As New Zealand prepares for an easing of lockdown measures at 11:59pm tonight, Kiwi boatbuilders are looking forward to returning to work on Tuesday under Level 3 restrictions.

When Level 4 lockdown came in over five weeks ago, Kiwi boat manufacturers, along with the rest of the country, had to close their doors. Not regarded as an essential business, the entire marine industry ground to an instant halt.

The New Zealand trailer boat industry had, until lockdown, been extremely active, with some companies recording record sales and 2020 was heading towards being a bumper year for new trailer boat sales. So now, after more than a month of inactivity, the laminators, boat riggers and finishing teams can get back to work.

Geoff Robinson, director of CSB Huntsman Boats, predicts a positive outcome. “Yes, it will be a tough run for a month or two, but I feel that once the ‘new norm’ kicks in we will see dealers placing orders for the summer,” he says.

Robinson adds that coming back to work on Tuesday feels much like returning after the Xmas break, and while they have some orders to complete, they also experienced a number of cancellations from dealers who were not prepared to commit with such an unknown future.

“However, we now have a better picture of where the country is heading and we will all have to adjust to that and hopefully, if what some of the business leaders predict, we will see a boom time for our industry, especially as overseas travel is likely to be drastically reduced,” says Robinson.

CSB Huntsman are continuing with their new model programme and have a new Centurion Hardtop to be released soon.

Steve McLay, MD of McLay Boats, is not so convinced that we are heading for a boom and feels that it is not going to be an easy year for sales. While he returns with a full team to finish existing orders, he says that once they are completed, he will be building up his stock boat inventory.

“We are as yet unable to water test, so that is an issue, and we are not allowed to transport our boats, so we can’t send boats to the North Island or in fact out of our area.

“However, we are able to export and we have two containers with four boats ready to be shipped to Australia next week,” says McLay.

He added that it’s tough on the cashflow, as nothing like Covid-19 was budgeted for, so boat manufacturers that are not reasonably well-funded may struggle to survive in the future.

Tristram Marine’s Tristram Fink says while their showroom will remain closed during alert Level 3, their production plant and service centre will be open.

“This allows customers to have their boat packages serviced to ensure engine, boat and trailer warranty conditions are met,” says Fink. Service drop-offs and pick-ups will be contactless under the guidance of Tristram Marine’s strict safe practice protocols.

“We have more orders now than we have ever had in the company’s 33-year history, and since lockdown, not a single boat order has been cancelled,” says Fink.

He adds that all that has changed for customers with boats on order, is that production has been delayed for 4.5 weeks and when they start back tomorrow it will be business as usual.

Fink says that the enquiry level has been very strong during the lockdown and he is confident that a number of those will result in sales. “The future, in my opinion, is positive and in fact I see it becoming even busier.”

One of the fallouts of the lockdown was that Tristram Marine was unable to launch its new model, which for now is called Tristram ‘X’. Due to be released in April, it is now scheduled to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“It is absolutely phenomenal and is a true game-changer in the trailerable offshore sportfishing market. Unquestionably it is one of New Zealand’s most incredible CAD designed and CNC moulded boats and with the extent of pre-release sales, it seems our customers agree,” says Fink.

The CEO of Rayglass Boats, David Larsen, says the company entered 2020 with very solid order book for both the Legend Series and Protector RIBS and when lock down came they were still busy working on orders.

“We are now busy getting the wheels back in motion, especially in the production of our Protector RIBs and the Legend 3500, which will take us through until next year,” says Larsen.

With the showroom closed, the Rayglass sales team has also put together a virtual boat show so customers can still look over the boats, but with no physical contact.

Larsen says he feels the future for the industry is still strong, and that they are still getting positive enquiry for most models, especially the Legend 3500.

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