At Yachting Ventures, we work closely with founders building tech across the leisure marine sector. Along the way, many of these entrepreneurs develop a front-row view of how the industry itself is evolving.

To bring more of these perspectives into the conversation, we’re launching a new series of thought leadership pieces written by founders from the Yachting Ventures community. The goal is to highlight the people building in the space while exploring some of the deeper structural shifts happening right now.

The following piece has been written by Kenny Richards, co-founder and CEO of Herons Marine, who is building software solutions for marinas and service yards. Kenny examines how private equity–backed marina consolidation is beginning to reshape operations across the sector and why this shift is accelerating demand for modern software platforms.

Service Departments are often the fulcrum

A few years ago, when Safe Harbor purchased a nearby marina and shipyard, almost every employed tech quit, then came back to work for the yard as independent contractors.

“They just didn’t want to work for the man, you know, they have pride in their independence and didn’t join the marine trades to work in corporate America,” the manager told me one afternoon while I was onsite helping a friend restep their mast.

This is not an isolated experience. There is certainly a lack of marine professionals, and a real and desperate need exists for service and repair work in recreational marine.

In the US, there is momentum in job growth as people realize they can earn $100 – $200 an hour working on their own. Or, if they do not want to run their own business, they can earn $35 – $50+ an hour with benefits, working for marinas and shipyards.

With AI disruption and falling job rates in white collar jobs, we are seeing renewed interest in the marine trades, a trend that many expect to continue.

PE is reshaping the industry

Perhaps the single biggest change impacting our industry is the widespread transition from independent, family owned marinas to corporate, private-equity-backed marina groups.

My research finds that about 10% of the total marinas with service departments in the US are currently owned and operated by private equity, and this number is increasing.

I’ve heard stories of men in suits “from New York City” entering marina offices, reviewing the books, then writing multi-million dollar checks without ever walking the yard or inspecting the docks.

For marinas, it is certainly a seller’s market, as more and more investment firms see the incredible upside potential in marina flipping and ownership. As the late great Bob Weir once told us, “now the race is on and here comes pride up the back stretch.”

Service departments and yards must adapt

This change, whether people like it or not, is forcing a form of professionalization in the industry.

Private Equity doesn’t like risk, so service managers are being tasked with providing financial analytics and business savvy reporting for corporate ownership who cares less about the difference between 4200 and 5200, and more about WIP reports, margin analysis, and labor efficiency.

For the independent contractors, they are being asked to show up as bonafide businesses: with insurance, a registered business, and a phone that is answered when it rings.

This changing industry requires new software and operational management solutions.

The thing is, PE isn’t wrong. Service departments have long needed modern software solutions for their complex business operations. It isn’t just about complying with new ownership, it’s about peering into the black box of boat repair, and building immensely profitable operations.

Failure to incorporate management systems and modern software solutions will leave businesses with outdated ops behind, they’ll lose money and wonder why all their customers are switching over to other yards.

In sailboat racing, just because the wind is good on your tack, it doesn’t mean you’re making the best speed to the finish line. Marinas needs to tack, or they’re going to lose the rhumb line.

What’s next?

Marina operators need software that delivers the functionality and information needed to run a modern service department. This software needs to be built from the ground up, with great and simple UX, and it must work alongside their employees.

This next generation of software needs modern analytics and reporting, must simplify processes while increasing productivity, and needs to be reliable.

In building Herons, a platform for marinas, shipyards, and small businesses, I have found that these marinas do not need software to tell them how to do their job (they’re the pros!) but to help them understand their business.

I built Herons to help during this major transition, so that the love of the craft and the unique character of this wonderful community can continue to mutually thrive alongside a growing boating industry.

Like Herons, the next generation of marina software will need to be able to meet the needs of our changing industry by understanding what drives different stakeholders, while being able to speak to both the data-driven financial managers of large funds and the hard working people who are fixing our boats.