Whakatane's Surtees Boats has scooped a major award with its 700 Game Fisher model being named Australia's Greatest Aluminium Boat by Australian media outlet Trade-a-Boat.
Surtees Boats - one of New Zealand's largest production boat builders, which exports almost half its total production to Australia - eased out strong competition from the American-built Tracker, the Australian Stessco and Anglapro brands, as well as New Zealand's Stabicraft.
For Surtees Boats, the 700 Game Fisher launched in 2015 has quickly become one of the company's top sellers, with more than 50 sold since its launch.
"We are extremely proud of the 700 Game Fisher's achievements from the day it was unveiled to the public," said Surtees Boats chief executive Adam Dyck.
"We have always been proud of our innovation, or what we call Surtees IQ. This carries across to quality, construction, performance, design and safety. It's fantastic that the judges also feel we are getting it right."