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Finland is the promised land for small boats. Every seventh
Finn has a boat and boat fever does nothing but increase.
Summer weekends in particular are rush hour times on the water.
A boat is a part of the Finnish way of life. As the land
of thousands of lakes, Finland with Norway and New Zealand
is the country with the greatest boat density in the world.
"In practice this means that 35 per cent of Finnish
households have one or more boats," says Jouko Huju,
managing director of the Finnish Marine Industries Federation
Finnboat. "We're a so-called cottage-boat nation: more
than half a million summer cottages means at the least the
same number of boats. 90 per cent of our boats are small boats
of less than 5.5 metres."
Boat trade sets the pace
The boat trade has grown for thirteen consecutive years.
"Finland's waterways offer a unique environment for boating.
More is being invested in leisure time and new boat enthusiasts
are coming all the time. The size of the boats and the standard
of fittings are also increasing," Huju adds.
In spite of the growth, there is plenty of room for new boats.
In Finland there are more than 730,000 pleasure crafts and
189,000 lakes i.e. an average of about four boats per lake
- not to mention the sea.
At this moment the biggest growth area in boat sales is in
smallish motorboats that have no sleeping berths and are highly
suited to day trips around a nearby archipelago, for example.
Exports race ahead
Exports by the boat industry have also been on the increase
for a long time, rising by 54 per cent in value since the
beginning of the year.
"During the past 10 years exports have quadrupled in
value. Last year they amounted to about 250 million euros.
Measured in terms of value of production, that is 80 per cent,"
Huju reckons.
"Finnish companies have learnt to follow trends in design.
We are also well aware of the price we can sell at and the
markets we can sell on."
The Nordic countries are Finland's biggest single market
area, but the bigger sailing boats are exported to all corners
of the world.
Many well-known Finnish brands
Many boat brands well-known all over the world
are produced in Finland
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On the sailing boat side the best-known
brands are Swan, Baltic, Nauticat and Finngulf.
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On the motorboat and small boat size Bella,
Aquador, Flipper, Finnmaster, Yamarin, Buster,
Silver and Terhi are also well-known.
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