Exhibitors find boaties eager to splash cash

Rayglass Boats was awarded the Most Innovative Stand. Photo / Supplied

Smuggler Marine co-owner Pauline Pringle echoed the thoughts of many when she declared, three-quarters of the way through this year's Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show in Auckland: "The recession is over."

Pringle made the comment while accepting the Boat of the Show GRP Fishing Boat Under 6 Metres Award for her company's Smuggler Multisport 570.

She was clearly responding to a level of sales and genuine inquiry unseen since the heady days of the mid-1990s.

There was little doubt that, after two tough years, New Zealand boat owners appeared willing to shrug off their recent frugalness and once again invest in a boating lifestyle.

Interest and, more importantly, sales were spread across virtually all exhibitors and all types of products.

Seacraft Miller Moyes managing director Lionel Sands, who was inducted into the show's Hall of Fame at the awards evening, said the company sold more than a million dollars worth of their Haines Hunter boats during the four days of the show.

He said a "significant" percentage of these were of the company's new SS725 Sport Sedan and SP725 Sport Pursuit models (the latter of which won the show's coveted Boat for the Show: Overall Winner award) but there was interest and sales across the range.

Another Boat of the Show award winner, Tony Hembrow from Rayglass Boats, also reported very strong sales "well beyond expectations". In his case, the sales appeared mainly spread across the company's new model Legend 2200 and their existing Legend 2500, both of which also won Boat of the Show Awards. The buoyant sales were not restricted to the show's GRP models either. Several leading aluminium manufacturers also apparently enjoyed great success.

Brian Firman, from Napier's Profile Boats believed he sold the first boat of the show, a Profile 650, in the first hour after the gates opened on Thursday. One of his fellow aluminium boat builders, Steve McLay, from McLay Boats in Milton, South Otago, reported selling six boats during the show, including his new award-winning 690.

He expects this to double after sea trials and further discussions with potential buyers.

Whakatane's Extreme Boats seemed to enjoy even more success with owner Glenn Shaw expecting to sell between 20 and 25 boats after checking trade-ins and taking buyers for a ride.

Shaw said he was also surprised at the level of specification buyers wanted. Extreme offers various versions of their new 850 Game King and these can range in price from an entry level version costing about $160,000 to a top-of-the-line model at around $220,000.

"All five of the 850s we sold at the show were right at the very top of that curve," he says.

Marine dealers, who have had a very hard time over the last few years, also had reason to smile.

Peter Carlson from East Tamaki-based Family Boats enjoyed his best boat show since 2005, while Nigel Arkell, from Albany's Rogers Boatshop, says his company definitely noticed a significant upward trend over recent shows, with a substantially better quality of inquiry.

It appears more people are interested in finding out about boating and the boating lifestyle, too. Attendance figures for the show were up an estimated 15 per cent over last year.

Award winners

Winners of this year's Boat of the Show Awards were:

Boat of the Show:

Overall Winner: Haines Hunter SP725 Sports Pursuit

Sports/Ski: Sport Nautique 200

GRP Fishing Boat Under 6 Metres: Smuggler Multisport 570

GRP Fishing Boat Open: Haines Hunter SP725 Sports Pursuit

Aluminium Fishing Boat Under 6m: Surtees 5.5 Workmate Hardtop

Aluminium Fishing Boat 6-7 Metres: McLay 690 Hard Top

Aluminium Fishing Boat Open: Extreme 860 Game King

All Purpose Under 6m: Tristram 581 Prima M2

All Purpose 6-7 Metres: Rayglass Legend 2200 Hardtop

All Purpose Open: Rayglass Legend 2500 Cruiser Top

Aquatech Most Innovative Local Product Award: Rayglass Rod Locker

Aquatech Most Innovative International Product Award: Electronic Navigation Ltd's WASSP Multibeam Sonar

Marine Direct Ltd Most Innovative Stand: Rayglass Boats

Marine Direct Ltd Best Small Stand: Surf Life-Saving's Educational Container

Marine Direct Ltd Best Commercial Stand: BRP Australia Pty Ltd