Prestige recognised

The 2021 Club Marine Marina of the Year Awards was a celebration of the prestige and capability of Australia’s marinas.

28 May 2021

Hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia earlier this week, the 2021 Club Marine Marina of the Year Awards was a rousing success and celebration for all things marina.

A sold-out crowd of more than 120 of the industry’s most prominent members were in attendance, and even more tuned in via satellite from Western Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, Cairns and Airlie Beach. All eagerly waiting to learn which of the 18 finalists would take the nine awards.

Taking the Marina of the Year Award for over 140 berths was Birkenhead Point Marina. Marine manager Phil McGowen echoed a common motif within this year’s speeches when he accepted the award: that success is the result of teams, not individuals.

“This is not about the marina; it can’t win it. It is about the people who set this facility apart,” he said. “It is the best marina in the world. We set the benchmark for platinum marinas.”

Brisbane Water-based marina, Koolewong Marina, was named the Marina of the Year under 140 berths, with owner Les Binkin recognising his journey with business partner Symantha Suprain.

Koolewong Marina. (Credit: Marina Industries Association.)

Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay. (Credit: Koolewong Industries Association.)

Both Binkin and Suprain purchased Marmong Point 16 years earlier, building Koolewong Marina to what it is from a greenfield site. Binkin would later give credit to the team for running the marina and caring for his customers before announcing that Toby and Ned O’Neill, owners of the Point Piper and Rose Bay Marinas, had purchased the Central Coast site.

One of the most notable wins of the night went to the Club of the Year winner Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay (RMYC BB). In accepting the award, Commodore Chris Lee acknowledged that the RMYC BB had transformed in recent years to become what it is today: a vibrant, world-class boating lifestyle destination that caters to all boaters’ needs.

Accepting the award, Lee would go on to give the credit to CEO Jayson McDonald, who, in true style, passed his congratulations to the RMYC BB team.

Andrew Fenwick of Fenwicks Marina in Brooklyn, NSW, dedicated his Best Boatyard under 20 Boats to his recently passed father. Having developed the site with his father from a greenfield site in the 1970s, Fenwick proudly shared the stage with his son Tim who joined the business seven years ago.

Birkenhead Point Marina. (Credit: Marina Industries Association.)

Rivergate Marina and Shipyard. (Credit: Marina Industries Association.)

Balmain’s Sydney Harbour Boat Storage, located at White Bay 6 Marine, took out the Best Dry Stack Storage Facility award in recognition of its customer service initiatives, booking infrastructure and focus towards work health safety.

“I would recommend to any marina to go through the Awards submission process as it is a great opportunity to really scrutinise your business performance against a criteria and reflect on what is great about it and what can be improved. We really enjoyed it,” said General Manager Lorraine Yates.

The coveted Marina World International Marina of the Year Award was a difficult decision for the judges. Both finalists, Singapore’s One15 Marina Sentosa Cove and Auckland’s Westhaven Marina in Auckland were both exceptional but remarkedly different entries.

Eventually, One15 Marina Sentosa Cove Singapore was announced as the winner. The delighted Marina Director James Roy was joined by Jonathan Sit, Acting General Manager, to accept the award, masked up and via Zoom.

In recognition of successive wins in their categories, three of Queensland’s finest marine facilities Coral Sea Marina, Rivergate Marina & Shipyard, and Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina, were inducted into the Hall of Fame for successive wins.