Who would come up with the crazy idea of asking guests to voluntarily travel to Finland in mid-November – to be met by rain, snow, darkness and cold winds? We wanted to show our international dealers and members of the press another world of boating; a more extreme, adventurous one – or as we would call it, the Finnish way of all-weather boating. And actually, it worked. More than 20 journalists and 100 dealers from all over the world came to Helsinki, the hometown of Axopar Boats, and joined us for the biggest launch event ever held in Finland for a marine brand.
The biggest launch event ever held in Finland for a marine brand
During the Axopar and BRABUS Marine International Dealer and Press Days we revealed the ground-breaking new Axopar 37 boat range for dealers and press, prior to its world premiere in Düsseldorf. In Helsinki’s Train Factory, a former industrial building, press and dealers had the opportunity to be the first in the world to explore the revolutionary new Axopar 37-range, and also to discover the world of BRABUS and BRABUS Marine.
Revolutionary sea trials
During the sea trials, which were held on the UNESCO World Heritage Suomenlinna Island, a former maritime fortress and base for the Archipelago Fleet, the press and dealers were able to experience all-weather boating for real. At a former military base on the island, the ground-breaking new Axopar 37 Sun-Top and 37 XC Cross Cabin were ready to take press and dealers out on the world’s first test drives. The sea trials, which took place in typical Finnish November weather, were a great chance to really feel the revolutionary handling and performance of our new fleet. BRABUS Marine also offered sea trials of the BRABUS Shadow 500 Cabin Black Ops Limited Edition ‘1 of 28’, which had its world premiere during the Monaco Yacht Show in late September.
During the sea trials press and dealers also had the opportunity to enjoy the test-mule of the new Axopar 37 Spyder, camouflaged and manufactured for handling, performance, G-force measurement and high-speed tests for the upcoming new flagship model of the BRABUS Shadow range; the BRABUS Shadow 900. An ultra-cool experience ready to deliver 60+ knots of blistering performance from Mercury Marine’s latest, twin 450R Verado XL 4.6 liter V8 FourStroke engines (to be launched during the Düsseldorf boat show in January 2020).
Sisu in the smoke sauna
We are impressed that so many dealers and journalists had the courage – the Finnish “Sisu” – to join us for a traditional sauna experience at Saunasaari (Sauna Island). After a long day at sea with hard windy and rainy conditions, the smoke sauna and a (short) swim in the cold sea was definitely something different for our guests. For the press the sauna experience was followed by a classic island-living dinner at Saunasaari, where the food was prepared on open fires by candlelight. All 100 dealers, who had their Sauna experience the evening after, went back to the Train Factory for our big REVOLUTION Party with food, drinks, live-music and prize-giving ceremony.
Axopar Dealer Awards 2019
Each year, during the International Dealer Days, we demonstrate our appreciation through the Axopar Dealer Awards. The winners were recognized for their sales success, loyalty and sense of partnership, as well as for brand and product engagement.
The winners 2019:
- Best New Dealer: Corte Lotti, Italy
- Best International Dealer: Eyachts, Australia
- Best European Dealer: Boote Polch: Germany
- Best Brand Engagement: Axopar London Group, UK
- Best Product Engagement: Herholdt Andersen & Grimstad Bådsenter, Norway
- Axopar Star: Frederic Guichert, CN Simons
True passion
We want to warmly thank all journalists and dealers who travelled from all around the world to join us, from countries like Australia, Taiwan, Bermuda, Great Britain, Russia, Norway and USA, to mention just a few. We love that you share this passion with us!
We look forward meeting you all again during the World Premiere of the new Axopar 37 range at Boot Düsseldorf in January 2020!
