Lewmar’s popular Flush Hatch – originally designed for mounting in molded deck recesses on sailboats – has been expanded in 2007 to include a Round Flush Hatch for powerboaters. The attachment of the acrylic on top of the frame rather than underneath enables this “no-frame” look to be achieved. The acrylic overhangs the frame and creates an uninterrupted meeting of the hatch lid with any deck construction material.

Lewmar’s new, fully comprehensive, mainline catalogue recently made its debut at the Genoa and Annapolis Boat Show.

With 240 pages detailing Lewmar’s entire product range, including technical specifications, the spiral bound 08/09 Lewmar catalogue has been created as a useful working reference book for owners, designers and dealers.

Gregory J. Smith has been named chief operating officer of Lewmar USA, our U.S. subsidiary, and president of Navtec Corporation, Inc., Lewmar’s marine rigging division.

Smith will be based in Guilford, Conn. USA, the main office for both Lewmar USA and Navtec. He is the former director of operations for General Electric Aviation’s Times Microwaves Systems in Wallingford, Conn. Prior to that he had his own manufacturing business and was general manager of the Windsor (Conn.) division of Barnes Group, Inc., an aerospace component manufacturer.

Congratulations are in order for Jay Stockmann who has been promoted to executive vice president of Lewmar Marine USA. He was formerly vice president of sales and marketing.

In his new position, Stockmann, who joined Lewmar in 2002, will be responsible for all OEM and Aftermarket sales and marketing of the Lewmar brand. This will be an expanded role that also focuses on leveraging opportunities with Navtec.

A lot, especially when it promises to better reflect the true nature of the company’s business to the financial market. In case you haven’t heard, Clyde Marine plc held an Extraordinary General Meeting on Aug. 22 and voted to approve changing the company name to Lewmar Marine plc. Lewmar Marine plc is the holding company of Lewmar and Navtec whose strength is centered on global brand leadership, product development and integrated relationships with customers and retail sectors.

Carl Crafoord, managing director of Lewmar Australasia Pty Ltd., Sydney, announced two new appointments recently:

Matt Von Bibra Named Australasian OEM Sales Manager (Left) – Matt Von Bibra has been appointed Australasian OEM Sales Manager.

Our New Man in China and Hong Kong – Alan Lan has been appointed China and Hong Kong Sales Manager.

For an unprecedented second year, Lewmar’s Polish distributor Aura S.C., was named Lewmar Distributor of the Year at the company’s annual distributor conference held in Havant, UK, last month.

Lewmar currently has 54 distributors worldwide, including some of the biggest names in the international marine industry, and Aura has out performed them all again this year. Aura was appointed a Lewmar distributor in 2003. It was named Lewmar Distributor of the Year 2004/5, and this year for an unprecedented second time, it also walked away with the accolade.

Lewmar staff recently enjoyed a day sailing with the London Sailing Project (LSP)/ Rona Trust. Lewmar is supplying LSP's new boat with hatches and portlights.

The group sailed on the Donald Searle. This boat was built in 1979 and has been sailed hard and well maintained all its life. It has some original Lewmar equipment and some items that have been replaced over the years, allowing different generations of product to be compared.

Thomas Coville's radical new maxi-trimaran, Sodeb'O arrived in France last month after her maiden voyage from Australia. Built at BoatSpeed near Sydney, the 32-metre (105-ft.) Nigel Irens-Benoit Cabaret designed Sodeb'O has been developed to take long distance solo records in her stride.

With a beam of 54-ft., the boat looks set to be a rocket ship. All primary sail controls are led aft and by working closely with Benoit’s technical team all winches drive from a single pedestal using a custom overdrive gearbox. The drive train solution gives increased power to the primaries, traveller, slave and halyard winches which can all be operated from the safety of the specially constructed cockpit.

Almost 20 years after the Delta anchor was first introduced, testimonials still pour into Lewmar offices in Guilford, Conn., and Havant in the UK.

One powerboater on Lake Michigan said his Delta was “un-lucky enough” to spear a 24-oz. can of Schlitz malt liquor that blunted the point like the nose of a hammerhead shark. Once the can was removed, he reported, “I was so surprised how fast it set, I almost fell overboard.”