The Palm Beach International Boat Show 2025 was more than a showcase of luxury vessels—it offered a place where industry leaders could connect and innovation took center stage. During one such moment, Onno Ebbens, Chief Marketing Officer of YATCO, caught up with Ryan Tounsley, Director of Marine at XPEL, to discuss how the global film protection giant is making serious waves in the yachting world.
Revolutionizing Yacht Protection: Ryan Tounsley on XPEL Marine Coatings | YATCO video on YouTube.
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Video Transcription:
From Luxury Cars to the Open Sea
Onno Ebbens: “Palm Beach Boat Show—always a great place to meet people. And I ran into Ryan. We were just chatting, right? And like I said, ‘How big is XPEL?'”
Ryan Tounsley: “Well, we only have over 6,000 installers in the world. We’re a small company, hah.”
Onno : “Small company. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ That’s larger than our industry, isn’t it?”
Ryan: “It’s big. It is big. Big. My name is Ryan Tounsley. I’m the Director of Marine for XPEL. I guess the best way to describe who XPEL is would be to start there. XPEL’s been around for over 25 years. We’re the leader in the paint protection film industry—the film that goes over…a lot of people know it for the front of their vehicles. That’s where it came from.
“Over the years, XPEL just kept getting bigger and bigger. And what they found out was that nobody was really servicing the marine industry.
“So, all of our products that we made for the automotive world—where we’re the experts—we basically took them all apart and made them a little more…hardy, so they’d withstand our lovely marine environments, especially what saltwater throws at it.
Onno: “Because it is different, right? It’s not exactly the same product. If I take that film from my car and put it on my boat, that’s not going to work.”
Ryan: “It’s probably going to last—if you’re lucky—maybe a year. The saltwater is just going to eat away at it. So, we had to basically make the topcoat stronger, giving the adhesive more bite. Same with ceramic coatings—it just had to be more durable.”
A Personal Journey into Marine Innovation
Onno: “Let’s talk about you—because we’re making these videos to get to know the people in our industry. And you have an interesting story.”
Ryan: “Yeah, I’ve been in the industry for a while. So, my expertise—or what I bring to the table—is that I started a company 24 years ago. It was automotive based. We catered to, you know, those little cars like Koenigsegg, Bugatti, and Pagani.”
Onno: “Just the regular ones. Haha!”
Ryan: “Yeah, just your average ones hah! So, we kept growing and eventually had four locations. We started playing around with the marine industry, because—it’s the same owners, probably, right?”
Onno: “Absolutely. The people that had those cars probably also had a boat.”
Ryan: “Exactly. And it could be anything—from a wakeboard boat up to a superyacht—and everything in between. So when XPEL approached me, they said, ‘We think there’s something here. What if we went all in?’ They actually acquired my company a year ago and said, ‘We just want you to take over marine, run with it, and make it a powerhouse.’
“They didn’t just hire me for my good looks—because that would’ve expired last week!”
A New Standard in Yacht Protection
Onno: “What people sometimes don’t understand, especially in our industry, like with crewed vessels—it’s a different timeline. How different is it dealing with that audience compared to automotive?”
Ryan: “Completely different. Different needs, different wants, different problems that need solving. In the automotive world, you don’t want rock chips—so you put film on the front of your car. Well, there aren’t many rock chips on a superyacht. And if there are, you’ve got bigger problems.
“Ceramic coating on cars is for ease of cleaning and shine. You can wash your car in 30 minutes. Washing a 110-footer? That’s a whole other story.
“With XPEL, we don’t do much interior work for cars, but on vessels—especially superyachts—we do a lot inside: tabletops, galleys, appliances.”
Onno: “I didn’t even realize that. I thought you’d be mostly exterior-focused.”
Ryan: “The smaller the vessel, the more exterior-focused we are. On wakeboard boats, we do the hulls, transoms, swim decks, screens—everything. As the boat gets bigger, we move to the topside: gunwhales, high-impact areas, where the cleats are.
“And we talk to chief stews. We ask, ‘What are some of your paint points?’ They always say: scratches on tabletops. And it’s actually a film—so we use different films for different problems. It’s not one-size-fits-all. We’ve got products for upholstery, vinyl—whatever the situation calls for. And that’s our upper hand.”
Scaling Globally, Grounded Locally
Onno: “You’re doing everything—crewed, uncrewed, small, large vessels. It’s a big industry but still small, right?”
Ryan: “Very small. But here’s the twist: there are more boat manufacturers than there are car manufacturers.”
Onno: “No way.”
Ryan: “Yep. It dwarfs automotive. People don’t expect that.”
Onno: “So, who are your clients?”
Ryan: “Everybody. Crewed vessels, wakeboard boat owners, pontoon boats. And on crewed yachts, they’ve got tenders, center consoles—tons of toys.”
Onno: “How do you market to so many different types?”
Ryan: “Guerilla marketing. Feet on the docks. Social media, targeted ads—but the best thing? Word of mouth. People talk. If you mess up one job—you’re done. Chief stew doesn’t like your work? You’re out.”
Education as a Mission
Onno: “Honestly—I’ve been in the industry for a long time, and I didn’t know about XPEL. That’s on me.”
Ryan: “It’s not your fault. Nobody knows XPEL in the marine industry—yet. In automotive, I started in 2000 and had to explain what a clear bra was. That was awkward! Fast forward to 2025—maybe 3–4% of the auto industry knows what Clear Bra is. In marine? I’d say we’re 20 years behind that.”
“So now it’s all about education: why you need it, what it does. Not everyone needs every product. But if you’ve got a yacht or dayboat, you probably need window tint. People think, ‘I’m outside, why tint?’ Well—are you running the air conditioning? Tint reduces energy use, saves the generator, and saves fuel.”
Onno: “Exactly. You can even get clear films that block heat without changing the look.”
What’s Next for XPEL Marine?
Onno: “You’re global?”
Ryan: “Yep. I fly to Italy end of March and April 1st we launch Italy. April 11th, Amsterdam. April 15th, Spain. In July, we launch Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. In fall, we launch Abu Dhabi and Qatar. We’ve soft-launched Japan. Then I come home for five days before we launch Canada.”
Onno: “Where’s your wife?”
Ryan: “She’s over there. And yes—she gets to go with me. I’m smart.”
Onno: “Yeah, because if mama’s not happy…”
Ryan: “Exactly!”
Innovation That Floats
Whether you’re managing a superyacht, crewing a center console, or cruising on a wakeboard boat, XPEL’s marine solutions meet you where you are—literally and technically. With custom-engineered films, coatings, and global expansion in full swing, the company is redefining yacht care for the modern age.
