FREEPORT, Grand Bahama — The Running Mon Marina and Resort in Grand Bahama has been acquired by Xquisite Yachts, an award-winning yacht manufacturing company that plans to invest in the region of $3m to $5m to undertake major upgrades at the property, The Tribune reported on Friday, September 2, in an article written by Denise Maycock.
The new investors will also establish an after-sales-service centre at the marina property for their high-net-worth clients.
The project is expected to be completed over the next two to three years. About 30 to 40 new full-time jobs will be created for Bahamians.
The sale announcement was officially made on Friday at Running Mon and was said to represent “a transformational day” for the resort and marina facility, which closed in 2019 due to Hurricane Dorian and then the pandemic.
In attendance were Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey, who welcomed the investors to the island; Tamas Hamor, CEO of Xquisite Yachts; David Townsend, CFO; Stephen Joyce, Xquisite Global Service Manager, and Eugene Samarin, the company’s attorney.
Xquisite Yachts owns and operates several yacht manufacturing factories around the world, including in Portugal and South Africa.
According to Mr Townsend, they will undertake “a comprehensive repair programme and rejuvenation plan” for the Running Mon facility.
“We anticipate at the end this will be a $3 million to $5 million project for us with the build-out, and it will take us two to three years, but we are hoping to speed that up…” he said. “But once this project is finished, we anticipate there will be 30 to 40 in full-time employment here, a service centre to repair boats, an upgraded suite hotel, and we will open the marina and the restaurant – which has history in Freeport. And we will be doing some sailing charters here and doing some sail training for customers.”
Mr Townsend said they would like to have local people run the fishing and scuba charters for them. “We want to have an all-inclusive facility to bring high net worth customers and offer them different experiences in the Bahamas, and we want to partner with Bahamian businesses to achieve that,” he explained.
“We actually completed the purchase last night (Thursday), so we are fully committed,” he said.
According to Mr Hamor, Xquisite Yachts started eight years ago. “Our goal was to do it better than other builders to create a brand where we not just hand over the boat to the owners, but we take care of them during the lifetime of the boat,” he said.
“We created an after-sales service unmatched in the industry. We started one model that became an instant success,” he stated. He said their partner Felix Marine in South Africa build quality world-class boats for them.
He said their first model, the X5, won Boat of the Year in America in 2017. And their second model, which just recently launched, the X5 plus 1, won Boat of the Year 2022. See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/sep/02/running-mon-marina-and-resort-purchased-xquisite-y/
