Dana Point, Calif.—(October 15, 2003)—Following the successful openings of its wholly owned sales and commissioning offices in Newport, RI and Stuart, FL, Pacific Asian Enterprises (P.A.E.) is opening its first office in Europe. Headed by Neil Russell, Nordhavn Europe will be headquartered at the Hamble Point Marina in Hamble Point, U.K. Close to Southampton and the Isle of Wight, it is an area with a high concentration of marinas, boat yards, brokers and dealerships.

Russell is presently working at the Dana Point, CA office of P.A.E. in preparation for his role as Director of European Sales. Prior to joining P.A.E., Russell worked at Pacific SeaCraft for nine years, most recently serving as Vice President of Production. Russell, a native of Great Britain, completed a three-year Yacht Construction degree program at the Maritime Institute in Southampton before moving to the States and joining Pacific SeaCraft.

“We’re very excited to have Neil join our Nordhavn team,” comments P.A.E. Vice President, Jim Leishman. “His yacht building background and experience will be a great asset to our company, and the fact that he is a native of Great Britain makes him a natural choice to head up our new office there.” Russell is equally enthusiastic about relocating to his homeland and joining Nordhavn. “This is an ideal opportunity for me, because I have always admired the Nordhavn line, and I know it will do extremely well in the European market.”

Nordhavn Europe will officially open in early 2004 and will be fully operational prior to the arrival of a fleet of Nordhavns that will be completing the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally. One of the Rally escort vessels will be a new factory Nordhavn 57 which will remain in the U.K. and serve as a demo boat for Nordhavn’s European operation.

The Nordhavn line presently consists of nine models from 35 to 72 feet and is widely viewed as the standard by which other trawler yachts are measured. Recently, a stock Nordhavn 40 completed a 26,000 mile circumnavigation in 25 weeks without a breakdown or mishap. In May of 2004, a fleet of Nordhavns will cross the Atlantic, stopping in Bermuda and the Azores on their way to Gibraltar. Nordhavns have made more successful ocean crossings and circumnavigations than all other production powerboats combined.

For more information, contact the UK office directly at europesales@nordhavn.com or by phone at +44 2380 456018.