In a recent letter to Sail America Members, Sail America President Bill Goggins discussed the new direction for Sail America and urged members to join the association and get involved.

In letters to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, House and Senate leadership and appropriate House and Senate committees, NMMA provided recommendations on how to help small and medium sized businesses in the marine industry weather the economic storm.

The Sail America General Members Meeting held on Friday, Oct. 10 in Annapolis focused on Sail America’s new direction and how industry members can navigate an economy that’s no longer just “business as usual.” 

The U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis ran Oct. 9-13 against a gloomy backdrop of stock market plunges, tightened credit and a bleak real estate downturn, yet for some exhibitors, sales were better than they expected.

The St. Petersburg Boat Show & Strictly Sail™, the Gulf Coast’s new super show running from Dec. 4-7, features displays and debuts from several of the industry’s most-respected names, including  Hunter Marine, Catalina Yachts, Island Packet, Beneteau, Jeanneau America, to name just a few.

Special deals and discounts on parking, show food and hotels are offered to exhibitors for Strictly Sail Chicago, running from Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2009 at Navy Pier and Strictly Sail Miami, running from Feb. 12-16, 2009 at Bayside’s Miamarina. Twenty percent discounts on food at both shows and free parking at Strictly Sail Chicago are now available to every exhibitor.

Strictly Sail Pacific will return to Oakland’s Jack London Square from Wednesday, April 15 to Sunday, April 19, 2009. Strictly Sail Pacific is the largest sail-only boat show on the West Coast, and is expected to attract up to 15,000 sailing enthusiasts and over 200 exhibitors.

NMMA’s recent decision to make changes to Grow Boating for 2009 were in the best interests of the industry, said Sail America Board Member Sally Helme.

What do grandparents want? Time with their grandkids. With that in mind, a new company featuring flotilla style sailing trips for grandparents and grand kids has been started. Grands Adventure is designed to offer grandparents an easy way to take their grand children sailing on a safe and exciting island vacation.

Mad Mariner, the online daily boating magazine and web-based resource for boaters, is offering as a professional courtesy, free one-year subscriptions to members of Sail America. You’ll receive a new feature story every day, including marine news, blogs, forums, boat reviews, video podcasts and more. To obtain your subscription, just click on this link: http://www.madmariner.com/sail_america.

There is strength in numbers, and as part of Sail America and NMMA, which collectively represent over 2,000 members, you have access to cost-saving affinity programs that would not be available to you individually. Please see the enclosed information and registration forms to get involved and start saving today!

Bill Goggins, of Harken Yacht Equipment, was awarded the SAIL Industry Leadership Award on October 10, 2008, during a ceremony at the Annapolis Sailboat Show. “Tough times bring out team players,” said publisher Josh Adams. “SAIL is honored to recognize Bill Goggins, an individual whose personal commitment to our industry has gone above and beyond.”

For the past quarter-century, the sailboat industry has recognized the best in sailboat building through Sailing World and Cruising World’s annual Boat of the Year awards. At the recent United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, the ‘09 BOTY awards took center stage as the two magazines announced the latest nominees.