Advance Yacht announced that it has decided not to continue as UK distributor for Exit Engineering because the company has experienced a lot of growth in sales of generators, watermakers and air conditioning this year. The company acknowledges that whilst the gangways and wheels from Exit are superb products, they don’t really fit with Advance Yacht’s core business.

Advance Yacht has taken the decision to focus on the products which were in high demand and where value could be added through expertise.

David Piper tells us Aquafax has not taken on any major new products this year due to a lack of warehouse space. This issue has been addressed by the opening of a depot in Plymouth and a new one is due to open in Middlewich in January 07.  The company has been given two awards; the Performance Metals distributor award for the success in selling their range of anodes, and the Blue C top EU distributor award.

Aquafax's sales team has increased to eight and more emphasis has been put on sales via the web site.

ASAP Supplies were made distributors of the Federal Mogul product range of Champion Marine Spark Plugs and Filters in 2006.  The Champion brand has been established for over 100 years, with an enviable reputation for quality and performance and a range that covers most inboard, outboard and Jetski applications.  Payen Gaskets uphold the manufacturer’s world class reputation with its range, performing to Original Equipment Standards which ASAP Supplies have been appointed to distribute.

They are developing, designing and manufacturing seals, gaskets and headbolts that complement todays technological advances of petrol and diesel engines.  This enhances our engine spares line by allowing us to increase the number of engine types for which we can now offer quality spares. 

Faria’s Watchdog is a satellite based tracking, monitoring, notification and communication system.  It uses an extensive network of low-Earth orbit satellites as well as GSM cellular networks to ensure that connections are not only reliable but affordable too.  It gives the owner ability to have tracking, security with alert to phone / email, onboard engine diagnostics and remote access to vital functions and information.

Bainbridge has recently introduced a number of new ranges including Flag Paints, the Farecla Marine range, Lewmar’s V700, the DAME award winning One Touch Winch Handle and Liquid Caddy. The Lewmar range is well known throughout the trade but the Liquid Caddy is a very handy gimballed and adjustable method of holding a beverage on board a boat. Farecla is a range of cleaners, polishes and waxes designed for the boating community.

Calibra Marine International has introduced the new Bay15D LED’s replacement bulb for navigation lights. This product was nominated for a DAME Award at METS and, as a result, received a special mention. Also the Multi Light 3 x 1 Watt Power LED-spreader/deck light and the LED Bar 3 x 1 Watt which slides in a track on boom or can be riveted to boom to act as a cockpit light.

Other new ranges include Palagi, BCM, Cabin and Roco. These have extended Calibri’s range of LEDs for both interior and exterior use and include downlight, reading ,courtesy and under gunwhale lighting to the range on offer. mach2marine's stainless steel hinges and latches, bollards and cleats, logos, stanchion gates are new to Calibra.

Finally, Interra Engineering's lightweight gangways. They come as either single, folding and tri-folds configuration and built of aluminum and teak. Tri-fold was also nominated for a DAME Award and, once again, received a special mention.

C-Quip has just added Paneltronics to its portfolio. The company is recognised as a leader in the development and manufacturing of custom instrument panels, instrument clusters and power distribution panels for the automotive, commercial vehicle, speciality vehicle and marine industries.

In addition C-Quip also has an extensive selection of standard panels that can be custom configured to customer specifications. 

According to director Ian Cooke, C-Quip goes green in 2007. ‘Critical to the success of the leisure marine industry is one primary factor,’ says Cooke. ‘The environment.’ As a result the company will be launching two new brands for the 2007 season that will help go toward a Cleana Marina.

Cleana Marina is a range of fuel or oil absorbent and water repellent products designed to cope with all spill eventualities. The Bilgeel is designed to be stuffed and wiggled into the most awkward of spaces. Secondly, Dieselwick Sheets simply fit over the tank filler and suck up any spills. Third is the Oilskin, a large sheet of the same Meltblown Polypropylene material used in all the products that can be cut to any specific size. Drip trays, engine bays and outboard storage can be cleaned up with this product. Finally, the Oilbuoy, which can be dropped into the bilges to suck up any escaping oil, petrol or diesel, it will absorb three litres of fuel whilst repelling any water.

In addition to these products, C-Quip is planning to launch an industrial sized Spill Kit for marina owners.

