Plymouth-based Aquamare is contracted to manage the sales, servicing and after-sales for the expanding Kawasaki Jet-Skis® personal watercraft (PWC) range

With its latest signing, Boats.co.uk, one of the UK’s biggest boat dealerships, has now established a comprehensive Kawasaki dealer network of experienced and expert partners, offering coverage across the UK.

James Barke, Managing Director of Boats.co.uk, said: “We are delighted to join forces with Aquamare and look forward to working with them. We needed a reliable and strong partner in the south west and Aquamare came out on top. The company has an abundance of skilled staff and good locations, ensuring improved sales service and extra support for Kawasaki Jet-Skis users and customers in the south west.”

Tom Pringle, Sales Manager for Kawasaki Watercraft UK, added: “We now have a country-wide network of Kawasaki dealers in place, just at the right time as strong growth continues for the business. Kawasaki is definitely back in the game, delivering about 100 units in 2022. There are exciting developments on the horizon, with the new 160LX launching this month [May 2023] and more new models coming in 2024.”

Founded 12 years ago, Aquamare Marine provides sales and services to the marine industry, with offices in the UK, France, USA and Australia. The company provides parts for a range of clients, from individuals to luxury yacht manufacturers, and sends engineers all over the world to service, repair, provide maintenance and build boats. With the capability to provide support and service for all its products, Aquamare is a chosen supplier for brands including Opacmare, Intellian, Planus, JL Audio and Seakeeper and a service provider for the likes of Princess, Sunseeker and Fairline.

Alan Johnson, Managing Director of Aquamare (UK), is currently overseeing the opening of an additional UK office to create dedicated business units for sales and operations as the team expands. He said: “The Kawasaki status is a positive move for Aquamare as it is another string to our supplier bow, another product that we can offer to our clients, and another area we can grow with. These products align fully with the products and services we already provide and to the clientele we work with, so the partnership makes perfect sense. We are looking forward to introducing this prestigious brand to our clients.”

A family-owned business spanning over fifty years, Boats.co.uk sells on average 600 boats annually ranging from 14ft speed boats to 85ft motor yachts. As well as owning the Essex Marina on the River Crouch, in 2020, it became Kawasaki’s exclusive distributor in the UK for its extensive fleet and trades as Kawasaki Watercraft UK.

Consisting of personal watercraft, encompassing multi-seat and ‘stand-up’ Jet-Skis® equipped with a range of supercharged or normally aspirated four-cylinder, the fleet also features four-stroke Kawasaki marine engines, offering power outputs of between 150-300ps.

Kawasaki’s 2023 range of personal watercraft includes the solo ‘stand-up’ SX-R, priced from £11,369; three variants of the STX160 three-seater model, priced from £12,439; and a variety of the highest-specification, triple seat Ultra 310 Jet-Skis®, priced from £20,099. All prices include VAT at 20%.

As Sales Manager of Kawasaki Watercraft, I am thrilled to announce a major milestone in the Personal Watercraft (PWC) industry.

Today we are celebrating 50 years of innovation and ground-breaking performance with Kawasaki as they mark 50 years of the Jet Ski. In this article, Tom takes a brief look back at the history and development of Kawasaki.

Kawasaki introduced the first production stand-up Jet Ski way back in 1973.

The term Jet Ski is often used to describe any personal watercraft in the same way we often use 'Hoover' to describe any vacuum cleaner, but Jet Ski is a registered trademarked name highlighting the importance of this craft in its’ marketplace.

Today, Kawasaki is a powerful household name both in-terms of racing and recreational use, renown for exceptional products in the leisure market and paving the way for the past five decades of progress in advanced PWC. 

Throughout the years, Kawasaki has established a basis for PWC’s, by developing and progressing their water-cooled engine packages to achieve propulsion through an impeller inboard of the machine, acting as a high-pressure pump as it forces water out rearward of the Jet Ski. This was seen throughout the late 1970’s, with the progression from the original mass production stand-up solo JS400 all the way through to the JS550 and 300 series in the 80’s.

By this time Kawasaki had taken another unprecedented leap forward and introduced their first two-person craft, appealing to an ever-expanding audience. The introduction of adjustable trim controls, which allowed the change of altitude of the Jet Ski to become similar to a high spec speed boat, propelled – or impelled (we see what you did there Tom) – Kawasaki forward in the industry.

