A successful Monaco for our clients and us!

So whilst we were sitting on the plane on the flight to Monaco, we were anticipating what the show would bring in 2011. Having spent a couple of days at PSP Southampton Boat Show it was clear times are still hard and money is tight, would this be reflected in the superyacht sector too? Has all the doom and gloom of previous years passed, and is the Superyacht industry defying what the media is hyping up to be a double dip? Our time in Monaco over the next few days would certainly shed some light on the situation!

Although having visited Monaco for many years, this would be our second year as Box PR.  In 2010 we were here with RMK Marine from Turkey, with their impressive award winning 52m Nazenin V. This year we returned to the show with RMK Marine and a relatively new client to us, Ocean Yacht Systems (OYS). A busy show was planned for both clients and so for us as well, with 20 media meetings, 3 major client meetings, media packs to distribute and an information feed to you our friends and followers..........it was always going to fun.

The team at OYS, based in Christchurch UK, had a new stand design to show off. OYS are designers and manufacturers of rigging, thrusters and hydraulics and launched their new RDE (Rim Driven Electric) thrusters at the show. They engineered a scaled down model where demonstrations were carried out on the stand.  The thruster was ultra quiet so the media and customers had to look out for them as there was little or nothing to be heard!

OYS Stand QS16 Darse Sud

For RMK Marine the main news was all about the 45m Ron Holland designed motoryacht, code named 4500, which will be completed in spring 2012 and is for sale. They were also displaying the concept models launched at Monaco in 2010 and were talking about the recently launched Oyster 100 which was going through sea trials during the show.

RMK Marine Stand QC5

RMK Marine 4500 Ron Holland Design

Although these are our clients exhibiting at the show, we can never forget about the ones not exhibiting, there are always opportunities. It's about thinking outside the box as well as hunting down and piggy backing onto ideas that are already floating around the show.  In particular our clients Livewire Connections were going to be at the show on foot, visiting clients and pursuing new leads. Livewire Connections provide satellite services to a number of Superyachts were at the show as well as working with the management companies exhibiting, so would have a busy couple of days. We caught up with them on Thursday, it's always nice to meet clients in a different environment away from the distractions of the office and what could be better than the beautiful setting in Monaco?! 

Here are some general shots taken around the show, we can't wait to go back next year!

Fidelis at the Show with OYS Rigging & Hydraulics

Walkway to the pontoons, spot Cakewalk in towering in the background

Captains Party hosted by The Superyacht Report Group

From being at Monaco, the general mood around the show was leaning towards the buoyant side, orders were being confirmed, new boat deals were being signed and there was plenty of discussions about future projects. At Box PR we are now following up on the promising journalist meetings at the show, to ensure OYS and RMK Marine get maximum exposure from the investment of being there.

See you soon

Box PR Team

Traka take delivery of their entry into RB12

Traka, intelligent access management company based in Buckinghamshire UK and Longwood Florida, have just taken delivery of their entry in RB12.

Traka, pre launch

Traka, was on display at RIBEX 2011, as part of the promotion for the RB12 race. RB12 will see 50 boats, 50 cars and 50 aircraft visit 10 destinations around Britain from 21st -30th June 2012. Traka is going to be there, are you?

Traka at RIBEX 2011

Traka is a Humber Quinquari hull, 10metres long, she is powered by twin 300hp Evinrude's ETEC outboards and will be able to go up to 60knts.

I was fortunate to be part of the team who would bring Traka back from the Isle of Wight to her new home in Southampton, where she will be based as her crew fine tune the boat (and themselves!) in order to compete in the race.

Below are some images from RIBEX and the trip back across Solent and up Southampton Water.

Traka on display at RIBEX 2011

Contemplating what we have let ourselves in for!

It's rather a long way to the bow

After what was a quick trip across the Solent, Traka was soon lifted out of the water and placed in her new home, ready for her next adventure.......

Out the water & onto dry land, phew!

We hope to have more news soon. In the meantime to see some footage from her maiden voyage please visit www.youtube.com/boxpr and for more information on the Traka RB12 Challenge please visit http://www.trakasport.com/

All in a days work

Sorry it’s been a while since we last wrote something on here, you might think we have had the last couple of months off, in fact far from it.  We have been planning, researching and generally getting ahead of the game with our clients and our own plans for 2011. What a year it’s going to be. 

Today has been an exciting day, we have been out with Sunseeker Charters and our client Marine and Industrial Transmissions (MIT) on High Energy, an 88ft Sunseeker based out of Ocean Village, Southampton.

MIT are the UK distributor for Twin Disc, and they were showing us the latest innovations which have been retro fitted onto High Energy.  These are the Twin Disc Express Joystick System and the Twin Disc EC300 Power Commander.

All who came on board were as impressed as were we, with how smooth High Energy moved about, all those who wanted to have a go, did.

Just to show how simple they are to use and how smoothly and efficient they are they let the box pr team have a go, now if we can do it anyone can.  Manoeuvring in tight spaces was not a problem. The Twin Disc system was so responsive and High Energy handled brilliantly in gusty conditions out in Southampton Water. 

See we can do it even with our eyes shut!

Thanks to the team at Sunseeker Charters and MIT.

Time to reflect on the London Boat Show 2011

After any show, it always takes a little time to get back into the usual daily routine, and then on top of that with everything else going on, keep you all informed with what we have been up to.

So alarm goes off in the early hours of Friday 7th of January the curtains are opened and rather than being faced with the complete white out of snow we had in 2010, this year it was torrential rain, surely 2012 we can have some sunshine for the journey up to the show.......please!

So we battled through the rain and argued with tom (original sat nav name I know) trying to take us through the centre of London (we are coming from Hampshire) and we make it in time for the opening of the show at 10am. Straight to the media office to distribute client press releases, armed with Baltic Lifejackets ones who were launching new products and Ultimate Sails ones were debuting at the show. Plus it's always good a good opportunity to touch base with old friends there and see what everyones been up to.

Baltic Lifejackets

Baltic Lifejackets were exhibiting on stand C58 at the show, and reported a huge amount of interest in their lastest product developments. There was particular interest in the Race 150 and GP 150 both 150 Newtons infalatable lifejackets which offer exceptional performance in a variety of demanding and extreme conditions. For more details on these and the complete product range visit: http://www.baltic.se/.

Ultimate Sails

Ultiamte Sails were exhibiting at the London Boat Show for the first time, it is an exciting time for the company, Paul and Kevin have previously represented brands such as Sobstad and Elvstrom, so London was their time to stand proud under their own name.

They were part of the BMF Showcase and had a very successful time at the show. The question as to whether they will be there next year remains unanswered, however all in all they were very positive about their experience.

Have a nose at their website: http://www.ultimatesails.co.uk/

As well as seeing cleints on stands the one thing about going to any show is there are always familar faces some from 2mins down the road in Hampshire, others from afar afield as Oman, it was great to catch up with you all. 

We were visiting the show with our graphic designer. It was Lauren's first time at London Boat Show (in fact any boat show) so it was all a bit of a shock.  Thank you to Key Yachting for letting us all go onboard the new J/111, it was very impressive.

Thats it for now from us, I know there is plenty going on over the next few months with Box PR and our cleints so we hope to send you an update soon, in the meantime I hope you are all enjoying the start to 2011!

Box pr team