Haslar Marina celebrates its 30th anniversary

Following significant investment over the last 18 months, boatfolk says it’s launched ‘a new era of marina’ at Haslar this year.

This has come at the cost of £4 million which has been invested, with works including the launch of 11 hotel rooms, installation of an additional 36 deep water berths, new wave break pontoons, an upgraded public slipway with pontoon for launching and recovering powerboats, and revamped berth holder facilities.

Also included is the renovation and relaunch of The Lightship restaurant and the opening of The Creek (left), a waterside restaurant with views over the marina, and more. boatfolk claims that the work has created new jobs for the local community.

“When boatfolk launched in 2020 it set out to reinvent the modern marina,” says Michael Prideaux, MD. “The major investment into Haslar’s relaunch this year sees us achieving this and setting the blueprint for a new type of marina; creating a place that everyone is welcome to enjoy and where everything is taken care of by a single team of passionate boaters. This makes it easy for anyone to get on the water and have fun afloat and ensures our customers can spend more time enjoying life on the water.”

The marina is celebrating its thirty years with a series of events throughout the year, kicking off with hosting the Gosport Marine Festival on Saturday 20th May, and following up with a series of community and berth holder events, on and off the water.

Haslar Marina was built in 1993 thanks to John Dean and Richard Reddyhoff. Today, it currently has 650 berths for boats up to 45m. The marina employs 25 full time equivalent jobs, rising to 50 during peak times. There are currently 15 existing businesses based on-site, employing up to 50 people at peak times. Two of the businesses include Alex Thomson Racing, supporting two Open 60 Vendée Globe campaigns, and James Harayda, a new British Vendée Globe hopeful.