The second new product range at C-Quip is Torqeedo, a precision made range of electric outboard motors made in Germany that won the DAME Innovation Award at METS.

C-Quip will launch both these exclusive product ranges for the 2007 season during BBEX in Bournemouth over February 14 and 15. Other products include additional 316 stainless steel castings to join the company’s Aqualine range and a new selection of marine theft protection products from OML and Oxford Security.

Tim Goodman says Index Marine has added quite a few items to its range during 2006, the most recent of which is the new Multigate cable glands, designed for passing various sized cables through bulkheads. These have proved to be very successful this year.

The new range is a multi cable glanding system suitable for cables up to 60mm diameter while maintaining a seal up to IP65.

Other new products added include the Aqua Signal LED navigational lights, Series 32, a digital voltage controller for dimming lights and controlling motor speeds, for use on 12 or 24V systems.

Also an AM/FM band splitter for single aerial use. The Metermaid electricity meter for measuring kWh up to 16A, a new shore power lead, an AC consumer unit as well as two new fuse boxes.

Non-return valves, toggle circuit breaker guards, waterproof switch panels and waterproof toggle switches are also new as is a new high Amp connector rated up to 30A.

International Marine Products has introduced a number of new products for the 2007 season. These include, Andersen stainless steel winches, Forespar products, Schaefer deck gear including blocks, etc and the Tank Tender tank monitoring system.

All of these companies were previously distributed by Nauquip, which IMP has purchased.

IMP formally commence trading with these brands on January 1, 2007. In addition to these the company has added Connexus VHF and TV aerials and Bioinox gangways and bathing ladders.

Keypart says the company is one of the biggest independent suppliers of engine spares and stocks the Sierra range of petrol engine products.  This range of oil, filters, switches and associated spares has continued to grow over the last 12 months.  In addition Keypart is now also supplying the MerCruiser range of engine packages. 

Kuranda has made some new additions to it’s range this year.  These are the new Rolls Batteries range and, in keeping with the growth in interest in environmentally friendly power production, the Solara range of solar panels.

Mantsbrite says the unique feature of the Interphase iScan 180 forward-looking echo sounder is that as well as having the 90° forward vertical scan, it also has a 180° horizontal forward scan.

This is achieved using two transducers, one mounted port side, the other mounted on the starboard side. Mantsbrite says this has been particularly useful on deep vee hulls where it would not be possible to use a single transducer for a horizontal forward looking side scan - useful when navigating up channels or trying to avoid rocks.

Another new product for Mantsbrite has been theKoden Black Box Radar. This offers a choice of radar antennae (radome or open scanner), a black box processor and control panel. The unit uses an SVGA PC monitor, making it a cost effective way of obtaining a large screen radar, for example 15”, 17” or 19”.

Another product that found its way to market this year was the Koden KGC-1 GPS Compass. This has proved to be particularly good on steel vessels as it is not affected by magnetic deviation. The KGC-1 calculates heading by the difference in position of two GPS antennas mounted a short distance apart. The heading update rate can be anything up to 20 times a second, which is more then adequate for autopilot use, stabilising a radar/chart overlay image or for use with a satellite TV system.

Finally the Seiwa Explorer MkIII electronic chartplotter is somewhat different to the majority of chartplotters and also uses a PC monitor to display its information.

‘I think it’s fair to say that for us we have found good markets this year with the niche supply items that are a little bit different to the mainstream products commonly available,’ said David Ash.

Marathon has added the new Whale Smartbail product to its range. It is the company’s first new manual bilge pump for over 10 years and has been designed for very easy installation whilst being stylish with an unobtrusive design. Also recently added is the Orca Electric Bilge Pump, again from Whale.

Marathon said that the Waveline XS inflatable boats have been redesigned for 2007 with a new rear end which has been designed to cope with heavier 4-stroke engines.

The full range runs to six models from 2.3m to 2.9m in length and have slatted, airdeck and floorboard floor options. The price has been reduced with the 2.3m with slatted floor now retailing at £299 including VAT.

