Sands' smooth new model

Lionel Sands, son of Sandy, has seacraft in the blood and his latest design spells a new direction for the family business, reports ROBIN BAILEY.

The names Sands and Seacraft have long been synonymous with the marine industry in the north of New Zealand.

Today Lionel Sands runs the Ellerslie, Auckland, operation now called Miller Moyes Seacraft, producer of the Haines Hunter range of pleasure boats.

The story begins in 1946, when Lionel's father, the incomparable Sandy Sands, began making sturdy little wooden Seacraft runabouts.

By the mid-60s the company had followed the trend into GRP. In 1982 the company took another leap forward by buying the New Zealand Haines Hunter company and began building a range of boats carrying that name designed specifically for New Zealand conditions.

Lionel Sands: "From the beginning we built our reputation on turning out safe boats suitable for a range of family activities. Our boats have had to handle fairly serious fishing as well as a full range of on, in and under the water activity.

"With the Haines Hunter range we have achieved an acceptable compromise in creating a boat suitable for a range of activities rather than a specialist craft. We've made boats suitable to be towed by the family car but rugged enough to handle the adverse seas that every boatowner encounters at some stage."

The fact that more than 1000 of the Haines Hunter SF525 models have been sold indicates that the boating public has tuned in to the company's philosophy.

This year Lionel Sands and his team have taken a bold leap in another direction, creating a boat designed specifically for the serious fisherman and the fast-growing charter fishing sector. The boat has been built to survey to cater for the charter market.

The SS720 was introduced at the New Zealand Boat Show and will be the company's flagship at the Christchurch show next weekend.

"When my design team began investigating the project two years ago we decided that fishing is no longer just a recreational activity for blokes," says Sands. "We vowed to include some of the creature comforts that women demand - acceptable cooking, toilet and living areas. The spartan fishing craft of the past is no longer an option in today's market."

The advent of huge fishing competitions has had a direct influence on the development of this sector of boating, with contest activity running over two to four days. Often, too, the social aspects of the tournament are as important for many of those taking part as the actual trophy-hunting. Creature comforts are demanded as well as the ability to fish efficiently. This is the market the Haines Hunter SS720 is targeting.

The boat is the first in the range to be powered by a sterndrive rather than a big outboard, which allows maximum use of the transom for fishing. It also has a self-draining cockpit and huge storage bins to accommodate the catch.

The SS720 power plant is a 260hp 5.7-litre V8 EFI Mercruiser petrol engine that gives it a top speed of 40 knots and a range of more than 300 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 25 knots.

Sands: "It can get to the fishing grounds quickly, troll efficiently for up to 10 hours and get home again at speed."

An intensive development programme that involved a good deal of research has been a big investment for Lionel Sands and his team. The company has a staff of 32, including five apprentices, and the success of the SS720 will play an important part in the future growth of the company.

Like his father, Lionel has long been involved with industry training and he is appreciative of the success achieved by the Boating Industry Training Organisation.

He says chairman Bob Tait (Diversified Products, Wellington) and Mike Hodson, from Furuno in Auckland, have been particularly effective in developing and instituting effective training programmes for which they have received little industry recognition.

The annual New Zealand Boat Show-sponsored Sandy Sands Awards to the top apprentices in both boatbuilding and outboard engineering recognise the contribution to industry training of Miller Moyes Seacraft and its founder.