To aid their Boston expansion, Overlook Marine Group appointed Dave Berardinelli as Regional Manager, where he will oversee the company’ s wholesale and yacht brokerage operations throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.

Berardinelli joins Overlook Marine Group with more than 20 years of industry experience, according to the company, having built a distinguished career with MarineMax and Russo Marine. His extensive market knowledge, leadership experience and proven success in yacht sales and brokerage make him an ideal choice to lead Overlook Marine Group’ s continued growth throughout the Northeast.

“ Dave’ s reputation, relationships and deep understanding of the Northeast boating market make him an exceptional addition to our leadership team. His appointment represents another important milestone as we continue expanding our national presence,” said Magnus Lejdstrom, CEO of Overlook Marine Group, in a news release.

Following the company’ s acquisition of Admiralty Yacht Sales in Florida in March 2026, Overlook is further strengthening its presence along the East Coast with a significant investment in the Northeast. As part of this expansion, Overlook Marine Group has selected Boston, Massachusetts, as the location for its newest full-service brokerage office.

The new brick-and-mortar location is scheduled to open in Fall 2026, providing enhanced sales, brokerage and client support services.

The Landing School of Boatbuilding & Design just announced that it will cease academic programs for the 2026-27 academic year as the Board of Trustees continues to evaluate the institution’ s future.

Previously, The Landing School had announced its intent to explore the possibility of an acquisition that could continue its operations and mission. After careful consideration, the Board of Trustees determined that this option was not viable.

“ We understand that this has been a difficult and confusing sequence of events for our students, faculty, staff and community,” said John Caron, President of The Landing School, in a news release.“ In exploring an acquisition, the Board of Trustees felt a responsibility to pursue every reasonable effort to find a path forward. Our priority now is supporting incoming students, faculty and staff through next steps.”

The Landing School will provide a full refund of deposits and consider reimbursement requests for certain expenses on a case-by-case basis, the organization reported. Incoming students will be contacted by admissions for further guidance.

The Landing School will also work with incoming students to identify other education opportunities where appropriate and provide documentation that may assist with the transfer of their education plans, according to the organization. The student orientation that was scheduled for September 8 will not take place.

“ We are so proud of the work The Landing School has accomplished in the almost fifty years since first accepting and teaching students in the art of boatbuilding and we hope those accomplishments can continue to be celebrated,” said Susan Swanton, chair of the Board of Trustees, in the release.

Eddie Smith, owner of Grady-White Boats, has gifted control of the company to a perpetual purpose trust. In addition, a nonprofit organization will be created that will grant the company’ s profits to charities.

This perpetual purpose trust, with its affiliated charity organization, is the largest in the U. S. since Patagonia’ s in 2022 and a first for the marine industry, as noted by the company. Smith, who was 26 when he bought Grady-White in 1968, grew the company from near bankruptcy to an award-winning boat builder. Two years ago, when he contemplated the company’ s future, he received offers to sell for over $ 400 million. However, he turned it down.

Relationships— with employees, customers and dealers— have been key to Grady-White’ s success, Smith said in a press release,“ and it’ s a core belief of mine that if you’ re successful, you really should share that success with your people, who helped you be successful. I had to try to figure out how we transition to the future and take care of our team while retaining the soul of this business.”

New Structure, Same Grady-White The answer was to transition ownership to a perpetual purpose trust. Smith will be gifting control and ownership of the company to the Grady-White Boats Perpetual Purpose Trust and a notyet-named 501( c)( 4) nonprofit organization, according to the company. The 501( c)( 4) plans to donate money annually to education, healthcare, conservation and the community.

The purpose trust will oversee the management of the company, maintaining continuity in Greenville, N. C. Grady-White’ s executive team will remain in place to lead the company under the new structure, according to the company. Smith will transition to a non-operational CEO emeritus role, serving as an advisor and brand ambassador.

As part of the announcement, Smith shared in the press release that a special gift would be given to all current Grady-White employees thanking them for faithful service and their commitment to the future, in honor of his transfer of ownership of the company. The bonuses were arranged in levels based on years of service and craftsman levels, with the total given in the millions.

“ As a company built on strong principles and dedication to our incredible team, we are deeply grateful for Eddie’ s leadership, stewardship and commitment to the future of Grady-White Boats,” CEO and President Kris Carroll said in the release.“ As we enter this new chapter, our team takes great pride in knowing Grady-White and its people-first culture and community support will continue to thrive for many, many decades to come.”

Marine technology company RAD has appointed Sean Wilson as USA sales manager, marking the latest step in its ongoing North American growth strategy.

The expansion follows the opening of a US office in Charleston in late 2025, according to the company. Sean’ s arrival brings senior, on the ground commercial leadership to support customers and dealers as RAD scales its US presence. With more than 25 years of commercial leadership experience across the energy, marine and technology sectors, Sean brings extensive hands-on maritime expertise to the role, underscored by his credentials as a U. S.

Sean Wilson

Coast Guard licensed Master Captain. He has built a career around bringing innovative technologies to market and helping operators adopt next generation propulsion and control systems.

“ RAD is uniquely positioned to lead the marine industry’ s shift toward smarter, more capable propulsion systems,” Sean commented in a news release.“ The company’ s technology delivers the performance, reliability and practicality that customers need. I’ m excited to work with new customers and partners in North America and introduce them to RAD’ s innovative capabilities.”

“ North America represents a significant growth opportunity for us,” added Chris Shepherd, CCO of RAD.“ Sean’ s combination of commercial expertise and maritime skills gives us a strong foundation to support customers across the region, and we are delighted to welcome him to the team. We look forward to the impact he will have in this important market and to watch him expand on our current partnerships.”

West Marine recently added 32 stores to its list of locations that will close as part of its bankruptcy proceedings, bringing the total number of closures to 91, according to the company’ s store-closure directory.

This news comes after West Marine filed for bankruptcy in May. The additional locations span more than 20 states. Florida accounts for the largest concentration on the full list of closures, according to the directory, with 18 locations, including newly added stores in Deerfield Beach, Cutler Bay, Miami, Pinecrest, Delray Beach, Punta Gorda, Melbourne, Jensen Beach, Spring Hill and a second in Orlando. Washington, California and Michigan each have seven locations on the closure list. Other additional closures include stores in: Sacramento and Santa Barbara, CA Branford and Norwalk, CT Rehoboth Beach, DE Mandeville, LA Danvers, MA North East, MD Holland, MI Minnetonka, MN Lodi, NJ Buffalo, Huntington Harbor and Riverhead, NY Toledo, OH Portland, OR Columbia, SC Lewisville, TX Alexandria, VA Burlington, VT Bellevue and Olympia, WA West Marine said it was a“ difficult decision to close select store locations,” while emphasizing that the company continues to operate its remaining stores and online business. The retailer said gift cards, rewards benefits and warranties will be honored at other locations and online.