Boats greater than 16m rose 50% between January and April 2015 compared to same period a year ago. ANEN, the Spanish marine industry association, has reported that boat registration in April 2015 was 11% up compared to a year ago.
A total of 1,217 leisure boats were registered across Spain against the 1,057 registered in the same period of 2014, representing an increase of 15.14%.
“This is positive news,” says Carlos Sanlorenzo, ANEN secretary general. “Many operations are completed in April in preparation for the boating season, and the fact that this year registrations have grown during this time means business for companies has also improved compared to last year. We are at a time in which government support to the sector would be more fruitful than ever.”
Registration of boats up to 8m rose by 15.5%, the same level of growth seen in the market in the four months to April 2015, with 1,076 craft on the record.
The segment between 8m and 12m registered an increase of 11.6% (96 registrations) in comparison to the January-April 2014 period (86 registrations).
Boats ranging from 12m-16m (33 registrations) rose by 6.5% compared with the data obtained between January and April last year (31 registrations). Registration of larger boats (over 16m) rose by 50% with 12 units in this period compared to eight in 2014.
Registration of motorboats was up 8.7% in this period, taking 45% of the market share. Sailing boats, however, dropped by 11% in the four months to April 2015 with 84 boats.
Boats for the charter sector rose by 55% in April compared to last year. 97 boats were registered in the January to April period, up 36.6%, compared to 71 recorded in the same period in 2014, and significantly exceeded the 2007 data.