Kawasaki did not fall short of revolutionary progressions and variations in the 90’s, introducing joystick steering, two and three-person seated Skis and the huge increase in engine power capacity. Not only that, but the first-four stroke Jet Ski was introduced to the world, entering the 2000’s with all new multi-seat crafts.

From outlandish concepts and outside the box thinking, Kawasaki has been at the forefront of water-craft technology and as of 2023 are continuing to show us their extraordinary developmental breakthroughs.

We are incredibly pleased to support Kawasaki and look forward to what they have to bring to the table for the next half a century!

Tom Pringle

Kawasaki Watercraft Sales Manager

Backed by strong growth in market share in the last two years, Kawasaki Watercraft UK has appointed Kingsbury Jet Bike as the latest main dealer to join its expanding network of UK-wide partners.

Sutton Coldfield-based Kingsbury Jet Bike, site of the largest recreational jet ski lake in the country, is contracted for the sale, servicing and after-sales support for the Kawasaki Jet-Skis® personal watercraft range (PWC), adding extra support for Kawasaki users and customers in the Midlands region.

Kawasaki Watercraft UK, trading as Boats.co.uk one of the UK’s biggest boat dealerships, is reporting positive sales growth, and a rapid increase in market share from a standing start in 2020 to approximately 11 per cent currently. It continues to grow the dealer network, with another imminent appointment in discussion.

Offering experience and expertise, Kingsbury Jet Bike was selected as the seventh dealer due to its outstanding facilities, renowned lake and its popularity as a practice venue for many pro riders.

James Barke, Managing Director of Boats.co.uk, said: “We were looking for a dealer for the Midlands and Kingsbury Jet Bike is ideal. It offers a great venue, alongside a friendly, helpful team who can provide expert advice. We look forward to working with them to enable more people to enjoy the Kawasaki range. It is a positive end to a good sales year in 2022. We are also pleased to confirm we will be showing the machines at the BoatLife Show at the NEC, Birmingham, in February.”

Run by Tony Pullen and Kerry Sidaway since 2016, Kingsbury Jet Bike provides a 42-acre jet ski lake with separate areas for towing and freestyle and a main lake large enough for the fastest skis, catering for a varied range of visitors. A fully-accredited PWC RYA Training Centre, the venue has hosted several rounds of the British Jetsport Jet Skiing Championship in the past eight years. Additional amenities include a Lakeside Café, shop stocking wetsuits, drysuits, boots, gloves, buoyancy jackets, oil, inflatable toys and more, plus a launch vehicle for the skis.

Tony Pullen, of Kingsbury Jet Bike, added: “Kingsbury Jet Bike offers a safe, family environment for all jet ski needs. The addition of Kawasaki Jet Skis will add a new dimension to The Lake, offering people the opportunity to enjoy the craft in a unique environment backed up with the full dealer facilities on hand for all their servicing and maintenance needs.”

A family-owned business spanning over fifty years, Boats.co.uk sells on average 600 boats annually ranging from 14ft speed boats to 85ft motor yachts. As well as owning the Essex Marina on the River Crouch, in 2020, it became Kawasaki’s exclusive distributor in the UK - for its extensive fleet and trades as Kawasaki Watercraft UK.

Consisting of personal watercraft, encompassing multi-seat and ‘stand-up’ Jet-Skis® equipped with a range of supercharged or normally aspirated four-cylinder, the fleet also features four-stroke Kawasaki marine engines, offering power outputs of between 150-300ps.  

Kawasaki’s 2022 range of personal watercraft includes the solo ‘stand-up’ SX-R, priced from £11,369; three variants of the STX160 three-seater model, priced from £12,439; and a variety of the highest-specification, triple seat Ultra 310 Jet-Skis®, priced from £20,099. All prices include VAT at 20%.

View the Kawasaki Jet-Skis range at the Birmingham NEC at the BoatLife show on 16th to 19th February 2023.

For more information on Kawasaki Jet-Skis®, see www.kawasakiwatercraft.co.uk.

