Nitro Marine - Mercury Marine's #1.
When John Temple, general manager, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific for industry heavyweight Mercury Marine, named Gold Coast's Nitro Marine as its 'Dealer of the Year', he said it was the 'highest accolade we can give a dealer.' 
'Attractive outdoor display area at Nitro Marine features expansive stock of boats and engines. - Nitro Marine'
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So this week, I made it a point to visit the Southport dealership and ask proprietor Michael Waugh the 'burning question', 'what makes Nitro Marine #1 when compared to some 480 Mercury dealers?'
'I guess it's because I bought more horsepower from Mercury than anyone else,' he laughed.
'Seriously, I'd like to think it's because of the service we offer, not only the service from the mechanical viewpoint, but the service generally to our customer base.
'I'm particularly proud of the fact that 20 percent of our current business comes from regular clients.' 
Nitro Marine was established originally in 1984, but Michael Waugh and wife Therese, former Sydneysiders who moved to the Gold Coast in 1969, only acquired the business seven years ago.
Michael had no previous marine industry experience.
'I was just a boater who liked boats and the thought of working with them was appealing,' he explained.
Situated just a stroll from the heart of downtown Southport, Nitro Marine now carries a staff of eight, with four trained mechanics headed by service manager Rick Grech and three experienced sales staff under sales manager Dale Collins.
In addition to its Mercury Marine franchise, which includes, of course Mercury and Mariner outboards and MerCruiser stern drives, Nitro Marine also sells and services Stacer and the US-built powerboats from Tahoe, Mako and, coincidentally, Nitro.
Michael Waugh and the Nitro team are obviously 'on the ball'; in addition to being Mercury Marine's #1 dealer, the company was also named Stacer's Queensland Dealer of the Year.
Chandlery, fishing tackle and a comprehensive range of boats are always in stock and the dealership's premises offer extensive showroom, administrative and outdoors display areas. 
Michael Waugh admits the current market is 'tough.'
'Our dollar turnover has not changed much, but boat sales are definitely down,' he says.
'It's virtually impossible to make profits on small boats and extremely difficult to hold or maintain margins,' he added.
Nevertheless, the Nitro team remains confident of the future.
'The industry will bounce back, there's no doubt at all about that, 'Michael says, 'we just don't know when.'
Michael and Therese received their award from John Temple during the company's recent annual dealer trip to Fiji.
'I was delighted to recognise the professionalism, dedication and simple hard work that Michael, Therese and the team have invested into Nitro Marine to make it such a great business,' Temple declared.
'Their award is totally deserved.'
Competition for Dealer of the Year was said to be 'fierce.' 
The honour is decided upon by an extensive judging process which takes into account every aspect of the competing businesses, including customer service performance, sales achievements and site presentation.
As Mercury Marine pointed out, there can only be one ultimate winner, but the company was equally happy to recognise a number of other dealership for their performance.
A special presentation was made to Joseph Day, dealer principal of NSW south coast dealership Merimbula Marine, to acknowledge his 'tremendous support' to Mercury Marine products over the past 40-years!
Other dealer recognition awards were presented to Auckland Marine (NZ), Sing Tung Hing (Tahiti), Saltwater Marine (Fremantle, WA), Motor Marine (Townsville, Qld), Nowra Marine (NSW), Channel Marine (Tas), Baldwin Boats (Mildura, Vic) and Hodge Marine (Adelaide, SA).
MerCruiser Sales Excellence award were given to XFI Ski Boats (Bayswater, Vic), Lewis Ski Boats (Auburn, NSW), Whittley Cruisers (Melbourne, Vic) and Telwater (Gold Coast, Qld).
For further information visit the website, www.brunswick.com
by Bob Wonders
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Macquarie Island, TAS
