The 2020 Auckland Boat Show has been cancelled, it was announced yesterday. “New Zealand’s largest boat show was scheduled to open in three weeks – running from 8th to the 11th October – but with uncertainty on which restriction levels will be in force at that time, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s show,” says organiser, Stacey Cook. The build of the show, including a made-for-purpose show marina, was slated to begin next week, along with the process of exhibitors shipping boats to Auckland. A meeting of exhibitors and organisers held yesterday concluded that, due to uncertainty around changing Covid levels and a desire to ensure… Read More

The ride just gets better with the launch of the all-new Haines Hunter 635. After an extensive 24-month development process, Haines Hunter has unveiled its new 635 model, which will be available in hard top (SS635) and soft top (SF635) configurations. The Haines Hunter 635 has a hull length of 6.35m with an overall length of 6.76m and carries the brands legendary 21-degree deep-vee via an all-new hull from the design team. “The 6.0m range is important to us, this boat has evolved from demand and feedback from dealers, and the customers,” says Haines Hunter CEO Denis Kendall. “It’s a… Read More

HamiltonJet’s newly developed HJX29 waterjet will power the Turkish Coastguard border control fleet. Following the recent award of the contract from the Presidency of Defence Industries for the Turkish Coastguard, ARES Shipyard in Antalya is building 122 patrol boats to protect the country’s shoreline borders. The project will see each of the 12-metre Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic [FRP] and carbon composite boats equipped with twin HJX29 waterjets controlled by blueARROW. HamiltonJet’s Istanbul-based distributor Nemomarin is running the project with ARES Shipyard in Antalya. The build starts later this year. Utku Alanc, CEO of ARES Shipyard, stated: “The project represents the largest… Read More

New Zealand companies HamiltonJet and EV Maritime have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build advanced composite, battery-powered commuter ferries. Their cooperation was formalised at HamiltonJet’s Christchurch headquarters in May, in the presence of Hon Dr Megan Woods, New Zealand’s Minister of Energy & Resources and Minister of Research Science & Innovation. With the aim of decarbonising the harbour cities of the world, these leading lights of New Zealand maritime innovation are seeking to develop one of the world’s first truly high-speed, full-size, zero emission fast ferries. HamiltonJet will provide a high efficiency, high manoeuvrability drive solution for this all-electric vessel,… Read More

The New Zealand government is, from July 2020, allowing foreign-flagged vessels and yachts with booked-in refits or repairs to enter New Zealand. “New Zealand is respected for its world-class trades people and has many sheltered harbours and ports where clusters of marine industry companies are well-equipped to service local and visiting vessels. The New Zealand Government understands the huge economic value that visiting commercial vessels and yachts bring to the NZ marine industry and we are delighted that they have quickly responded to our industry’s request to allow foreign-flagged vessels, with work to be done, to be allowed into our… Read More

Raymarine’s stylish new LightHouse 3 Dartmouth operating system for its Axiom range of MFDs comes with a handy new Day/Night mode, auto chart re-centering, a range of great new LightHouse Apps and numerous other features sure to appeal to Kiwi boaties. Dartmouth’s handy new Day/Night Mode is sure to prove especially popular with those boating at night. At the touch of the screen, it enables skippers to clearly see all the details on their Axiom display, without impeding their night vision in any way. Dartmouth also introduces a range of new LightHouse apps, providing even greater integration with a vessel’s… Read More

Lusty and Blundell’s updated website, www.lusty-blundell.co.nz, features rich content with detailed product information on L&B’s wide range of both marine and non-marine products and systems. The upgraded website is a valuable, user-centric hub of information; a ‘one-stop-shop’ that contains technical diagrams, product manuals, data sheets and a significant number of downloadable resources and helpful videos. “Everyone from electricians and retailers to boat builders and DIY-ers will find appropriate technical solutions and something useful for their own applications,” says L&B marketing executive Shirner Dyson. During the lockdown, L&B staff spent over 3000 hours collecting information from various suppliers and creating digital… Read More

At the recent NZ Marine Annual General Meeting, held 16 June 2020, members agreed to the establishment of a NZ Marine & Composites Training Academy. This exciting new initiative will further the world-leading training provided by the NZ Marine & Composites (NZMAC) Transitional Industry Training Organisation, and seamlessly transition existing apprentices to the new Training Academy. The Government’s reforms of the vocational education sector https://www.tec.govt.nz/rove/reform-of-vocational-education/ which will see the disestablishment of industry training organisations (ITOs) has provided the marine and composites industries a unique opportunity to pursue a dedicated training academy. This will be through an application to NZQA to… Read More

HamiltonJet has embarked on an exciting project to refit a newly acquired test boat with the company’s innovative new Electro-hybrid Drive (EHX) waterjets. The 15-metre aluminium hydrofoil-assisted catamaran enjoyed a former life as a recreational vessel, cruising the waters of New Zealand’s beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Now, with a significant refit well underway, she is bound for a relaunch as the showcase for HamiltonJet’s newest technology to be used for development, testing and demonstration of the EHX system. The test boat was designed initially by Teknicraft and built by Q-West boat builders. Q-West will also complete the refit. “We chose Q-West… Read More

Auckland, New Zealand – Built Boats has created the new Tuff 540 for fishing enthusiasts. The boat is available for purchase from the Built Boat website from 19 May 2020. The Tuff 540 is a 5.4-metre-long hardtop powerboat designed and built in Auckland, New Zealand from 15mm-thick Tuff-plate™ specifically engineered to withstand the harsh marine environment. Unlike their aluminium counterparts, boats built from Tuff-plate™ will not corrode. An excellent boat-building material, Tuff-plate™ floats, resists harsh chemicals and marine growth, and has a carbon footprint approximately five times smaller than aluminium plate. The body of the Tuff 540 is filled with… Read More