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Displaying items by tag: mortgage

#marinefinance – In a Spring–time boost for the Irish marine industry, boat finance is being made available for the first time in over five years through niche Dublin finance house First Finance and Leasing Ltd (FFL).

It's the first time since the crash that a credit line is available and it is being made against a backdrop of little interest from any of the mainstream banks who have shown no appetite to re-enter the marine mortgage market despite some major improvements in the boat buying scene.

As the economic tide slowly turns back in Ireland's favour, main Irish boat dealers such as MGM Boats and BJ Marine on the east coast and Crosshaven Boatyard on the south coast are reporting significant interest in both new and second hand craft from Irish buyers based at home and abroad.

Arranged through well know Irish boat registration agent Bronwyn O'Donnell, the new loans may not be at the 80 or 90% levels on offer several years ago but they do run to as much as 60%, she told Afloat.ie

O'Donnell, a boat registration expert, who is working with banks to source new opportunities, stresses the FFL offer is a 'genuine marine mortgage' with no other security sought other than the boat itself.

In February, at least three new boat deals are reported to have gone through the FFL marine book and there are more in the pipeline this month too, according to O'Donnell. It's a major step forward for the industry after the departure of Bank of Scotland Ireland and Lombard, the previous Irish marine finance players.

For more details on the new service contact Bronwyn O'Donnell of Boat Registration Services Ltd on 087 811 0962

Published in Boat Sales

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)