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Displaying items by tag: Ocean Sprint

Christophe Bullens celebrates his arrival in Cape Town as he finishes the first Ocean Sprint of the Velux 5 Oceans, from La Rochelle onboard his boat Five Oceans of Smiles Too.

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Five Oceans of Smiles Too Photo: Ainhoa Sanchez/w-w-i.com

The former Belgian national sailing champion and tank commander in the Belgian army, now runs a yacht charter business. Christophe's boat is named Five Ocean of Smiles after the Smiles charity, which supports 'children who are HIV positive.

The Velux 5 Oceans is the oldest single-handed round the world yacht race which was first held in 1982. The race is the longest and toughest event for any individual in any sport. The race is a series of five ocean sprints within a marathon circumnavigation that covers a 30,000 mile route. The race started in France at La Rochelle with the first leg ending in Cape Town. The following stages go on to Wellington, Salvador, Charleston and back to La Rochelle for the finish.

Published in Offshore

About MGM Boats

MGM Boats is one of Ireland's leading boat brokers now operating internationally as well as throughout Ireland. MGM Boats was founded in 1997 by brothers Martin and Gerry Salmon who were previously worked as a carpenter, joiner and glass fibre laminator in the 1980s. Martin progressed to boat retailing in the late 1980s and Gerry was a service manager in the 1990s. From these many years of experience, MGM Boats was founded in 1997. It started out as a service, maintenance and repairs company based in Malahide, Co. Dublin.

The company grew in 1998 when the Aquador dealership was acquired. Starting as they meant to go on, in 2001 MGM became distributors for Jeanneau Motorboats and Yachts and also opened its second office in Belfast. MGM had begun to create what would be an international and acclaimed brokerage company.

In 2003, MGM Boats moved to Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Co. Dublin. The large office space and yard expanded the service department and paved the way for MGM to acquire the dealership for Sunseeker in Ireland in 2003.

From then, MGM built up its brokerage listings and in 2009 it opened its office in Hamble, UK. This has led to many years of MGM being present at all major UK boat shows, and each year growing their presence and listings.

The success of MGM's brokerage listings spread internationally, leading in 2012 to 2 new offices being opened in the Mediterranean - in Villamoura, Portugal and Mallorca, Spain. The now international brand and team throughout these years received many awards for their enterprising spirit, customer service and international presence, including winning Sunseeker Distributor of the Year in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

This also led to a new Irish office being opened in Kinsale, Co. Cork increasing their presence within Ireland as well as abroad.

At A Glance – MGM Boats Agencies

MGM Boats are Irish agents for the following yacht and motorboat manufacturers

  • Jeanneau sail
  • Jeanneau power
  • Prestige
  • Lagoon catamarans
  • Aquador
  • Bayliner
  • Zodiac

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