New Zealand town to establish Superyacht
Cluster
By IBI Magazine
The Waitakere City Council has
purchased of 15 hectares of land in Hobsonville, an area three times
the size of the existing marine cluster, for NZ$15.3 million. Mayor
Bob Harvey said in a statement that the objective of the purchase is
to make Hobsonville the "Southern Hemisphere capital of superyacht
building."
"We want to create a cluster of marine industries and a centre of
excellence at Hobsonville to enable New Zealand to compete better
with new facilities in Australia trying to muscle in on the
lucrative international market for building, outfitting and
maintaining superyachts," said Harvey in the statement. "Waitakere
has identified filmmaking and boat building as two industries which
the council wishes to foster, by making best use of natural
competitive advantages, existing skills and infrastructure in our
city."
The current marine center in Hobsonville consists of Sovereign
Yachts, Yachting Developments Ltd, Bluewater Boats and a traditional
boat building school.
The Hobsonville move is strongly supported by the marine
industry, which hopes to see existing marine precinct at Hobsonville
develop into a major marine cluster, close to the centre of
Auckland.
Ian Cook, president of the Marine Industry Association New
Zealand and managing director of Yachting Developments Ltd, said the
purchase was a "major step forward for the marine industry," which
accounts for annual exports of some NZ$570 million.
"There was a feeling when we lost the America's Cup that
international interest would wane in Zealand as a place to have a
superyacht built and outfitted, but this has not been the case,"
said Cook in the statement. "The ability of New Zealand craftsmen is
well established, as is our ability to build these complex vessels
on time and on budget. One of the keys to doing this is for builders
to be able to integrate all of the suppliers which go towards making
up the whole package. In doing this we will work cooperatively with
the marine industries based at Westhaven to present a seamless
service to clients."
Cook said the New Zealand industry faces strong competition from
Australia, where state governments have encouraged and subsidised
the establishment of new facilities for the building and maintenance
of superyachts. "It is great to have Waitakere City Council so
strongly encouraging and supporting the development of a marine
cluster at Hobsonville to allow New Zealand to compete in this
lucrative market," he said. "We are on the world stage already. The
industry needs to stay there and consolidate and grow our position
through this new initiative."
(30 May 2007)
R Electronics signs Raymarine contract
By IBI Magazine
R Electronics, a division of
Australian powerboat builder Riviera, has signed an exclusive
four-year preferred supplier agreement with marine electronics
manufacturer Raymarine. The company, which is based in Coomera,
Queensland, has worked with Raymarine for the past 19 years to
supply and fit its electronic systems on Riviera boats.
"This new agreement confirms our strong relationship with Raymarine,"
says Errol Cain, managing director of R Electronics. "We supply and
fit more than $4.5 million of Raymarine products each year. This
exclusive Preferred Supplier agreement will allow us to provide even
strong ser service to our clients and to help Raymarine grow its
market share in Australia."
Raymarine offers a complete range of marine electronics for the
leisure boating market, including autopilots, instruments, fish
finders, GPS, radar, satellite TV, communication systems and
software for power and sailboats. The agreement with R Electronics
was made through Raymarine Asia Pty Ltd, which was formed in
February of this year and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of
Raymarine.
(25 May 2007)
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