Southern craft bait for show

In the weeks before the 1999 New Zealand Boat Show, the Invercargill company Stabi-Craft embarked on its biggest national promotion.

Leaving from Bluff a new model 580HT which was the gate prize for the show, set off on a national roadshow promoting the safe boating message and the brand.

The company was building around 300 boats a year and company managing director Paul Adams says the tour and show proved a huge boost to sales and awareness of the rugged southern craft.

In the seven years since that first roadshow, Stabi-Craft has lifted production to 700 boats a year and exports them all over the world.

And now a new Stabi-Craft package, worth around $95,000, is up for grabs at the 2006 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show at the Auckland Showgrounds over Queen's Birthday weekend (June1-5).

One show visitor will take away a Stabi-Craft 659 Super Cab, powered by a Yamaha F150 150hp 4-stroke outboard and kitted out with a full Raymarine electronics package and a whole swag of other extras.

Show organisers say it is the highest-value craft ever offered as a boat show gate prize in New Zealand.

The package was specially selected by show frontman Ian Miller (The Boating Guy).

Since launching in January, the boat has enjoyed a high profile at a series of marine events in the top half of the North Island.

Along the way skipper Miller and his crew have collected a swag of prizes in many fishing contests.

Miller, an experienced boater, fisherman and diver, says he cannot rate the package highly enough.

"This is the best set up rig I have ever used," he says. "The boat handles the rough water like a dream and is so easy to fish or dive from. The motor is real honey and the electronics are mind-boggling."

The 6.7m 659SC has an internal beam of 1.7m, a 20 degree deadrise and reserve buoyancy of 2450 litres for extra safety.

The Yamaha F150 is a 150hp 4-stroke outboard that features a unique counter-balancing shaft.

Based on the largest capacity engine block in its class, a 2.7 litre inline four, the F150 has a similar weight to a low emission two-stroke outboard and is the biggest selling engine in its class.

The Raymarine electronics package includes a revolutionary new DSM digital fishfinder to target fish at any depth and a Smartpilot, an autopilot developed especially for trailerboats and able to automatically troll in popular gamefishing patterns.

Both the digital depth sounder and the Raymarine GPS plotter are linked to a see-in-direct-sunlight C80 LCD display complete with a new Navionics Gold digital chart.

Rounding off the electronics package is a new generation Raymarine VHF radio.

The prize package comes on a specially-designed Stabi-Craft trailer and also features a Muir freefall windlass, power-assisted Seastar hydraulic steering, a Flojet washdown pump and a Rule automatic bilge pump.

Show patrons can double their chances of winning by picking up a new bonus card. This entitles anyone who has bought and completely filled out a public entry ticket to one additional entry in the gate prize draw.

The cards can be collected from Stabi-Craft and Yamaha dealers Kev & Ian's Marine in Manurewa and from the Raymarine team competing in this weekend's Battle of the Bays fishing tournament at Browns Bay (just look for the crew on the gate prize boat).

At the boat show bonus card holders need to collect stamps from booths around the show, answer a couple of questions, fill in their contact details and be the first ticket drawn at the end of the show.

The slightly used Stabi-Craft is serious bait to lure would-be boaters through the gates of the Auckland Showgrounds.