Echo Yachts is one of Australia's only yards that can build 100 per cent custom superyachts.

It has been revealed that the new build and refit specialist will be concentrating all of their new product development efforts on advanced-engineered, ecologically-focused superyachts for clients who want to offset their impact on the environment.

"Echo Yachts will always custom design and build to suit each client's requirements, but moving forward will be focusing our efforts on new superyacht designs that utilise technologically advanced and sustainable solutions first and foremost," company owner and CEO Mark Stothard says.

"There are no good reasons for our industry to keep perpetuating outdated technologies and hull designs of the past. Simply doing so because that is what has always been done is no longer the way, and certainly not best-practice."

Echo Yachts operates a superyacht manufacturing facility near Fremantle, providing for most facets of large superyacht refit, maintenance and repair projects.

Specialising in custom new-builds, it has all design and trade services in-house, which means it has the experience and skills to handle all aspects of superyacht refit and maintenance using the same team.

Evidence of the company's emphasis on ecological solutions is Echo Yachts' most recent and multi-award winning 84-metre diesel-electric trimaran superyacht delivery M/Y White Rabbit.

M/Y White Rabbit has been widely recognised for its super-efficient tri hull form and unique propulsion system arrangement that provides world-leading power and fuel efficiency gains, compared with conventional monohull superyachts of similar GT volume, speed and range. The trimaran was cleverly designed to utilise existing technology combined with advanced muliti-hull construction.

"If we are going to promote new products then let's promote the best possible, pull up the anchors and drive our industry forward swiftly," Stothard expounds.

"Our industry like many others has a responsibility to our environment and future generations to embrace the latest available technology and evolve it further along at every opportunity - for the sake of reducing waste of material resources, reducing pollution and reducing spend on running costs so money can be better invested elsewhere."

Their innovative building platform has received a large amount of positive feedback from industry and owners, which has allowed the company to establish clear environmental gains and improve running costs across their newbuild and refit services.

"We can pull out most ships that come down here," Chris Blackwell, sales and marketing manager at Echo Yachts, says."We also have an extensive hardstand area, with one 80-metre and one 103-metre purpose built ship-building hall on the waterfront.

The Australian 16ft Skiff Association is expecting a fleet of fifty 16ft Skiffs and fifteen 13ft Skiffs to compete from 4-11 January 2020 in Port Stephens. The event will have nine races with two drops, up from a 7-race series with one drop as in previous years.

Talk of NSW entrants dominating the Championships has the Queensland contingent relishing the prospect of taking the underdog status.

Fresh from winning the recent Queensland State Championships aboard Fire Stopping, the crew of Trevor Koreman, Frazer Smith and Daniel Jack will be formidable.

Rod Carter, who steers Southern Beaches Rugby (SBR), is eyeing another top-5 finish after a consistent performance in the States Titles.

Personal watercraft, including Jet Skis, WaveRunners and Sea-Doos, continue to exceed all other types of power craft in sales figures across Australia, the Boating Industry Association (BIA) says.

That trend in popularity looks set to continue this summer. "National sales of PWC last year totalled 6800, this is up from 4630 in 2009 and there are now more than 76,000 across Australia," BIA president Darren Vaux says.

"The boating industry supports safe, responsible and enjoyable boating, and the latest developments in personal watercraft can deliver all of these, while technology continues to deliver improved environmental outcomes."