Yamarin bowriders, day cruisers, fishing boats launch in Australia

The brand’s name is a portmanteau of “marine” and the maker of the engines that power the boat, Yamaha. Similar to the man who bought the shaver company because he liked it so much, the Finland-based Yamarin is now owned by the people who power the boats.

The brand has already established dealers at Terrace Boating and Leisure Centre in Heatherbrae, NSW,  Sydney-based Hunts Marine, and  Brisbane-based Wynnum Marine. The first boats destined for customers’ hands should arrive at dealerships over the next few weeks.

The brand had a soft launch at the 2024 Melbourne Boat Show with a Yamarin 88 DC, the range-topping pocket cruiser featuring a below-decks cabin with a separate enclosed head sitting among the boats featured on Yamaha’s stand. 

According to Yamarin Australia director Henry Vesander, boats that are well-suited to the Australian market will come from the all-fibreglass dayboat brand Yamarin, and the alloy-bottomed but fibreglass-topped fishing boat brand Yamarin Cross.

“Yamarin is a new brand in Australia, but it is well-known in Europe as one of the top five manufacturers and the leading brand in northern Europe,” Vesander said.

“While it’s new here, it is a brand that’s 50 years old in Europe.”

Vesander said the boats were built to “high quality standards” and because they were made to tackle the Baltic Sea, offered occupants more protection from the elements than other boats.

“They’ve also all got very good drive characteristics and have negative chines so they provide a very good, soft ride,” he said.

“It’s a massively seaworthy design because they get really rough seas from the wind conditions, so they’re developed with really good vee-shaped hulls made to handle extreme conditions.”

“They [Finland] also have to deal with two big extremes in the weather because in summer it can get over 30 degrees and then in winter it can get below freezing. The boats have to be dry-riding so they have windscreens that are a bit bigger to offer more protection.

“There’s a lot of attention to safety and user-friendliness from the bow of these boats to the stern, such as how easy it is to get in and out.”

Also enhancing the range is the Q multifunction touchscreen built into the boats that is seamlessly integrated with the boat’s electronics, and also allows owners to monitor their boat from anywhere they have a smartphone connection, even while sitting at home.

The system integrates with a Navionics-based chartplotting system and can track the boat as it moves around on the water, providing a logbook of the day’s adventure including distance travelled, the fuel used and the route the boat has taken.

The Yamarin range of boats consists of split-console dayboats, bowriders and walkaround centre and side console models, while the Yamarin Cross range is made up of split-console models including one that can be towed behind a small family car, and a single enclosed wheelhouse model.

Both the Yamarin and Yamarin Cross boats measuring up to 6.7 metres in length are fuss-free trailerable in Australia, and will sit happily behind a 3.5-tonne rated trade ute.

The Yamarin range is priced at less than $50,000 for an entry-level bowrider ranging to around $135,000 for a mid-range dayboat. Step up to the bigger models, and prices jump to just below $400,000 for the range-topper.

For those people who can't make it to a dealer but don't want to miss out on Australia's premier boating showcase, Yamarin will be at the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show.