximum exposure for our clients boats that we have for sale, and will bring new boat opportunities with Sunseeker, Jeanneau, and Aquador brands being offered for sale', MGM Managing Director Gerry Salmon told Afloat.ie 

MGM are also recruiting additional sales staff for the 2016 season.

For all those who have ever wished for a little help at the helm, Harken and Jeanneau have announced the result of a three-year collaborative effort to re-imagine cruising and shorthanded sailing. This collaboration has produced an advanced system to make sailing easier for families, cruisers, shorthanded crews, solo sailors, and those with limited mobility.

Jeanneau will debut the Auto Tacking and Auto Trim packages on its Sun Odyssey range under the name Assisted Sail Trim (AST). 

Jeanneau is represented in Ireland by MGM Boats

Did Southampton Boat Show 2015 that ended yesterday mark the end of the recession for the Irish Marine trade? That depends on who you talk to but if numbers are any evidence to go by there was plenty more Irish faces among the 110,000 that enjoyed a taste of Britain’s biggest boating festival. 

Irish show-goers made good use of the Flybe connections from Dublin and the sprinkling of Irish marine firms among the 500 exhibitors gave a great sense of pre-recessionary times.

Mid–week wet weather may have dragged down attendance numbers but it failed to dampen the mood at this year’s Show.

Trade bodies made good use of the opportunity for a useful 'heads-up' on numerous industry matters too. The Society of Maritime Industries, British Marine and the UK Chamber of Shipping signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to set out the basis for all three to work together. 

On an international footing, there was a consensus that better promotional co-operation between member states could increase participation levels in EU boating. The recently rebranded British Marine Federation (now known as 'British Marine') are certainly doing their bit. Murray Ellis, Managing Director, British Marine Boat Shows said: “We have had yet another incredibly successful Southampton Boat Show with more than 10,000 visitors getting out on the water for free. Our attractions have been very popular this year with over 18,000 visits to our tall ship, the Earl of Pembroke, 5,300 rides on the Honda Boat Show Eye and over 27,000 visitors to the Show’s very own Aquarium. 

If the concept is safe and economical motor boat cruising this latest 'Loyal 980' offering from MGM Boats in Kinsale offers 'cutting edge design' too. The basic aluminium concept of the Loyal 980 is that of a comfortable, durable boat with low fuel consumption. The emphasis on simplicity gives this boat a unique, exciting appearance echoing that of an expedition yacht. This boat is ready to go and delivery is available nationwide. For full details and photos on her click here. 

#londonboatshow – Strong opening weekend visitor numbers are a positive feature of the London Boat Show that has already produced some early sales results for two Irish yacht brokers at the Xcel–based event in East London.

Last year's event pulled in around 90,000 visitors. This year – the 61st show – organisers are hoping numbers will top 100,000.

'There is a definite sense of confidence around the place and the public are very upbeat about the year ahead', Irish broker Martin Salmon of MGM Boats told Afloat.ie from the firm's dedicated brokerage stand in Xcel.

For the Irish marine trade London has traditonally been a calendar highlight. 2015 is no exception with at least three Irish based deals done on the opening weekend.

Along with Boot Dussledorf, where attendance is expected to top 250,000 later this month, the London boat show is a key player in the global leisure boating industry, generating annual revenue of £3bn, and the show is the home base for a number of world-renowned UK brands, including Fairline Boats and Sunseeker.

Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger (pictured below) drew the biggest crowd of the opening day by far last Friday when she sang on the Sunseeker International stand. Sunseeker's Predator 57 (starting price £815,000) is launching at the show.

'The overall attendance is up 7% on last year and on our stand we are up 20% in enquiries and boats to list', Salmon told Afloat.ie

Salmon says the second hand market is still thriving in Europe. 'Boat shoppers are putting value for money at the top of the list and the demand for quality used boats is still growing' he said.

This year MGM has installed interactive screens on their purpose built stand located next to the Guinness stand so visitors can help themselves and browse through boat technical specs and photo/video galleries and it is proving to be a big hit. 

A new attraction to the MGM Boats stand at London boat show 2015 are our interactive screens. Stand FO51 pic.twitter.com/X4Ju2vlEoS

— John McDonald (@John_MGMBoats) January 10, 2015

BJ Marine's Group Sales Manager James Kirwan (left) and Mike Caplan of BJ Marine Pwllheli on the Beneteau stand, with an Oceanis 35 bound for Ireland in the background

James Kirwan of County Wicklow firm BJ Marine of Greystones is reporting 'massive' interest at the French Beneteau stand, a brand his company represents in Ireland. 'Both the new Beneteau Oceanis 35 and 55 have been of particular interest given their 'unique layout and the finish quality' says Kirwan.

