Booming boatbuilders eye airbase site

By FIONA ROTHERHAM

Auckland's booming marine industry, its sails filled by the America's Cup, wants to set up a facility for servicing superyachts on part of the Hobsonville airbase.

Deepwater access is essential for lifting the luxury yachts in and out, while the rich are asking boatbuilders for bigger and bigger craft.

"The timing is perfect. The Cup has brought to a head something the industry has been looking at for some years," says Dennis Maconaghie, of Trade NZ.

He will approach Defence Minister Mark Burton in the next couple of weeks about acquiring the land bordering the upper end of the Waitemata Harbour.

The future of the Hobsonville base has been uncertain since the 1997 defence real estate review. It is used by the Air Force, and also by the Special Air Service for repairing trucks.

Superyacht builder Sensation Yachts also has its eye on the site for its rapidly expanding business. A client wants a 220ft yacht, a record for Sensation, but space is a problem at its Henderson premises.

Waitakere City's existing boatbuilding cluster earns up to $70 million a year in exports, with about 40 boatbuilders employing around 400 people.

Export growth has been 25 per cent a year for the past four years as the weak exchange rate, coupled with New Zealand's reputation for skilled work, attracts growing international interest.

The America's Cup is building on that reputation in a way advertising could never hope to. It has attracted around 100 superyachts, where fewer than five usually visit annually.

The Boating Industries Association estimates that the marine industry has made $80 million from the Cup defence. Around $50 million of that is directly linked to building, refitting and repairing superyachts.

As the wealthy become bored with their traditional nautical playgrounds in the Mediterranean and Caribbean and turn to the South Pacific, local boatbuilders are actively chasing them for refurbishment work.