With close to 20 years specific marine experience, Onfire Design was selected to undertake the brand refresh of New Zealand’s iconic Haines Hunter boats. Sam Allan and the Onfire team undertook a full brand refresh that included a new brand positioning, logo, boat graphics, marketing and sales collateral, video story telling and social media management. As part of the refresh, Onfire also rebranded Seacraft to Haines Hunter HQ, positioning them as the headquarters of Haines Hunter in Auckland. New websites were built for both Haines Hunter and HQ, that included an interactive boat quoting system. In just 12 months the… Read More

Raymarine’s new CAM300 mini day/night IP camera is a compact, high-definition, fully waterproof camera that transforms an Axiom MFD display into a powerful onboard video observation system. The new CAM300 is 40% smaller and is a wider field-of-view visible camera than its predecessors. It is also equipped with an HD video sensor that can be used to monitor blind spots, check in on the crew or watch and record fishing action from the helm. The CAM300 can also be combined with an AR200 sensor to enable ClearCruise™ Augmented Reality, an incredibly impressive user experience that overlays AIS targets, waypoints and… Read More

Built by NZ Marine member Tangaroa Marine Fabrication in Whangarei, Facilitator 7 is an 11.5m long high-speed landing craft. Powered by twin 200hp outboards, it carries equipment and vehicles between mainland Auckland and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. It is one of three barges and a high-speed workboat owned and operated by Tim Hofmeister of Facilitator Limited, one of the early adopters of Auckland Council’s Pest Free Warrant program. “It’s such a great thing to have all these islands pest-free,” says Tim, who joined the Pest Free Warrant program ahead of it being compulsory. He says Auckland Council and… Read More

New Zealand’s summer festival on the water, the Auckland Boat Show is our largest on-water boat show and the place to see the latest luxury motor yachts, sail yachts, commercial marine sector, parts, and accessories releases. Taking place from 23rd to 26th March 2023, the show celebrates the best of summer on the water, as one of the biggest editions of the show ever held gets underway at Jellicoe Harbour, formerly the America’s Cup team bases. Beat the queues on the day by buying your tickets on-line today!   www.auckland-boatshow.com   Read More

A superyacht welcome function, held last month marking the start of the cruising season in New Zealand, showed the strength of the return of superyachts to the southern hemisphere cruising grounds.  Superyachts are back, and the New Zealand industry has welcomed them with open arms. At the country’s annual Superyacht Welcome Function, which marks the start of the superyacht season in New Zealand, crew from more than 30 superyachts gathered to celebrate the return to New Zealand’s iconic cruising grounds. Hundreds of crew, both newly arrived in New Zealand and from yachts that had undergone refit in the country through… Read More

Spinlock’s popular internationally-renowned range of lifejackets and safety vests are now available in an even wider variety of bright new fashion colours, perfect for summer boating. In the Alto range, Citrus Yellow and Mercury Red have now joined Black, Atoll Blue, Fluro Orange, and Sun Yellow. In the Lite range, Bleach White, Mercury Red and Seagrass Green have been added to Black, Flow Green, Pacific Blue and Tropic White; while Sun Yellow offers an alternative to Black in the Lite+ range. In the 6D range, Citrus Yellow now complements Black, Pacific Blue and Tropic White. Spinlock lifejackets, which fit comfortably… Read More

Newly-released statistics from the NZ Marine Industry Association show New Zealand continues to grow as a nation of boaters, with 40 percent of the population boating annually and the nation’s fleet growing by an estimated 44,810 vessels per year.  Boating is New Zealand’s largest recreational activity with 1.9 million, or 40 percent of New Zealand’s population, participating in boating each year. That’s according to the latest statistics released by NZ Marine, which have revealed a $2.9 billion dollar industry, more than 1,540,000 boats in New Zealand, and annual growth of an estimated 44,810 vessels per year. “The marine industry is… Read More

Boat sharing service ‘Skipperi’ is adding a further 20 boats to its greater Auckland fleet, as well as another base at Half Moon Bay. Launched in June 2021, Skipperi currently has 15 Yamaha-powered Haines Hunter SF545s operating out of Westhaven Marina. The company is looking at bolstering its Westhaven fleet, as well as establishing a new operation at Half Moon Bay. Skipperi New Zealand CEO Alexander Rosenthal says the response in the first year of operation has been exceptional, with the popularity of the sharing service fast-tracking expansion. “Our first year of operation has been excellent – so much so… Read More

After most events and competitions were cancelled in early 2022, the rules and regulations have now eased to allow us to host events again for this coming summer. We are all excited to bring the Surtees 18th annual Fishing Competition back to Whitianga on the 10/11 February 2023! Making the most of the hot summer months, enjoying the fishing around the beautiful Coromandel with your crew, as well as catching up with fellow Surtees Tribe members- the comp will take care of all of that! It will again be a measure and release competition, making sure we are fishing responsibly… Read More

The New Zealand Commercial Vessels Group has published the 2022 Commercial Vessel Directory, profiling New Zealand’s commercial boat building, design, engineering, vessel repair, maintenance & refit capability. Member companies operate independently but the Commercial Vessels Group ‘umbrella’ presents their collective skills, coordinated by the NZ Marine Industry Association, as a formidable, one-stop-shop for commercial vessel projects. By working together, the companies under the Group are far more effective in servicing international and domestic markets. Owned by the NZ Marine Industry Association, the Marine & Specialised Technologies Academy of New Zealand (MAST) currently has over 650 marine apprentices and the growth… Read More