Articles from Yamaha Marine

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA®) and Boating Writers International (BWI) today honored Yamaha Marine with an Innovation Award in the propulsion parts and propellers category for its Helm Master® EX Wireless Control System.

Yamaha Marine and Skeeter Boats became the first ever presenting sponsors of the annual Dick Hiley St. Jude® Bass Classic on May 2-4. The tournament, which took place in Wabasha, Minnesota, celebrates a community of bass anglers from across the Upper Midwest who come together once a year in support of the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. The 27th annual event brought together 96 competing boats and raised more than $1.1 million for the kids of St. Jude.

Skeeter/Yamaha Pro Easton Fothergill became the 2025 Bassmaster Classic Champion on Sunday, March 23, on Lake Ray Roberts in Ft. Worth, Texas, bringing in a three-day total weight of 76 pounds, 15 ounces, and setting a new record for the biggest winning weight in the 55-year history of the prestigious fishing tournament. The 22-year-old rookie sensation from Grand Rapids, Minnesota, is a two-time Bassmaster Classic Qualifier and first-year Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Angler who joined the Skeeter/Yamaha Pro Team in January. The $300,000 championship trophy is the top prize in bass fishing.

Yamaha Marine donated 425-horsepower XTO Offshore® outboards to eight technical schools for placing a high number of technicians within certified Yamaha dealerships in 2024. Developed in 2015, Yamaha’s Technical School Partnership (TSP) program aims to develop a stronger marine technician workforce through a certified curriculum, Yamaha systems access and product donations used in the classroom for hands-on training. The schools will use the XTO Offshore outboards as part of that curriculum.

The Yamaha Marine U.S. Business Unit announced today an all-new Wireless Control feature for the renowned Helm Master EX boat control system during the 2025 Miami International Boat Show®. Putting unmatched convenience and control in the palm of boaters’ hands, the new Helm Master EX Wireless Control gives boat operators the freedom to move around the boat while remaining in complete control at all times.*

Yamaha kicks off 2025 with new product offerings including an expansion of its HARMO line, available in single and twin configurations. Fully integrated with Helm Master® EX, the new HARMO provides comfortable, intuitive boating control that enables boaters of all skill levels to maneuver their boat with confidence. Yamaha will also release new cowling designs and color options within its mid-range product line as well as new Steering Assist Tiller Handle F150 and F200 outboards in 2025.

Yamaha Marine honors angler Clark Wendlandt upon the announcement of his retirement from the sport of professional bass fishing this November. A Yamaha Pro Team member for more than 20 years, Wendlandt’s career spans three decades and includes a long list of bass fishing’s highest achievements.

Yamaha Pro Angler Ish Monroe teamed up with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (KTNRB) and a group of volunteers on May 5 to clean up Guntersville Lake. Led by KTNRB Executive Director Kathleen Gibi, the group pulled over 1600 pounds of trash near Guntersville, Ala.

Kassidy Peterson, Yamaha Marine Advanced Development Engineer and graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology® (M.I.T.), began her career at Yamaha one year ago and is an example of the top talent Yamaha is attracting to it Marine Innovation Center here in Kennesaw, Ga. since it opened a year ago.

Fishing’s Future®, an organization that provides opportunities to reconnect with nature and learn about angling through family-oriented fishing activities, has a new official outboard sponsor, thanks to Yamaha Rightwaters™.

Yamaha Marine U.S. Business Unit will soon begin to use plant-derived cellulose nanofiber (CNF) reinforced resin in the production of specific watercraft parts. The CNF reinforced resin, developed through a collaborative agreement between Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. in Japan (“Yamaha Motor”) and Nippon Paper Industries Corporation, Ltd., represents what appears to be one of the world’s first practical use of sustainable material for watercraft parts.*

The Yamaha Marine Technical School Partnership program (TSP) added ten new schools to its growing list of participants during the last 12 months, bringing the total number to 117 nationwide. Developed in 2015, Yamaha’s TSP program aims to develop a stronger marine technician workforce through a certified curriculum, Yamaha systems access and product donations used in the classroom for hands-on training.

Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit announced today, Kerry Schroder, Senior District Service Manager and Ron Lubic, District Service Manager will serve as the Florida Technical and Co-Technical contest chairs for the SkillsUSA® Marine Service Technology competition. Schroder and Lubic each have over 25 years of experience in the marine industry and work with technical schools throughout the state of Florida by connecting students interested in marine service careers with Yamaha dealers, organizing job shadow days for students at Yamaha dealers, mentoring students in the classroom, supporting instructors by presenting them with the latest content and organizing local SkillsUSA® competitions.

Bennington Marine this month donated a T50 outboard and an F200 outboard to Impact Institute, a Yamaha Marine Technical School Partner (TSP) in Kendallville, Indiana. Yamaha matched the donation with a 4.2-liter F300 V6 outboard. Students will use the motors and a certified Yamaha curriculum to gain a comprehensive understanding of the brand’s outboard power systems and add value to Yamaha marine dealers around the country.

Marc Castillo is the new General Manager of G3® Boats, an independently operated subsidiary of Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit that produces aluminum and pontoon boats, effective immediately. Castillo replaces Terry Ickes, who is retiring from G3 after 21 years.

Yamaha Marine introduced its HARMO electric outboard system to the U.S. market today during the 2021 International Boatbuilders Exhibition and Conference (IBEX®) in Tampa, Florida.

Yamaha Rightwaters™ joined forces with the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University – Florida State University® College of Engineering (FAMU®-FSU® College of Engineering) to study and prove a land-based trash interceptor concept. The device will assist in cleaning debris out of waterways before trash can reach the ocean.

Working in conjunction with Nexus Fuels® of Atlanta, Ga., and Tommy Nobis Enterprises, of Marietta, Ga., Yamaha Rightwaters aims to return 10,000 pounds of Polyethylene and Polypropylene sheet plastics back into their base materials before the end of the calendar year. It will serve as a proof of concept for an envisioned national program intended to reduce plastic waste in the nation’s waterways.

Aspiring marine technicians can now become Yamaha-certified by completing and passing Yamaha Marine University™ Maintenance Certification Program (MCP) exams at designated locations nationwide. MCP offers technicians four distinct certifications covering Yamaha outboard products. Those include portable, midrange, inline (four-cylinder), and v-engine platforms.

Yamaha Rightwaters is a new sponsor of the Ducks Unlimited Gulf Coast Initiative, a multi-year conservation initiative dedicated to rebuilding wetlands lost to erosion, subsidence and sea level rise in Louisiana and Texas. Through the Meraux Foundation Terracing Project in Louisiana and the Sargent Marsh Shoreline Protection Project in coastal Texas, Ducks Unlimited, Yamaha Rightwaters, and other supporters will restore designated seagrass and wetland habitats and contribute to climate mitigation through a combination of protecting buried carbon and sequestering atmospheric carbon at rates up to 530 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year across the two projects.