Bright idea comes from a dark night on the water

By ROBIN BAILEY

A scary night-time millennium moment at sea put Auckland electronics engineer Matt Williams on track for a solution that is now making boating safer around New Zealand and overseas.

"I went to turn on a control panel switch and I couldn't see it," Williams recalls. "It was a bit like driving your car at night without the dashboard lights working. Totally fright-inducing."

At the time he had just returned home after an extensive OE on which he tackled a wide range of challenges, the best being a stint as engineer on a 36m Fedship based at Monte Carlo.

Being aboard a luxury superyacht to take in events like the Monaco Grand Prix gave the young Kiwi access to experiences not available on the backpackers' trail.

Soon after returning in 1992 he bought Halfmoon Bay Electrical and began building up the business.

By 2000 he was making good progress when that one night-time experience had him looking at ways to solve the problem. The result: the marine backlit switch panel.

Development work took three years and received a boost in August 2002 with the a $20,000 Industry New Zealand enterprise award.

"The cash injection came at the right time and full credit to Jim Anderton's scheme," says Williams.

"It allowed us to produce a series of prototypes, fine-tune the design and do product testing in the toughest conditions.

"It probably fast-tracked our production timetable by a year.

"But I believe those sorts of awards should be accompanied by some mentoring assistance, specialist advice covering manufacturing, marketing and avoiding exporting pitfalls."

Getting the product on the market involved a degree of inexperienced fumbling by an engineer-turned-manufacturer eyeing the international market.

That he was successful in establishing a home market base is borne out by the number of New Zealand boatbuilders installing his Aquatech Backlit 6 system.

Among them are Stabi-Craft Marine, McLay Boats, Senator Boats, Eagle Boats, Family Boats and Kingfisher Boats.

The Aquatech Backlit is not confined to the small-boat end of the market.

The company also manufactures customised wiring harness systems that include all accessories, bilge pump, navigation lights, cabin lights and electrical systems.

It covers everything necessary to distribute power throughout the boat and allows constant monitoring via the dash-mounted switch panel

Among the company's bigger clients are the southern companies Stabi-Craft in Invercargill and McLay, based in Milton.

Paul Adams, the Invercargill company's managing director, says one of the factors that sold him on the product was the fact that it meets the strict United States Coastguard safety standards and Australian survey requirements.

"We are producing more than 450 boats a year and a lot of our focus is on exporting to those two markets, among others," says Adams. "The Aquatech wiring looms are easy to install and they are also cost-effective."

Steve McLay says his company's focus today is not so much on export. What sells him on Aquatech is the price and the fact that people buying McLay boats throughout New Zealand get the benefit of a product that meets international standards, which are much tougher than the requirements for recreational boats here.

Williams accepts the comments of the two southern men, but says his company's future lies offshore. Last year he took Aquatech Backlit to the Mets hardware and accessories show in Amsterdam, which is the world's biggest forum for marine equipment and accessories, particularly electronics.

"Mets was more than just a toe in the water, it showed me how we need to progress and what we need to do," he says.

"We already distribute throughout Australia and will be on the 2004 show circuit there to introduce our product to more boatbuilders and electronics supply companies. From here on it's all systems go."