Bravo Inflatable Pumps have been around forever, but Marathon has now added the company to its portfolio, along with the Swobbit Cleaning products range, which is made in the USA. Other additions include Ramonol Advanced Grease – white lithium grease formulated for all applications. Sea-Clamp –designed as a reusable rope and cable tidy. JCS Stainless Steel Hose Clamps and P-Clips are now available from Marathon. HandiRack Inflatable Roof Rack is back in the range - it used to be available from the company until a couple of years back and it’s back in the range as the world’s only product of its kind.

Fendequip, which is made in England, is a range of retail packaged fender covers in both navy blue and black to fit Anchor Marine and Polyform fenders. Other sizes fit Avon, Majoni and other brands available to special order.

Action Seating is made in the USA and is a range of folding vinyl seats with aluminium hinges and UV resistant materials. RRP £39.99 including VAT and comes in a range of five colours.

Marineware has added a number of new products to its catalogue over the last year. Two of these are the Nutix range of antifoulings and the Saba range of caulkings and adhesives.

Both of these have proved to be very popular since their introduction almost 12 months ago. The Saba caulking has been well received as its formulation makes for easier application with less cracking being put down to the use of a new NS polymer.

Marine AV has had a busy year as a one-stop shop for on board audio visual requirements and has expanded the product range with a number of unique products, such as noise cancelling VHF interfaces, zone speaker selection units and a variety of solutions for interfacing iPod and MP3 players.

The company offers ‘the only truly waterproof’ Aquatic AV CD/DVD players on the market which has been accepted by many large and small boatbuilders as the most reliable audio visual unit available.

Marine Electronic Services (MES) of Bristol has been busy with a number of new products but most noticeably the 3G Afloat product. Based around a compact wireless router and Vodafone 3G Connect Card, the system comes ready to work out of the box and is suitable for any PC with either a regular wired Ethernet connection or wireless or WiFi type interface.

Leading on from this MES has introduced the US Syrens range of onboard WiFi devices to the UK market. The majority of stations and airports already offer WiFi access and now many marinas and ports are also equipped with Internet access points.

Normal WiFi receivers have a range of just a few hundred metres but the latest generation of products from Syrens can boost reception range up to 10km.

MES has signed a distribution agreement with Maretron, which is a specialist supplier of NMEA 2000 components and cabling. NMEA 2000 will be a more ‘plug and play’ system with equipment certified to allow much easier interconnection of marine electronic equipment, even if it is from a variety of different manufacturers.

Already, Raymarine, Simrad, Lowrance, Maretron and others are starting to adopt the system, which also allows much faster data transfer rates (to suit modern electronic systems) and a simple looped cable run throughout the yacht or ship.

Maretron’s product line-up includes compatible speed, depth, GPS, compass and tank level systems, all of which can be easily linked together using NMEA 2000-compatible cabling and connectors.

Maretron’s high-speed SSC200 Compass Sensor incorporates a solid state sensor and rate-gyro for extremely fast and stable compass heading information. Unlike traditional fluxgate compasses, the SSC200 is not affected by normal magnetic deviation errors. It also outputs data at 20Hz, allowing for a stable display even with the pitching and rolling motion of a small boat.

Marine Mart says2006 has been an exciting year and there have been numerous new products added to the offering.

Caframo’s Eco-Fans have been available from Marine Mart for nearly 12 months and quantity price breaks are applied on orders for five or 10 units.

The Stoves New World 50TWLM free-standing cooker has been a welcome replacement for the 5000WL. This attractive new model has separate oven and grill, four burner hob and 240V ignition, and is available in silver or white.

Marine Mart now stock selected models from Shoreline’s range of refrigerators including the popular RR47 and RR46.

Other new additions include GT85 maintenance spray, a universal adjustable oven shelf that will fit most popular leisure market cookers and refrigerators, and self adhesive weed hatch seal available by the roll.

The most significant success story of the last 12 months for Marine Mart has been the introduction of International’s range of paints and coatings. All the most popular lines are held in stock including Toplac, Brightside and Perfection top coats, Intertuf, various antifoulings, undercoats, varnishes and also the recently extended range of boat care products.

Marine Mart’s team are currently working on production of a new catalogue that will be available early in the new year. The new catalogue that will include even more new ranges will be available from the BBEX exhibition.

Navimo’s new products include a significant number of additions for Plastimo.  The product range from Sterling has been increased and is now available in the 2007 Plastimo catalogue.

