News & Press
Open Marine Version 2
February 7, 2011
Open Marine is temporarily closed to new members whilst we develop version 2 of the schema.
Yacht Council joins Open Marine
November 11, 2009
With great pleasure, Open Marine welcomes Yacht Council as a member (www.yachtcouncil.com and www.yachtcouncil.org).
"Open Marine is now a truly international initiative between boat sales portals. With the uncertain economic climate prevailing, Open Marine offers all our yacht brokers a means of getting their boats for sale to new audiences throughout the world!"
Richard Roberts, Chairman - Open Marine
Boot 24 Joins the Open Marine Initiative
October 8, 2009
The Open Marine Initiative is pleased to announce that Boot24.com has joined. This adds to the ever growing strength of Open Marine, setting it up for continued expansion into Europe.
Richard Roberts Re-elected as Chairman
August 18, 2009
"There is still a great deal to do regarding the planned expansion into Europe and other countries and to have so many members that are cooperating is really very exciting. The next few months will see new members joining and Open Marine will be growing from strength to strength.
"All our members are committed to accepting each other's data feeds without prejudice; signatories are pledged to accept data feeds from each other without adding any cost or complications to the brokers. This ethos continues!"
Richard Roberts, Chairman - Open Marine
Richard Roberts Re-elected as Chairman
June 5, 2008
By unanimous decision, Richard Roberts of TheYachtMarket has been re-elected as Chairman of the Open Marine Initiative for the next 12 months.
"I'm really pleased to be able to continue chairing the Open Marine Initiative. It's great that competing marine classifieds web sites can now collaborate to benefit the brokers. It's all thanks to Open Marine."
Richard Roberts, Chairman - Open Marine
Open Marine XML Data Schema Version 1.7 Released
December 7, 2007
The first version (version 1.7) of the Open Marine XML Schema has now been released. Click here to view the schema.
The schema has been successfully implemented to transfer boat data between TheYachtMarket, BoatShop24, Boats And Outboards, RightBoat and CSL Publishing. Many brokerages with their own proprietary databases are also using the Open Marine schema to transfer their boat data to Open Marine compliant boat classifieds web sites.
OpenMarine.org Expands
August 7, 2007
The Open Marine Initiative is proud to announce that it has acquired new members, held elections for the posts of Chairman and the membership of the Steering and Development committees, and has laid out a substantial portion of its plans for the foreseeable future.
In a meeting held on Monday, August 6th, 2007, CSL Publishing (www.boatmart.co.uk), Rightboat Ltd. (www.rightboat.com) and Site by Simon (www.sitebysimon.co.uk) were confirmed as the latest members of the Initiative. It was also decided that the following companies would comprise the initial membership of the Steering and Development Committees: Boats and Outboards (www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk), CSL Publishing Ltd. (www.boatmart.co.uk), Forum Software Ltd. (www.forumboats.com), Marine Trader Media (www.boatshop24.com / www.boatshop24.co.uk), Rightboat Ltd. (www.rightboat.com), Sailing Networks (www.sailingnetworks.com), and TheYachtMarket.com Ltd. (www.theyachtmarket.com).
The first elected Chairman of the Initiative, who will hold the post for a period of 6 months, is Richard Roberts, Business Director of TheYachtMarket.com.
The meeting laid a clear pathway for the development of a new, open standard for the data exchange of boat advertisement data, publicity plans for ensuring the benefits of Open Marine are communicated to the brokers, and formalising its business and web hosting arrangements.
Amongst the exciting new ideas that the Initiative is committed to exploring includes the provision of an open, comprehensive makes and models database; the participation of boat manufacturers in this effort will be sought and encouraged.
More information about the initiative can be found at www.openmarine.org.
OpenMarine.org Launched
July 9, 2007
Today, four of the leading players in the marine classifieds and data market announced a new initiative to create a free and open standard for data exchange.
Called the Open Marine Initiative, it has launched with the following main participants: TheYachtMarket.com, Yachtfocus.com, Marine Trader Media Limited (proprietors of the Boatshop24.co.uk / Boatshop24.com websites) and Forum Software Ltd., the creator of the Fast-Net system for yacht brokers.
"It was the boat brokers who spurred the initiative," said Christian DeFeo, Development Manager for Marine Trader, "they want to be able to maintain their stock on one tool, and to easily broadcast it to the portals of their choice."
Simon White, IT Director of TheYachtMarket.com, added, "Making our brokers' lives easier has always been our key philosophy so we are really excited to be one of the founder members of the Open Marine Initiative which will do just that. The industry has been crying out for this for years."
George Llewellin of Forumboats.com also stated, "I have been developing software for more than 25 years, the Open Marine Initiative has been needed for some time and I unequivocally support it. Brokers have consistently asked for a simple way to upload data to various websites. Fast-net does do this but it is not simple to setup".
Hitherto, boat brokers have had to pay and /or enter into complicated arrangements for this data exchange; the Initiative will make the broadcast of advertisements across a range of portals a cost-free and easy process.
The participants in the initiative have stated that they are looking to attract other portals and software providers to join them, provided they can adhere to the Initiative's principles of free data transfers and open standards.
Future developments will include the open publication of a new XML standard for boat advertisements, "Open Marine" certification for software solutions, and the provision of a simple, free stock management tool.
More information about the initiative can be found at www.openmarine.org.