Kirwan is reporting two deals done in just the first few days of the ten day show.

On the motorboat side, BJ Marine has excellent Antares Outboard model deals and the MC5 is making its London debut and is 'turning heads in a big way', according to Kirwan.

{youtube}AgDotjn89ZQ{/youtube}

'Our new BJ Marine Welsh office in Pwllheli is giving us an increased brokerage offering too for those talking to us about second hand boats'.

Likewise for MGM with their French brand, Jeanneau. The new Sun Odyssey 349 is attracting a lot of interest (at €122,000.00 Inc Vat on the water).

The new Velacso 37 is the star of the motorboat stand and is now the new entry level flybridge in the range.

Packed stand here this evening for the late night opening. The Guinness is flowing. @LoveBoatShows #LBS15 pic.twitter.com/YNghdEv4K9

— MGM Boats (@mgmboats) January 15, 2015

{youtube}osDnqYfppLM{/youtube}

MGM also handle Aquador in Ireland and this stand is always busy at this show due to the popularity of the brand in the UK and the 22C and 28C has gone down very well again, according to Salmon. 'The 28C was sold yesterday and we are working on some very strong leads and we should see some further orders throughout the week' he said.

77 debut boats confirmed

Another sale completed at the London Boat Show. The Aquador 28 is going down well this week. @LoveBoatShows #LBS15 pic.twitter.com/AvYU5bspvc

— MGM Boats (@mgmboats) January 15, 2015

The Show will host world firsts from across the marine industry. The Ribeye PRIME, Bavaria Sport 400, Williams Sportjet 520 and Haines 360 will dazzle power enthusiasts whilst the sailing industry will witness the launch of the Dauntless Oyster 500.

For those looking for the latest in luxury yachts aswell as the world launch of the Sunseeker Predator 57 there will be Fairline's unveiling of the Shadow S, the first of its eight new models to be launched over the next three years. 

#jeanneau – To celebrate their recent appointment as Jeanneau distributors for Northern Ireland, leading Irish boat sales firm MGM Boats are rolling out an Autumn/Winter sales campaign.

The campaign features a 'Kickstart! 2015' offer. The offer is for a 2015 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 33i delivered, commissioned, launched and vat paid for just €99,950, saving the customer almost €15,000 off the full retail price.

In addition to this, MGM Boats will reimburse flights and accommodation (limitations apply) for anyone who orders a boat at the Paris boat show which runs from the 6th to the 14th of December.

'We are seeing a large increase in enquiries for new boats and with a number of hulls delivered this year we are very much looking forward to seeing what 2015 has in store. We were keen to create a special offer that represented real value to mark our appointment as dealers for Northern Ireland,' says John McDonald of MGM.

#multihullsnews – In a novel move from MGM Boats, the Irish boat sales firm have brought in a Lagoon 52 Cruising Catamarans from France for a ten week demonstration period around the Irish coast. From the above picture it's clear she's already done the rounds off Cork and is now heading to Dublin Bay for several weeks of demo–sail appointments at Dun Laoghaire.
The Lagoon 52 is a high volume cruising catamaran incorporating a large flybridge steering station, a radical aft-stepped mast and self-tacking genoa that makes this big yacht so easily managed by the smallest of crews. More on the boat on Afloat boats for sale here.

#mgmboats – Irish yacht and boat sales firm MGM Boats have opened a new brokerage and sales office in Meditteranaean island of Malta, a popular boating destination.

The Dun Laoghaire based fim which has European bases in Portugal and the UK  has sold a number of Brokerage boats into Malta over the past couple of years and according to MGM director Martin Salmon, the company sees 'great opportunities for development in this popular boating area in the near future'. This new venture is in co-operation with the BH Group who currently distribute the Sunseeker and Sessa brands in Malta.

The offices are located in Portomaso Marina in St Julians. The head of brokerage Tim Plail is now actively promoting our brokerage services and growing the MGM Boats brokerage listings.

MGM Boats currently have over 320 Brokerage boats for sale and these are berthed in a wide variance of locations throughout Europe.  The new Malta office contact details are: 

MGM Boats Malta
The Quay
Portomaso Marina
St Julians
Malta
Tel: +356 21 385678
Email: [email protected]