The ‘Big Apple’ is a long way from Coomera but Australian boating industry icon Bill Barry-Cotter, and his team at Maritimo, are about to make a big splash on the American northeast coast with the appointment of Staten Island Yacht Sales as the Maritimo dealer for that region.

Staten Island Yacht Sales was established in 1964 and its founders Phillip Bongiorno and his son Frank are a powerhouse in the new and used yacht  sector in that part of the USA.

Maritimo Sales and Marketing Manager Greg Haines said the appointment of the Staten Island based dealership continues the worldwide progression that Maritimo has embarked upon which is greatly expanding its dealership network.

We made a strategic decision some time back to really increase our dealer network and by so doing dramatically increase the awareness of our brand and we are well advanced on that front,” he said.

“We have appointed dealers on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Venezuela and in the Great Lakes region.  We are also looking at Cuba as an emerging market.

“We have the extensive dealer network that forms part of the Galati Yacht Sales operation based around the Gulf of Mexico from Naples to Galveston Texas. “The Staten Island dealership has three outlets and is very well established in that part of the world.”

Founder Frank Bongiorno said

“After fifty plus years in business we have seen our fair share of ups and downs. We have learned from our experiences and applied that hard earned knowledge to our business to make us stronger, more resilient and even more customer focussed. At SI Yachts we focus on the things that we know we can control and adapt to the competitive landscape. Creating satisfied customers is the number one priority each and every day.”

Staten Island Yachts has three on water locations, including two primary full- service Marine Certified New York locations in Staten Island and Freeport and a third in Montauk that specifically caters for the sports fish boating enthusiast.

The dealership has won numerous awards and was named the Dealer of The Year in 2002 by “Boat and Motor Dealer Magazine”. Staten Island Yachts has also been placed in the top thirty percent in the prestigious “Top 100 Dealers” listing three years in succession.

Mr Haines said the Staten Island team would help Maritimo push even further into the USA market.

With our fully enclosed, climate controlled flybridge motoryachts we have an advantage over our competitors over there,” he said. “Having one of our flybridge boats greatly increases the length of the boating season for boaties on the northeast coast where they experience severe winters.’

Mr Haines says Maritimo is careful in its dealer selection and would only partner with operations that were proven, had a proud corporate history and were totally customer focussed.

We know we have the product right and what we need to ensure is that the people representing our brand in those distant markets share the same ideals and principles that we do,” he said.

“We need to ensure that people representing us are totally focussed on the customer and delivering exemplary customer service.”

“Frank and the Staten Island Yacht Sales team will be a great fit with us.”