Apprentices score podium finishes

Anthony Bridge (left), manager, Brad Maskell, Haden Kitson, Juandre Swartz and Brendon Driskel placed second and third. Photo / Supplied.

Two teams of New Zealand apprentice boatbuilders have continued this country's tradition of doing well in the Build A Boat competition at the Sydney International Boat Show.

The four young Kiwis from Hobsonville-based Yachting Developments came second and third in the competition.

They won the right to compete in Sydney after taking out the overall prize at this year's New Zealand-equivalent event, the Marine Trades Challenge in Auckland, in February.

Although the Marine Trades Challenge features teams of four, in the Sydney competition there are only two apprentices per team and the Yachting Developments apprentices therefore split into two, two-person teams.

The Build A Boat competition saw the teams using supplied power tools to build boats to their own designs in two hours, before racing these on the water.

Although New Zealand teams have dominated the Sydney event for the past six years, this year they faced an Australian opposition with extensive experience in boat-building competitions. The Aussies also showed that they had learned from their previous experiences and most of the Australian boats showed definite influences from previous Kiwi designs.

As has been in the case in recent New Zealand Marine Trades Challenges, there was also a noticeable increase in the build quality of the competing boats.

This was especially evident in the on-water section of the contest where an Australian veteran of 13 competitions finally won the on-water race, by a boat length, for the home nation.