The new Navman 8084 has been added.  It has an SVGA sunlight display, video input and Smartcraft compatibility and new Navman Radars are said to be coming soon to the UK.  McMurdo’s E5 and G5 306MHz EPIRB models have also been added to the range replacing the old models.

Plastimo has been expanding its inflatable range including adding optional floor types.  XM Yachting’s suppliers have also been working on developing new products for the 2007 season.

The new Crewmedic packs are designed specifically for the marine leisure industry and are numbered 30,60, and 180 kits, the numbers denoting the time from medical help.

The new XM Liferafts are budget priced costing from £555 RRP.  The new raft comes with a 12 year warranty.  The Goiot Steer n Go is another new product from XM, designed to provide the cockpit with more space by disconnecting the wheel from the Pulpit.  XM Yachting is a major distributor for a number of well known brand names in the marine industry.  This year both Index Marine and Hawk Mouldings join the XM portfolio.  Index is known for its range of watertight cable glands, junction boxes, plugs, sockets, busbars, as well as the Bulgin Buccaneer range of connectors.  Hawk makes wind indicators and a product range manufactured in the UK that supplies vessels from dinghies up to 60ft+ and catamarans.

Victron Energy - the silent power providers.  Victron’s range includes inverters; inverter/chargers; transformers; battery chargers; battery monitors; batteries and other power ancillary spares.  Providing AC power to people wherever they are!

Unipart Marine has added to it’s chandlery range through 2006 with several new productsfrom its existing suppliers.  At the beginning of the year it added Teleflex hydraulic steering – which among it’s products offers the BayStar Plus boxed steering kit. This enables a chandlery to sell a complete hydraulic system to an end user by just stocking one retail presentation box in store.

Alongside the BayStar range, Unipart also offers the SeaStar programme of cylinders, helms and hose kits.  The hydraulic range also means that Unipart Marine is the exclusive full line Teleflex Distributor for the UK market. 

From another part of the Teleflex group, Unipart Marine added the Shield Hose product range, which offers heater, wet exhaust, fresh water and sanitation hose.  One of the most popular lines in this range is the cuffed bilge hose, which is an exact fit for Rule, Shurflo and Whale electric bilge pumps in both ¾” and 1 1/8” diameters.  The company has also added the Shurflo freshwater pump range to its catalogue which includes the new Extreme Series smart sensor pumps.  Other chandlery brands that have been expanded this year have been the introduction of several new lines from Wetline:

The Wetline RIB and Tender lock is a new heavy duty security cable and weatherproof padlock. Wetline has also added a full range of marine batteries these include a new 135AH Dual Purpose, Power Start marine starting batteries and deep cycling batteries for accessory and long service use. The Wetline Dockline range has been revamped for 2006 with new colours and improved labelling and is now offered in navy, black and white, and are offered in lengths from 4m up to 15m

With the new TPED (Transport Pressure Equipment Directive) and PED (Pressure Equipment Directive) regulations introduced regarding fire systems, Unipart Marine has added Fireboy Xintex extinguisher systems to its range. The TPED and PED regulations demand that extinguisher canisters have to meet specific pressure regulations that are more stringent than the US standard.  Fireboy units are fully compliant with these regs and contain HFC227EA extinguisher gas – manufactured by DuPont, which is an approved Halon replacement.

Unipart Marine has also just announced an accelerated plan of new product launches over the next two months culminating in its annual trade show to be held a Newbury Racecourse on the 7th and 8th of February 2007.

‘We have some really exciting new aftermarket products at fantastic prices that our customers will be hearing about very shortly that we are certain will continue to make Unipart Marine the number one choice for our customers,’ said Mark Dowland, general manager for Unipart Marine.

The Vetus 2007 catalogue will contain a large number of new items including new classic cowl ventilators with the model names, Boreas, Levanter and Mistral. A new range of lighting, known as the Vetus V-Line, will be added, together with a new electronic compass and a combined electronic compass and GPS unit. These new units are very similar to the Combi-4 instrument range also making an appearance. The four instrument range includes speedometer, log, depth sounder and water temperature.

On the electrical systems side of things there is a new Easy Dock control panel for the operation of bow and stern thrusters for which Vetus has also just introduced a new low noise propeller, as well. This is in addition to a new battery selection switch, gas detector which also detects carbon monoxide. This unit matches a new waste water control panel.