Today's News

NBC Sports Group will cover the 59th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show this December on NBCSN, the first in a three-year agreement.

Chaparral

Chaparral and Robalo boats parent company Marine Products Corp. saw net sales in the first quarter increase 9.1 percent to $77.5 million, the result of selling larger boats than in 2017.

NMMA

New powerboat registrations through February were up 4 percent on a rolling 12-month year-over-year basis, and boats 27 feet and above rose 11.1 percent.

Access

Brunswick Corp.-owned Crestliner boats is launching a new program designed to nurture high school and college-aged anglers’ passion for fishing and guide them toward higher education and careers related to the sport.

Evinrude

Evinrude employees took part in the 23rd Annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup as part of the company’s Earth Day celebration on Saturday.

Other

Hydra-Sports Custom has changed its name to HCB Center Console Yachts to better reflect the company’s five-year strategic plan.

BoatUS

The BoatUS Foundation is asking marinas, boat and fishing clubs and waterfront businesses to become sites to loan life jackets to kids.

Other

Chicago-based Madison Industries has acquired a majority stake in boat stabilization company Seakeeper, based in California, Md.

Mercury/MerCruiser

Mercury Marine broke ground this week on a new facility dedicated solely to noise, vibration and harshness, or NVH, at its Fond du Lac, Wis., campus.

Fuel Issues and Ethanol

President Trump vowed last week that he would make E15 available year-round, a move the boating industry has lobbied against for years.

Boating safety

Two teenagers helped rescue six people, including a 4-year-old and a 3-month-old, from the water in the Florida Keys after their boat capsized.

Features

Palm Beach International Boat Show

The Palm Beach International Boat Show, held March 22-25, posted a 7.5 percent increase in attendance over 2017 — marking its third year of substantial growth.

Marine industry

A slew of major marine industry issues — including some it has confronted for years — are closer than ever to being resolved, making the American Boating Congress, May 9-11 in Washington, D.C., the most crucial to date, organizers say.

Hinckley

The Hinckley Company has long been a leader in technology, and in 2017, it became the first production boatbuilder to roll out an all-electric luxury yacht, Dasher.

Obituaries

Charlie Strang was a marine-propulsion icon. To those who knew and worked with him, he was brilliant. A genius.

Technology

Pulling a 42-foot boat alongside the dock at a crowded restaurant and easing it into a 50-foot opening with a throng of spectators watching would challenge even the most seasoned captains, but James Fleming doesn’t think anything of doing just that with his Scout 420 LXF.

Boating safety

When a transient boat pulls into one of the two Irish Boat Shop locations in Charlevoix and Harbor Springs, Mich., one of the first things that happens is an employee handing the boat owner a piece of paper.