CMI

History of the CMI and its Future Objectives

Founded in the early 1960s by notable characters such as Harry Lincoln and Fred Carrington after the Fenland branch of the IWA was disbanded, the Great Ouse Boatbuilders and Operators' Association (GOBOA), now known as Cambridgeshire Marine Industries, was set up to represent local boat hire and trade interests.

In 1969, the association published a book 'Welcome to East Anglia's Fenland Waterways: Cruising Hints and a Brief Guide for Visitors to the Area'. On many occasions, as now, the association has lobbied the navigation authority of the day over licence fees, and successfully persuaded the NRA to reduce the hire boat multiplier from 3x to 1.8x in the 1990s (it remains at this level today). The name was changed to CMI in the mid 1990s.