The Boat Princess Podcast

Big boating conversations from the balcony of a French Terrace with Anne Dunbar

Welcome back to The Boat Princess podcast and today I am coming to you from the other side of the world at the ICOMIA Congress in La Rochelle, France.  In this episode I am having the big boating conversations with Anne Dunbar, the Executive Director of IBEX, International Boat Builders Exhibition and Conference, which serves the North American market.  As Covid took over the world, Anne was faced with cancelling live shows and exhibitions and and a workforce crisis. She became instrumental in the road to recovery, leading IBEX, alongside other leadership teams from IFBSO (who have just celebrated 60 years of community and comradery).

Anne shares how even at that level of leadership coming together at the live shows and sharing conversations on stage or ideas in workshops is how they stay connected to the front line and keep the heart beat of the industry going and growing. 

With a love of boats for as long as she can remember, Anne actually completed a degree in communications and filming after school and moved to LA with the dream to make movies, and work behind the scenes in production during the days of the new and emerging MTV era.  Anne recalls facing the barriers of entry and gender issues, getting her first introduction to the marine industry with an invitation to work at the Long Beach Boat Show, working the booth over a 10 day show.  She describes the experience and now provides the advice of taking up opportunities even when you don't feel ready. 'It was so much fun meeting new people, and I just love boats.'

From 'manning' the booth her performance landed her a job selling advertising in the marine industry. 'My job was to go to boat shows and talk to people - it was so aligned.' 

Anne eventually moved back to east coast selling that incredible tech called faxing before transferring her skills to IBEX selling exhibition space in 2001. Anne shares her 'breaking the glass ceiling story' and the secrets when it comes to taking on leadership in a male dominated arena, and is well qualified as you'll hear her humbly explain how she  transformed the experience of Boat Shows around the world.

With Sydney Boat Show coming up soon 1-4 August join me at my networking event on Saturday morning before show opens and meet Annie Wilmot and Sarah Hoffman to incredible young women competing in the America's Cup for Australia in October!

Book on the link below.

https://www.trybooking.com/CTIJG

Enjoy, let me know what you think, please review and I will see you on the water soon. 

www.theboatprincess.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-dunbar-b5b56815/

https://www.ibexshow.com/

 

Collaborating with the Director of the World Sailing Trust, Victoria Low. Reuse and Repurpse.

Today I am debriefing with Victoria Low, from The World Sailing Trust after delivering an amazing 2 hour  workshop on the Carbon Fibre Sector Alliance and Equipment Recycle Club, with endless possibilities for the world of Boating.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation from her role in the Mangeta Protect, fashion and the America's Cup that have the same number of men and women sailing this year. 

You'll hear how Victoria's career has given her the experience and to lead a movement in environmental protection and the close work she undertakes with the Board of Trustees, partners and stakeholders around the world to maximise the Trust's impact.

Victoria has worked in sailing and sports marketing and communication for over 25 years, and has an impressive track record in developing and managing multi-faceted global programmes that have consistently delivered in excess of KPI for an clients in the consumer, corporate and private sectors.

She authored the Women in Sailing Strategic Review for the Trust in 2019 and joined as head of the Trust in 2020.

Enjoy and I will see you on the water soon. 

 

www.theboatprincess.com

 

Hullbot technology is an underwater drone keeping hulls in optimal condition and reducing the environmental impact.

So if you thought I could talk underwater, I've found my match.  Lily and Tom, From Hullbot.com share their amazing story with me in this two-part series.  I found this conversation absolutely fascinating as we take a glimpse of the not so-distant future of the benefits technology has in the marine industry. 

Hullbot is an underwater drone.....yep underwater drone. 

A bit like the creepy crawly for your backyard pool, this robot enables marine vessels to clean early and often, reducing drag and saving fuel.  It's application for the 12 million boats around the world takes out the danger and the physical effort required to clean the hull of a boat - whilst in the water.   

Now if you head back to the episodes where I talk about the importance of maintenance with Jess Gatt from Logistix who provides innovative solutions for protection & prevention of corrosion in the marine environment or Nona Pederson formerly the 26-year-old General Manager of Propspeed and now the co-founder of YESSS marine services, and of course the most recent research, Propel Our Future from ICOMIA, and the interview with Darren Vaux, 

This low-cost hardware, and a platform architecture are core to a technology roadmap of agile robotics that will improve ocean health.  And that is exciting. Just another example of the kind of careers and direction within the boating and marine industry people can explore.  Stay tuned as Episode 2 from Lily and Tom will be out soon. 

www.hullbot.com

www.theboatprincess.com

On the stands of The Miami Boat Show with Suzuki, Yamaha and Mercury Marine

Hey Everyone, I'm coming to you from the Miami Boat Show in this episode. Following on from ICOMIA episode with Darren Vaux and Jeff Wasil, where they share the research and commitment by the marine industry to not only invest in sustainability but the development of products that improve the environmentally outcomes. 

