The members of the DBSV travelled to the Swabian Alps for this year's spring conference: the association hosted the meeting in Bad Boll from 7 to 8 March 2024. One of the items on the agenda for the 45 members who travelled there was the regular election of the Executive Board. Every two years, half of the eight members of the DBSV Board are newly appointed, including the position of President this year. Henning Mittelmann, owner of the shipyard of the same name in Kappeln an der Schlei and previously DBSV Vice President, stood for election as President. In addition to Torsten Conradi (judel-vrolijk & co design + engineering) and Michael Ehrhardt (Pantaenius GmbH), who stood for re-election to the position of Vice President, Martina John and Jörg Bubelach stood for the position of Vice President from among the members.
Mittelmann elected with 50 of 51 votes
DBSV member Hans Stützle, Bootswerft Winkler, took over the position of election chairman and announced the election result after the 51 ballot papers had been counted: 50 votes were cast in favour of Henning Mittelmann, who will take over the presidency of the association in the future. Mittelmann has been a member of the DBSV Board since 2016 and has been Vice President since 2022. Conradi and Ehrhardt were confirmed in office on the Board by the members during the election. The new candidate John and new candidate Bubelach were also elected to the Board as assessors with no votes against or abstentions. They succeed Stefan Zucker (Zucker & Partner GmbH) and Jan Böhm (Lodsman GmbH), both of whom did not stand for re-election. All candidates confirmed their acceptance of the election at the general meeting.
"I am delighted to be following in the footsteps of Torsten Conradi, who, after 26 years on the Board, 16 of which as President, will now continue to support us with his experience," said Mittelmann shortly after the election. "Together with my colleagues, I will continue to strategically develop the DBSV and lead it into a new generation."
Exploratory talks about a new association
Also on the agenda of the DBSV members' meeting was a vote on the initiation of exploratory talks with the Federal Association of the Water Sports Industry (BVWW). The members unanimously voted in favour of the Board's proposal to begin talks on a possible new joint trade association.
The DBSV: Representing the interests of 420 companies
The DBSV was founded in the mid-1950s as a registered association by the West German boatbuilding guilds to represent their interests in politics and business and today has 420 member companies. The board consists of the president Henning Mittelmann and the seven assessors Torsten Conradi (judel-vrolijk & co design + engineering), Thorben Will (CTM GmbH), Finn Möller (Herman Gotthardt GmbH), Michael Erhardt (Pantaenius GmbH), Jan Brügge (Jan Brügge Bootsbau GmbH), Martina John (John Warning GmbH) and Jörg Bubelach (Wolz Nautic GmbH).
