All go at the boat show

By ROBIN BAILEY

The combined marine trade exhibition and boat show that runs from Thursday, March 11, through to Sunday incorporates the Imtec marine equipment exhibition and the On-the-Water Boat Show.

The event is designed to appeal to serious boaters as well as creating a marine attraction that will bring a huge variety of craft and equipment to Auckland's doorstep.

Show CEO Peter Busfield, who is executive director of the Marine Industry Association, says there will be 25 per cent more boats on show than at last year's on-the-water exhibition, including the latest designs from Australia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and New Zealand.

"In addition to the newest designs in today's sophisticated composite materials, the show will pay a special tribute to this country's marine heritage by including a section for classic racing yachts," Busfield says.

"Two are the veterans Waitangi (1894) and Frances (1906) from the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust collection which have been restored to their original condition. We will also have Ranger, Auckland's most successful racing yacht, which was launched in 1938, and from more recent times, NZL32, the yacht that won the America's Cup for New Zealand."

The show will also host the official unveiling of Aotearoa One, the 24m (80ft) Waka Hourua (double-hulled voyaging canoe), a design similar to the craft Maori used to travel around Polynesia. The canoe has a sail area of 176 sq m and has been built to traditional lines at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, the Manukau crown tertiary institute that trains Maori boatbuilding apprentices.

While the big waka looks like the craft from another era, it is a commercial vessel built to survey standard in modern materials. It is bound to attract a lot of attention and there will be people aboard to talk about it to show visitors.

Busfield says a lot of work has gone into the layout of the show. The marina has been divided into sections to cater for people looking for a particular type of boat.

"We have a greatly expanded new boat area, the always-popular second-hand section, a section for charter boats and another for the classic craft."

He emphasises that the specialist areas will be complemented by a much bigger land-based display area which will show off the latest in engines, electronics, fittings and accessories, safety equipment and all the other products essential to modern boating.

The on-the-water show provides an invaluable marketing opportunity for New Zealand boatbuilders.

"Companies producing boats in the $500,000 to $1 million range, for example, previously had a problem getting potential clients to see their latest creation," says Busfield. "Usually the boat was only in the water briefly at the time it was launched, for a buyer who may have been waiting for it for a year.

"To see comparable craft meant spending time visiting yards all over the country. People with that sort of money are pressed for time. Now they can see a lot of similar craft in the water in one venue and decide which best suits their budget and their requirements. They can even take it for a sea trial on Monday."

He cites the Warkworth company Wavecrusher Boats as an example. It signed two-thirds of its forward production at last year's show and expects to do even better this time. He says the story is the same for other major New Zealand builders, especially those at the top end of the market.

The show has been timed to run over the last full weekend of daylight saving, and the organisers believe that on the law of averages the bad weather of recent weekends may mean conditions will be fine.

Set among the city's top restaurants and bars and with a selection of the latest in things maritime from around the world, both Busfield's team and exhibitors are keeping their fingers crossed that Auckland's traditional March weather will come to their party.