Every year, there are a few events associated with boating that I look forward to.  One of these is the annual dealership meeting held in New Jersey every year by Viking.  It's kind of like the Bisbees, but in the sportfishing yacht dealerships.  HMY, Galati, Blue Water, Staten Island, South Jersey, and your own Crow's Nest Yachts are just some of the names in attendance.  These are some of the best in class dealerships in the world, and most interesting is that we all get along.  The joke from the group is that everyone was doing fine and making money until I got involved in 2007.  I do have the sense of perfect timing...

Steve M (HMY)and Carmin G (Galati) are always helpful with advice.  One word of caution particularly for light drinkers like myself....don't get caught with after dinner drinks with Steve M.  These guys are just great people and great fun.

This year did not disappoint.  In the middle of a most challenging economy, the big V company continues its new product line and innovation.  The ultra successful 74 now has a new big sister, the new 76, which is a slightly scaled down version of the 82.  I've enclosed a few pics of it from the factory line, not the greatest pics but you can get an idea.  Also, the new 42 flybridge as well as the 42 express is in the works.  Both will have Volvo IPS and both will have 3 staterooms and 2 heads.  wow...

The passion from the Healeys and the management team is inspiring.  After 4 decades of boat building, they are more motivated than ever to continue to lead the industry with new products and innovation.  Think about it, the 60, 54, 50, 42, 46, 82, and now the 76 all are new models introduced during the last few years.  It takes guts to put out this many models as tooling, marketing, and tremendous resources are needed to design and produce new products.  There is always a good management team behind a great product, this is a perfect example of that.  Man, do we miss the Badger...

I'll try to load pics in another day or so, my PC keeps crashing.