Ends

Contacts:

Tom Pringle

boats.co.uk

E: tom@boats.co.uk 

T: +44 (0)1702 258 885

www.boats.co.uk

Brand new or used, motorboat or sailing yacht, there is no doubt about the increase in demand for all kinds of boats throughout the British Isles. As a result of this surging demand, there is a shortage of stock and in the last few months a possible increase in the value of your boat. How long this will continue - we do not know - there is a lot about the boat market we could not have predicted! So this could mean that yes, now maybe the time to sell your boat - well if you want to take this opportunity for the best return, at least.

James, MD at boats.co.uk goes on to answer some further questions about the boat market.
 
SO WHY IS THE DEMAND FOR BOATS SO HIGH?
There are many reasons - but this is what we think: While the nation is clearly done with talking about the virus  - uncertainty surrounding foreign travel remains and holidaying in countries with different variants is still considered risky by some. Families all over the UK are flocking to seaside resorts, coastal towns and glamping sites - plumping for some good old fashioned, home grown fun.

When you put a boat in the mix of places to stay and fun to be had  - the staycation seems even more attractive.

The welcome turn for the best in the weather has bought people bursting outdoors to enjoy the sun and the clement temperatures - trying out paddle boarding and kayaking - getting the jet skis out - the obvious next step is "we're going to need a bigger boat" And perhaps because despite the economic crisis we were all prepared for, some people have made savings they weren't expecting -  what better way to spend the holiday budget than going all out on a treat and splashing out on your very own boat.


ARE THERE WAITING LISTS FOR BOATS? HOW LONG ARE THEY?
Because supply is so short and demand is so high, like many of us in our industry, we have a waiting list for brand new boats. The manufacturers and factories have suffered some extraordinary supply chain issues over the last year, plus they have had periods of time where they have been closed altogether. They simply have been unable to get the boats built at the rate they are selling them. Orders are in, but it's a waiting game - some of our customers have opted to upgrade as they planned, but have settled on a better but used boat, just so they can get out on the water quicker this season.


WHAT IS LIKELY TO EFFECT THE VALUE OF MY BOAT AND WHETHER IT HAS GONE UP?
Lots of boats are fetching more than customers paid for them if you bought them pre Covid. I would say that if you bought a motorboat in the period 2016 to Feb 2019 then you will most likely get your money back or sell for a profit. The UK's main brands of Princess, Sunseeker and Fairline are flying and certain models like the Princess V40 are fetching 'overs' for the right specification and condition. If you want to know- then click the valuation button and we will give you an accurate valuation. It may make your day !
 

WILL THE MARKET CONTINUE TO IMPROVE AND IF SO WOULD IT BE BETTER TO WAIT TO SELL?
It's a tough one to call. We do seem to be experiencing an upswing during this period of feel good and optimism as lockdown lifts and the sun comes out - it is sailing season after all -  we're unsure if this is an isolated upsurge and that as we come further out of lockdown people will have more to do, more places to visit, and more to spend their money on - if this is the case it maybe that we will see prices and the value of boats stabilise as the level of demand and supply returns to nearly normal levels.


GET A BOAT VALUATION TODAY

Its gone crazy again! We ended 2020 on a high with a flurry of sales of some huge boats (Princess F70, S65, P68's etc). January was a very slow month with no-shows and poor weather together with the lockdown. However, from early February onwards sales have slowly built week-on-week with customers determined to get a quality boat in time for family holidays around the UK this summer. We are selling everything from used £5k Kawasaki Jet Ski's (we are the UK Distributor now) to £5.5m New Princess Yachts! (and everything in-between).

To deal with this high demand, we have bought every spare boat from all of our manufacturers for 2021. These are delivered weekly in a trickle all year due to their continued issues with Covid and Brexit parts delays. We have also bought (pretty much) every used boat that we have been offered and for this reason we have a good supply of quality new and used boats ready for the 2020 season. However, we do expect to have low stock by June, so if you are looking for a boat for this season - time is of the essence!

We are also hearing reports from numerous dealers that they will soon be out of stock. They have implemented an asking price only policy and I have spoken to 2 dealers (who shall remain anonymous) who are even interviewing potential buyers to see if they 'want' to sell the boat to the customer at the 'asking price'. This is all very unusual, but it makes for a fast moving and exciting market for both buyers and sellers. If you want the best advice - then please feel free to talk to us at anytime but it is a rapid market, so strap in!

Lastly, I wanted to mention our new YouTube videos. We have been making videos for years and in fact our boat berthing video from 8 years ago now has over 300k views. However, we are now committed to making 2 videos per week. They mainly focus on boats as they arrive with us. Due to the quick turn around time, we really struggled to make the videos perfect, so we decided to just make the videos with warts and all and get them live ASAP. We make no apologies for our poor, unpolished presentation and quick fire editing, but we can promise you one thing: The boats are fantastic. And that's all you really want isn't it?

P.S. This blog is well read! In fact Radio 4's Shari Vahl read the blog when researching the boat industry and got in touch for an interview only last week, listen here. 

Have a great season!

Regards

JB

Before I wrote this today - I looked back at what I wrote on my last blog at the end of March when were in the last lockdown. All I can say is- wow! I would never have guessed what actually happened to the boat industry this year.

We got back to work in a limited capacity in April and everything was still very quiet. We completed (with difficulty) on the boats that we had agreed to buy (and sell) and kept ourselves busy getting all our stock prepared and the website prepared for what we hoped would be a trickle of sales throughout the Spring and Summer. Fortunately, we had invested heavily in stock over the winter (like we normally do) and so all 3 of our sales yards were full of beautiful boats ranging from £5,000 to c£3m.

It wasn’t until early May- that the phone really started ringing and then the email enquiries just went mad. What we hadn't really thought about was actually quite simple with hindsight. As the UK population had been told not to (or did not want to) travel abroad- they decided en masse to go boating! Boats under £250,000 were the fastest sellers and we had some embarrassing situations occurring- which we are not used too! One evening we uploaded the pictures of a Monterey 262 Cruiser for about £35k to our website. As we opened up the following morning- there were 3 different families that had travelled to come and buy it! This was new to us- so we humbly asked if anyone wanted to start by offering the asking price- which one customer duly did and that was that- boat sold for asking price within a few minutes of opening. This situation repeated itself a few times as the season progressed and we actually resold some boats that customers wanted to part exchange for more this year than we had sold them for last year. It’s been that busy.

It's not all been smiles though. As you can imagine - lots of charters had to be moved to 2021 as customers could not get to the Med easily. A surprising number of determined customers managed to enjoy their charters by making it their mission to get to Spain and as a result the season was not a write off and these customers determination paid off with lovely quiet restaurants and beaches in Spain- even if they had to quarantine on their return. It’s also fair to say our Cala d’Or office has had a bumpy and quiet season although it has picked up markedly this Autumn. We do expect our Cala d’Or office to be busy again next year as we expect UK Quarantine rules to relax in time for Spring 2021. We have also just launched our latest charter boat- a beautiful, big Princess 88! This boat is huge with a jacuzzi on the flybridge, fold out balconies and the owner’s cabin even has a bath :-) The 88 named 'J4' (after our late mother Jane and the 4 brothers) joins our Princess 72 'B4' and our very famous Oyster 825 'Champagne Hippy' and all 3 boats will be chartering the Med from April 21 until October 21. If you want the ultimate luxury holiday- I personally promise you that this is the best holiday in the world! Imagine waking up each morning in a different bay on your own private yacht with our accommodating and discreet staff- it really does not get better than this. Click www.boats.co.uk/charters 
Lastly as we entered show season we had the pleasure of preparing and turning up for the Southampton show to have it cancelled the night before. Doh! not good. However, sales continued strongly through September and October went mad again with 35 boats sold. 4 of these were for boats over £1.5m - so a great end to the season. As always if you are in the market for a new or used boat or just want to sell yours- then we are here to give you all the advice you need. What we have to tell you might surprise you...in a good way.

Well, like all of you, we are struggling through this unprecedented predicament from day to day, but, there is lots we can still do.

We are using this time to catch up with all the boat listings that we did not get round to uploading before the slow down - so keep you eyes peeled on boats.co.uk for the latest arrivals.

As you can imagine, boat sales have basically stopped. However, enquiries are still good and as soon as the lockdown finishes we hope to be able to resume normal business.

Our engineers are driving in alone, working on projects with social distancing in place and actually still doing a good job of getting things done, so that customers can enjoy their boats as soon as the weather and situation improves.

Our marina is on lockdown, so only essential maintenance and checks are ongoing at the moment. Although we are open to Essex Police (for fuel for their boats) and fisherman so they can keep the fresh fish in the shops.

