MAKING WAVES

Australia Day afloat

Just when you thought boating holidays were over, along comes Australia Day. In terms of festivities, nothing comes close to the big day of national celebration on January 26. The 2013 program includes the transformation of Sydney Harbour into a floating festival of new events, as well as country-wide celebrations on various waterways. See australiaday.com.au for information about events in your area and dress your boat for the occasion.

Euro turns heads

A cool retro gentleman's racer from Austria has arrived. The Frauscher 1017GT is, in essence, a 33-foot version of the 717GT that previously won best European power boat, and arrived in Sydney in late 2011. "We're certainly witnessing a trend among Sydney's elite boating community, where ... the 1017GT [is] the [European] boat of choice for power, prestige and performance in the 30-foot-plus range," says the dealer principal at Premier Marine, Steve Hannes. He says Sydney Harbour is about day boating in style and sharing nautical adventures with friends and family. "Our first run on the 1017GT saw us mobbed by the boating community, who were jaw-droppingly excited just to get a glimpse of this magnificent beauty," Hannes says.

Virtess on the way

Ensign Ship Brokers has sold the first of the much-vaunted Bavaria Virtess 420 Flybridge cruisers to a Sydney customer. The delivery of the award-winning boat will coincide with the 2013 Sydney International Boat Show. "The open arrangement, with the cockpit flowing into the saloon and galley, is superb; the headroom amazing; and to offer a three-cabin and two-bathroom [model] is clearly a credit to the outstanding creativity of Italian designer Too Design," importer Tony Ross says.

Brunswick revamps

American boat-building behemoth Brunswick is repositioning itself in the emerging new marine market by putting iconic Hatteras and Cabo sport-fishing boat brands to market, culling the Trophy trailer boat brand altogether and remodelling Bayliner so its focus is on entry-level day boats. The Cruisers range will cease outside Brazil. According to the chief executive of Brunswick Corporation, Dusty McCoy, the market is changing, with less demand for big cruisers and more for just-add-water-type day-boating models. Ironically, the local importer of Hatteras and Cabo has been selling plenty.