All's sweet sailing for twin city boatbuilder

Recession, what recession? A Wanganui and Tauranga boatbuilding business has done exceptionally well for two of the past three years.
"The first year of the recession was our best year ever," AMF Boat Wanganui manager Bevan Collings said.
The six or seven staff at his Taupo Quay yard build about 17 boats a year. Most are one of 18 standard models, and are 5.8m to 6.6m long.
The company has just exported its first two boats to Melbourne. They left Wanganui on the back of a truck on Thursday.
Mr Collings is confident they will sell and the Melbourne dealer, Russell Cairns Marine, will want more. The company has previously sold 15 boats to Five Star Marine in Fremantle, Western Australia.
All the vessels are made of plate aluminium. Most are trailer boats and there are also rigid inflatables for Coastguard New Zealand and landing craft for use as cargo carriers.
The AMF in the name stands for aluminium marine fabricators.
Most of the boats are sold direct to the owners, and marketing happens by word of mouth, phone and email. Many owners are serious recreational fishers, with the boats used for fishing and diving or family boating. Their reputation is such that many buyers open their wallets before giving them a test run, Mr Collings said.
There are plenty used in Wanganui, more in Auckland and Coromandel and others elsewhere in New Zealand.
Mr Collings attributes the boats' toughness and popularity to the rigours of the west coast sea and Whanganui River bar.
Mr Collings' father, Brian started Rivercity Marine in 1981. Initially his business sold new boats and serviced outboard motors.
Brian Collings developed his own ideas about what boaties wanted.
In the late 1980s he shared them with his father-in-law Paul Sharratt, who had started his own boatbuilding business in Tauranga in 1984.
By 1995 the Tauranga business was building bigger boats and Rivercity Marine took over building the smaller ones. Since then Mr Sharratt has retired and Brian Collings has bought his business.
It makes bigger boats and Brian Collings runs it, while son Bevan runs the Wanganui side. They can see plenty of potential for growth.
"Leads that we have spent the past two years working on have come to fruition, creating a flurry of work in our Taupo Quay, Wanganui and Hewletts Rd Mount Maunganui yards. We have boats heading all over the country."