Four chances to get lucky

There's nothing new about having a chance to win a boat at a boat show. The gate prize boat has been a standard promotion at the country's largest boat show, next week's Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, for more than a decade and other boat shows regularly offer something similar.

However, the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show's Win A Boat A Day promotion is a bit more interesting.

It is certainly the first time such a promotion has been offered at a New Zealand boat show and organiser Dave Gibbs believes this is the first time a boat show has given away a boat a day anywhere in the world.

"We wanted to do [something] really special this year," he says, "and we believe we have. This year, all of the entries from each day's visitors go into separate draws for our $30,000 Zodiac/Yamaha Gate Prize Packages.

"That means only the people who attend the show on, say, Thursday, can win Thursday's gate prize boat, only those who attend on Friday go into the draw for Friday's boat, and so on.

"It really increases every show goer's chances of going home with a new boat."

Up for grabs this year are four brand new Zodiac Pro 7 sports boats, each fitted with a 40hp Yamaha outboard and on a special Trailer Shop trailer. Each boat is also equipped with some of the latest Raymarine electronics (including a new high-definition digital depth sounder and a handheld VHF radio), a new model stereo system from Fusion (with outdoor speakers and the ability to play MP3s) and an Ology sports tower (complete with special racks for both rods and wakeboards).

Unlike last year's gate prize, which had been used to promote the show in a number of fishing tournaments leading up to the event, this year's gate prize boats are all brand new.

In fact, the only person who really knows how these packages perform is Yamaha Motor NZ's technical guru Hugh Stewart, who oversaw the outboards' installation and set-up, and also took them for test drives on the Waitemata Harbour this week.

"I have got to say I'm impressed," says the veteran mechanic. "They really performed well. They get up on the plane very easily and really scoot along. They turn quickly and predictably, too.

"They are great sports boats and will be ideal for anyone who likes having fun on the water: fishing, skiing, wakeboarding."

To win one of the Zodiac/Yamaha Gate Prize Packages, visitors need to take their admission tickets to the six clearly marked stamping booths spread throughout the show. At each booth, they collect the appropriate stamp and, when they have all six, fill in their contact details and answer a simple question or two. They then take the completed ticket and place it in the entry bins alongside the gate boatsdisplay in Hall 8.

Organisers are also helping those who come to the show on one of the two late nights (Thursday or Friday) to double their chances of winning that day's boat prize.

"Anyone who comes to the show between 5pm and 9pm this Thursday or Friday will receive a free Bonus Card at the gate. Once they have collected all their stamps and filled in their entry form, they simply hand this, together with their Bonus Card, to one of the people manning the entry boxes. They will take their entry and give them another to fill out. They will not need to collect the stamps again, they simply fill out the second entry and place it in the box."

As well as the four Zodiac/Yamaha Gate Prize Packages, visitors will also have the chance to win a number of other prizes.

Probably the most spectacular will be the $8000 Blue Lagoon Cruise for two in Fiji's remote and beautiful Yasawa Islands.

The seven-day cruise passes through some of the best snorkelling and diving territory in the Pacific. Fifteen dives are part of the winner's package, plus on-board meals and return Air Pacific airfares to Nadi.

Those with a thirst for adrenalin also have several competitions they can enter. There are six rides up for grabs on the classic offshore racer Jesse James (top speed over 172km/h); a dive for two on the Kiwi submarine Drydive on Lake Taupo (prize includes accommodation and dinner for two) and even a Hot Lap in a racing V8 at Pukekohe.

"All of these prizes will be won during the show," says Gibbs. "There are no insured prizes or `only if' prizes. All of these will be drawn either during the show or immediately after, the winners notified and results published.

"We will even draw the four daily Zodiac/Yamaha Gate Prize Packages winners under police supervision each day. After all, with more than $120,000 worth of great sport boats at stake, we have to make sure everything is done right."

The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show starts next Thursday at the ASB Showgrounds in Greenlane. The show is open 10am-9pm on Thursday and Friday, and 10am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday.