NEWS UPDATE

03 January 2025

Publishers note

Happy New Year. Our best wishes to you and your families for a prosperous 2025. We hope that this year will bring us all less challenging times than those we experienced recently.

We ended 2024 with the sad news of losing two sailors during the Sydney to Hobart race. Our condolences go out to the families and friends of Roy Quaden and Nick Smith. I have no doubt that the Club and authorities will ensure this tragedy is not in vain, with any lessons learned assisting the sport in the future.

The race continued despite mixed feelings about proceeding, but I would guess that Roy and Nick would have wanted it this way.

The race concluded with LawConnect claiming Line Honours and Celestial V70 winning on Handicap. Congratulations to LawConnect, Celestial V70 and all the other class winners.

A special thank you to Danny Casey for allowing Marine Business News to publish a portfolio of his works. The eNews special we ended 2024 with proved very popular, receiving great readership across the stories. If you missed it, you can view it via this LINK.

Over the last couple of weeks, news has been trickling in. We are pleased to bring you a summary in this edition of our Friday eNews.

Marine Business News is an Australian-owned marine industry news service publishing local and international news. If you have news stories you would like to share, please let us know by contacting our newsroom via our email at NewsRoom@MarineBusinessNews.com.au.

Stay safe on the water,
Domenic Genua - Publisher

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Tragic deaths in Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The two sailors killed in the Sydney to Hobart tragedy have been identified as Roy Quaden, 55, and Nick Smith, 65. NSW Police provided an update on Friday afternoon saying the two sailors died in separate incidents as the fleet of 104 vessels made its way down the NSW south coast.

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A strong crew performance was foundation for Line Honours

A strong team performance by the crew was the foundation for LawConnect’s 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Line Honours, according to their Kiwi sailing master Tony Mutter.He said there was only one change in Christian Beck’s crew from last year’s race.

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Maritimo 2024 In Review

The year 2024 was yet another brilliant one for Maritimo. Whilst there were many reasons to look back and celebrate the achievements of the past the company remained future focussed to capitalise on all aspects of the business – including new boat models, new facilities, new markets and people.

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Freedom Boat Club Announces its 10th Australian Location

Freedom Boat Club has announced the grand opening of its newest location in Brisbane, Australia. Representing the 10th location in Australia, Freedom’s newest location is situated at Rivergate Marina, a premium site providing members with exclusive, direct access to the Brisbane River, one of the city’s most picturesque and iconic waterways.

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Austal Australia awarded contract for two additional Evolved Cape-Class Patrol Boats

Austal has announced that Austal Australia has been awarded a contract extension for the construction of two additional Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats, to be delivered to the Australian Border Force (ABF). The A$137.02 million contract brings the total number of Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats to be constructed by Austal to 12.

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Highfield and Australian Sailing team up in RIB support

Highfield Boats Australia has partnered with Australian Sailing in a sponsorship deal that extends the benefits to all member Clubs across the country. Highfield has supplied a customised Highfield Patrol 600 which will soon join Australian Sailing’s coaching ranks to support their training and competitions.

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Pre-race favourite tough to pick for 16ft Skiff nationals

Just about everyone is saying it’s “anyone’s guess” when it comes to predicting a clear favourite for the 2024-25 The Boat Club Australian 16ft Skiff Championships, set to be sailed at Queensland’s Hervey Bay from January 4-11.