Our Oyster 825 is still in the Caribbean being Spring cleaned while we wait for flights to resume. We have had to cancel and postpone charters but we are looking forward to her sailing to the Med for the summer and hopefully in time for the restrictions to be lifted.

Lastly, we think it is so important to remember that this crisis will soon pass, and if its taught us anything, its that life is for living, today, don’t put off till tomorrow - we remain sanguine and hope we can all look forward to enjoying our boats (and charters) in the not too distant future.

Keep safe!

We hope you have seen our competition and entered, of course, if you have seen the adverts - it's a no-brainer.

Not entered? maybe you have missed our newsletter and social posts?

And there in itself is the very point of the competition!

We would love more of you to read our newsletter. We typically send it out as something to read over breakfast on Saturday mornings. Our social channels are there to keep in touch and dip in and out of when you are feeling social. We try to bring a little sunshine when we can - with updates on our boating news, amusing anecdotes from the yard, perhaps what's happening in Cala d'Or and occasionally you'll find a golden egg you won't want to miss. Like a free weekend with 7 of your friends or family on our stunning Oyster 825 Champagne Hippy.

Follow us at:

After months of fine tuning and arduously attending to our beautiful Oyster she was finally ready to face her maiden voyage as Champagne Hippy.

And what a voyage it was  - a team from Boats.co.uk put her to the test to reach The Canaries in time to take place in the illustrious Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC).

Our transatlantic team including Olympic Yachting Champion, Alex Ali met us at the start of the race - We were cutting it fine but we made it, and managed to join the challenge as the last boat to leave.

It was tense, but determined to make up for lost time, we powered on south, hoping to catch promised trade winds and, eventually, we made headway, gained some speed and our 4 hour on, 4 hour off team shifts, peeled off the competition one by one.

Here are some of the journal extracts from the voyage:

26 November 2019 22:16

"The wind continues to be very gentle, this makes it really pleasant to be on the boat, but we are not moving very fast. As one of the larger boats this affects us more than the lighter boats.

From a racing perspective, we have gambled to go straight down, then across which is longer, but the plan was to catch the trade winds. We are not there yet, but the trade winds are not blowing yet. Most boats opted to sail more diagonally south-west. Our plan seems to be working as we do have more wind than the others. We are currently sailing about 4 knots, but many are doing only 2.

Saying that we have just have a race update and lots of boats have started to using their engines rather than staying still. They are allowed to do this, but have to declare it at the end and are given a penalty.

We need to really be doing 10 knots to get to the end when we want. We are judging our progress against the 2 other Oyster 825's. One was crewed by a fanatical team - who are clearly in it to win it, we were in the middle then the other team ISNL. Since last night ISNL have steamed ahead of both of us, when they were in a area of low wind, so we can only assume they are using their engines as well."

27th November 2019 18:25

"Today I spotted yellow fin tuna jumping as they were being hunted by a pack of dolphins which was very cool.

We are pretty alone at sea with only a few boats on the horizon. Weather is about 23 degrees so nice."

4th December 2019 11:44

"This morning we saw our first whales. We think they were sperm whales about 20-30ft

It was pretty exciting to watch them swim along side for about 10 mins. They did not really surface, just sitting below the surface."

"We have just experienced out first squall. During the day, the sun heats the sea to form clouds, at night it gets cold and the system cannot hold the water so you get very localised very intense storms.

The wind went from 10 to 30 and it got very cold then it starts to bucket it down, I am soaked through but it is pretty cool. It lasted about 20 mins. The other things I am not sure I mentioned are the skies are stunning (when it is not hammering it down) - there are so many stars it is hard to see the constellations.

The final thing is the bioluminescent in the sea, as we go past certain alleges in the sea, they respond by flashing luminous green.  It looks like the blitz underwater. Then when a dolphin goes through it it leaves a bright green streak through the water that quickly fades."

It looks like we are going to struggle to keep our position against Albatross, but we have a few more days racing so anything could happen.

Well, we made it to the Caribbean, 15 days at sea, and came in 13th overall and as the first Oyster 825 in the race to finish - we were elated - Champagne Hippy had really pulled through for us.  On the lonely days she was home, in the hairy moments, she held her own and during the calm she gave us the most wonderful experience of a lifetime."

One life tick and back in time for the boats.co.uk Christmas Lunch!!