This is four quick catchup interviews with Suzuki, Mercury and Yamaha who share with me the technology and advancements in renewables, drop in fuels and ethanol's that can reduce the carbon footprint for the fleet of 12 million registered vehicles, by 15%.

Suzuki Marine

Brandon Cerka General Manager of Sales and Marketing 
Jason Stimmel  Manager for Suzuki Marine Technical Dept of USA 

Together they share the company vision and objectives of the environment sustainability project Ocean Clean Up, changes in packaging from plastic to paper, and the installation of micro plastic collections device on engines that actually collects micro plastics as you are cruising down the waterway. Further to this Suzuki has partnered with the plastic collections who you can send what plastics are collected to make your own plastic bracelet.  We sum up with all things Electrification and Hydrogen, EcoGen93 Fuel, Renewable and Ethanol Blend. 

Yamaha Marine

Dr Grant Suzuki - USA Chief of Technology shares the launch of the innovative world first hydrogen powered outboard motor options with cleaner technology and future carbon neutral.  Grant shared his story and studies that lead him to the marine industry. 

Brad Massey - Yamaha Right Waters are the four pillars of sustainability. These are key objectives to support policy and regulations that are good for the environment and customers, which translates into involving them in the improvements and innovations that are a part of the solutions such as reef restorations.  

Mercury Marine

Dan Wright - Senior Category Manager of Electrification rattles off the long list of innovative outboard motors that Mercury have introduced and will be releasing onto the market in the future for smaller marine craft. 

As usual you can find out more at www.theboatprincess.com

I am so grateful to be able to bring this Miami 2024 update to you and share with our worldwide audience the bright future that is closer than a Bondi Beach horizon in Summer. 

 

Sitting on the dock of the bay with Jeff Wasil talking all things gaseous emissions, bioassay analysis, life-cycle emissions and alternative fuels

Jeff Wasil is the Director of the National Marine Manufactures Association (NMMA) and I caught up with him at the recent Miami Boat Show.  Not only is he responsible for environment, health, and safety at the NMMA he also leads global marine regulatory development and is a key member of marine industry technical projects.

With over 20 years of experience in emissions compliance, he was the perfect guest to follow ICOMIA President Darren Vaux's podcast where over two episode he shared the findings and learnings that Jeff goes deep and wide about in this episode.

Jeff serves as the Chairman of the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) Marine Engine Committee. He is the Chairman of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) Board of Directors. He has also served as a project leader for NMMA’s marine greenhouse gas emissions task force.

In the last fifteen years this has let him to publish and present many technical papers on marine emissions including particulate matter, gaseous emissions, bioassay analysis, life-cycle emissions and alternative fuels even testifying before the U.S Congressional Committee on Science Space and Technology.

We talk all things ethanol-extended fuels and biofuels such as biobutanol and report Propelling Our Future.

Jeff is an avid lifetime boater and understands and appreciates the joys of recreational boating and in not surprisingly he grew up boating and fishing. What I loved about this conversation was Jeff's unique ability to break-down complex technical issues into easily understood topics and his humbleness in receiving multiple Environmental Awards including The Business Friend of the Environment Award, Green Masters Award, and The Earth Day Sustainability Award.

You can find any one of his 100+ published articles and media including the Washington Examiner, Journal Sentinel, Boat US Magazine, Boating industry, Trade Only, Journal Times, as well as multiple outdoor recreation magazines.

Or here on Linkedin

Thanks again for listening and we are now looking for a few guests for the second half of the year so please reach out to me at www.theboatprincess.com if you would like to share your story. 

See you on the water soon. 

Nicky xx

The Boat Princess 

 

 

Finding a pathway to Decarbonisation for the Recreational Marine Industry with Darren Vaux Part 2

And we are back with Part 2 of my conversation with Darren Vaux, President of ICOMIA where he continues to unpack the research undertaken by Ricardo plc, a leading
global engineering consulting firm, into the pathways to decarbonisation for the recreational marine industry.  This project outlines the objective measures of contributory impacts and sustainability. 

Since 1966, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA) has helped move the boating community forward, advancing cutting-edge innovations and mobilising the industry to create a better boating experience. Our love for boating is fundamentally reliant on a healthy and sustainable marine environment, and we must take care of it to ensure the experiences boating provides can be enjoyed for generations to come. 

A big thankyou goes to ICOMIA for taking part in this podcast series that is all about every nook and cranny of the boating and marine industry with the aim to share and encourage greater participation of our natural environment. 

