Legend Boats Partners With Boat Fix to Take the Pain Out of Boat Repair
Legend Boats Partners With Boat Fix to Take the Pain Out of Boat Repair
WHITEFISH, ON – A frequent joke among boat owners is that the best day of their life was when they first got their boat, and the second best day was when they sold it. Those days are over now, says Legend Boats’ Director of Innovation, Maurice Beland.
Via the Boat Fix app, Legend owners will be able to track their boat’s location at all times and get up-to-date information on the maintenance requirements of their Mercury outboard motors.
“Boating used to be an activity that needed a lot of expertise. That’s no longer the case,” explains Beland. “Every day at Legend, we’re working to find ways to lower the barrier to entry. Whether that’s by aggressively working with our supplier network to get the best savings for our customers, by putting together the easiest to use boat packages, or by integrating innovative technologies like Boat Fix.”
“We’re always working to open the door a little bit wider and invite more people into boating,” said Co-CEO Jamie Dewar. “Boat ownership will transform your life. I don’t know any half-in boat owners. It’s that big of a deal. But traditionally, the barriers to entry have been really high.”
“As any boat owner can tell you, one of those barriers is maintenance and repair,” added President and Co-CEO Marc Duhamel. “Like any vehicle, boats and outboard motors need regular care, maintenance, and repair. The longer you take to address issues that come up, the worse they become, and the faster you burn through your investment’s expected lifespan.”
According to a 2021 study by Intuit, the average annual maintenance and repair cost for a boat is 10% of the boat’s total cost per year. This aligns with findings from Boating Valley the same year that showed the average annual cost of ownership for new boat owners is between $5,000-$8,000.
“The best way to keep maintenance costs down is to undertake repairs as early as possible, “ continued Duhamel. “The longer a problem exists, the bigger it becomes, and the more expensive it becomes to repair.”
The average boat owner will use their boat between 75 and 150 hours per year and only bring it in for maintenance at the end of the season. However, most maintenance and servicing tasks are recommended after no more than 100 hours per year.
“What these numbers suggest is that over two thirds of all boat owners are not servicing their boats and motors enough to enjoy their full potential lifespan,” continued Duhamel. “Simply put, they’re running their engines with the ‘check engine’ light on. They just can’t see the light.”
“With Boat Fix, they’ll finally be able to see the light,” says Beland. “From the convenience of their phone in their pocket, they’ll be able to check on the battery life, the bilge pump, how many hours the engine has been running, get notifications for recommended service, setup GPS tracking, and also setup notifications if their boat ever leaves its designated location. It’s such a game changing feature that we’re introducing it in 2023 and making it completely standard on all boats by 2024.”
In many ways, this product and partnership were inspired by the work of the auto industry.
“Legend was clearly the partner we wanted to work with for our first major international partnership,” said Boat Fix Founder Alastair Crawford. “Telematics is the buzz of the auto industry, but the boating world still needs to catch up. Jamie and Marc [Duhamel] have been at the forefront of innovation in the Canadian marine space and they recognized from the start that there was a massive opportunity to lead the charge here.”
“The Boat Fix app is incredibly useful and easy to use, and the surefire reliability of their telematics hardware is so important for the convenience of our customers and the protection of their Legend Boats,” said Dewar.
“We looked at a lot of telematics providers and had a lot of options,” added Beland. “Delivering a combination of advanced technology and impeccable service, Boat Fix was unlike anything we had tested. We put them through the ringer, calling throughout the night and really pushing the service. Their 24/7 availability on the phone, fast human response times to alarm support and the quality of service really impressed us.”
Boat Fix will be available to a limited number of Legend Boat owners by the end of the month. Contact your local Legend Boats dealer for information on how you can get Boat Fix added to your current or next Legend.
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About Legend Boats
Legend Boats is one of Canada’s largest boat companies and one of the fastest growing boat brands on the market. Every Legend boat model is designed by Canadians and built for Canadians.
Legend Boats designs and manufactures over thirty models of aluminum fish/ski/ cruise boats, 4 deck boat models and over forty models of pontoon boats that are distributed through over 60 Legend Partner Dealers across Canada.
Legend Boats also owns and manages 2 of their own dealerships in Ontario and 1 other dealership in Montreal, Quebec. “Managing dealerships ourselves allows us to gain first-hand feedback and input on what our customers really like about our boats,” says Marc Duhamel, President and Co-CEO of Legend Boats. “It offers us a testing-ground to execute our systems and share our proven processes and successes with our Partner Network across Canada.”
Duhamel and Dewar – Home of Legend Boats in Whitefish has expanded many times over its 52 year history to its present all new state of the art facility in Whitefish, near Sudbury, Ontario. The new marine facility offers its employees the ability to enjoy the outdoor scenery of the Vermillion River from Legend’s waterfront property. “We are very excited about our Legend facility,” says Jamie Dewar, Legend Boats’ Co-CEO. “It allows us to create the ultimate customer experience, ” says Dewar. Legend Boats will offer its customers on-water training in boat handling, care and maintenance and boat launching. “The facility gives us the ability to live our mission of creating memories for our staff and our customers. We are excited to be offering a great environment to work in that provides an inviting space for customers to enjoy all the experiences of boating.”
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About Boat Fix
Boat Fix is based out of Southport, Connecticut and has 24/7 Control Centers in the US and the UK. They serve clients in the US, Europe, South America, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Their mission is to become the global leader in providing 24/7 support to boat owners.
Customer statistics:
- 70% of sunk boats sank while unattended
- 73% of boat thefts are from unattended boats on trailers
- 92% of incoming calls for engine breakdowns are on the weekend or after hours
- 23% of Boat Fix alarms are for bilge pump activity
- 11% of Boat Fix alarms are for unauthorized use or theft
- 44% of Boat Fix alarms are for batteries that are about to go flat
- 32% of incoming assistance calls are from boats less than 6 months old
For more information, visit https://boatfixcanada.com/.