Acknowledgements are extended to the 

Report Authors
Ricardo: Albert Zenié, Katie Lam, Rachel Jobson, Sam Hinton, Nikos
Vasileiadis, Tim Scarbrough, Sofia Condes, Nick Powell
ICOMIA: Jeff Wasil

Report Contributors
Ricardo: Richard Osborne, Philip Hopwood, John Hughes, Matthew
Keenan, Hassan Malik, Alec Davies, Gael Chouchelamane, Bahareh
Yazdani Damavandi, Richard King, Richard Cornwell, Geoff Pownall,
Nikolas Hill, Rob Parkinson

and of course, Darren Vaux, for showing great leadership to the members of ICOMIA and being the voice of the members who are national recreation marine industry associations as well as business that support the industry, 

See you all on the water soon. 

Nicky, The Boat Princess

Finding a pathway to Decarbonisation for the Recreational Marine Industry with Darren Vaux

This is a Part 1 of this episode, where I sat down with Darren Vaux, the President of ICOMIA, who have commissioned The Pathways to Decarbonisation for the Recreational Marine Industry report, with leading global engineering consulting firm, Ricardo plc,.

The report investigated propulsion technologies across nine common recreational watercrafts to compare the impact of lifetime GHG emissions, financial costs, usability, performance, range and infrastructure implications.

This is a special episode as Darren shares how 'for the first time, we've united the global recreational marine industry around our most comprehensive, peer-reviewed research to explore opportunities that could reduce recreational boats’ carbon emissions, giving us the data we need to begin educating policy makers, our stakeholder community, and boaters on the varied decarbonisation solutions unique to our industry. This new research provides guidance on the focus for the innovations we can begin exploring today to create a better boating experience that reduces our environmental footprint.

You can read the report here.

 I know you are going to find this a very interesting, informative and influential executive summary of the report, so stay in touch as Part 2 is not far away. 

www.theboatprincess.com

Lisa Blair Part 2: Stories of Survival and Adventure in the Southern Waters of the world.

Here it is, Part 2 of the incredibly courageous, committed and kind Lisa Blair interview, a world recording holder and solo sailor whose goal and legacy is made up of millions of micro decisions by inspired individuals. 

Check out episode 1 first to understand where this adventure began, because in this conversation Lisa shares the details of the moments where surviving may not have been the predictable outcome, where strategies of a seasoned sailor did not work and how the pressure of showing up as the version of success required by a woman in this space was salvaged and inspired by the wise words of her mum. 

From getting rolled by a 15 metre wave in a 10 metre boat, Lisa tapped into an unlimited resource of confidence and creativity.  She shares these stories on her blog that you can read here. 

You can follow her on socials. 

Or, you can contribute to the bigger purpose of being the individual that is part of the collective, who take action now.

Coincidently, Lisa is leaving Sydney Harbour this weekend for her next adventure in New Zealand  

A world record breaking individual's decision creates collective positive change for our climate crisis - Lisa Blair

So this is the first half of my interview with Lisa Blair.  Last night I was at the launch of her documentary that shares the reality of sailing solo around the Antarctic - Ice Maiden. 

Having seen Lisa at many boat shows, the opportunity to sit down and dive deep into her story was a podcast episode just waiting to happen.  These show notes cannot do Lisa's incredible journey any justice so you are going to have to listen, because what I can guarantee is PURE INSPIRATION.  

Lisa Blair is an Australian solo sailor who holds multiple world records. She is also a big and deep thinker, an advocate for climate change having put her heart and soul into her campaign, Climate Action Now 

You may have seen her attention-grabbing Post It Note racing yacht that has a collection of Post It Note' messages she has received from thousands of people who shared their individual micro-decisions that collectively create the collaborative and positive changes in caring for our environment.  

She has written a book, Facing Fear, about her first attempt at circumnavigating Antarctica solo on her yacht Climate Action Now.

The experience of being isolated in the ocean, the challenges of success and failure are all captured in this conversation. 

Stay tuned to the second half of this interview that will take you from six metre swells to calm waters and back again.

Looking to sponsor an episode: www.theboatprincess.com

 

 

 

Dynamic Super Yacht Designer Duo Dasha and Claire embed sustainability in products and training

In this episode I'm chatting with the Creative Director, Dasha Moranova who not only set out to revolutionise the superyacht spa experience, with invisible technologies to create an AI-driven wellness project dubbed Senses" but won a sustainability award for the design. 

With a love of travel and new challenges, she has collaborated with other designers and women in the boating industry to create sustainable, efficient changes to protect our oceans and seas. 

Clare Ferandier-sicard has evolved from wanting to solve the problems she would see and hear about from captains, crew and suppliers, including the impact of too much plastic on the environment.  She is the accidental entrepreneur, and now develops sustainable products and processes onboard the Super Yachts.

Clare is making a real and direct impact - reducing the impact - on the environment which aligns with her values and moral compass.  She also told me about her guilt and wanted to provide her staff with solutions so lives by the mantra of 'Not how to do better, but why people need to do people'.

Together they become a force of nature for a sustainable future.

https://www.dashamoranova.com/

https://acrew.com/partners/acrew/