As a student at St Peters College Auckland, Josh was a passionate rower.  His involvement in the sport and an enthusiasm for boats created an interest that Josh decided to pursue as a career. Enter Tracey Eaton, NZMAC ITO Transition Advisor for the Launch it, School to Work programme. Tracey visited Josh at school to discuss the marine and composite pathway options.  Traditional boat building was the area Josh chose to explore and introductions followed by work experience organised. Josh had a comfortable mix of work for one day per week while still attending school. After a couple of months,… Read More

Yachting Developments is pleased to confirm the safe delivery of 34.3-metre Al Duhail and subsequent safe arrival into her home port in Qatar. After launching in Auckland, New Zealand, on the 22 January 2020 she formally handed over to her owner in February 2020 before travelling to Doha from New Zealand. Her exceptional performance on this 8,000nm maiden cruise is testament to the skillset of all involved in her design and construction. Al Duhail profile – image Chris Jack Al Duhail is an all-carbon motoryacht sportfisher that was commissioned by experienced owners who were looking to upgrade their previous sportfisher… Read More

When 17 year old Hunter Gardyne attended a presentation by the NZMAC ITO Schools Transition Advisor Tracey Eaton at Whangarei Boys late last year, little did he know that it would be a life- changing event.  As a passionate sailor at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron Youth Training Programme, Hunter was interested in exploring career pathways in the marine and composites industry and was keen to learn more about being an apprentice in this industry.  Having studied maths, physics and design at high school combined with a keen interest in electronics, Tracey identified that he was a good fit… Read More

KEEGAN MACNEIL’s dream is to one day work as a chief engineer on a superyacht, travelling the world and being paid to do so. The 19-year-old is on the path to making this dream a reality, working as an apprentice marine systems engineer at General Marine Services in Auckland’s Westhaven. Keegan’s favourite part of the job is working on the big 16-litre V8 Scania engines and the comradery of working as part of a team. “The problem solving is a great character-building experience, which has given me a lot more confidence in what I do,” he says. An opportunity to… Read More

Our NZ Marine News Summer 2017/18 edition is now available to download.  Read all about what’s happening in the NZ Marine Industry, our members’ successes and what America’s Cup 2021 will mean to New Zealand. Read More

Yachting Developments is proud to have launched their latest superyacht project, 39.5m (129’6’’) sportsfisher Hull 1015. The yacht left Yachting Developments Hobsonville shed on a sunny day in Auckland, New Zealand, on 22 November 2017 before safely launching at high tide on 23 November. This impressive yacht is the world’s largest all-carbon sportsfisher and is on a scale unseen before for this style of yacht. Built for a highly experienced owner, who is a passionate fisherman, Hull 1015 combines luxury styling with exceptional performance capabilities and speed and an impressive all-inclusive fishing setup that will allow her to undertake extended… Read More

As progress continues on their AC50, senior sailing team members from Emirates Team New Zealand visited Southern Spars’ facility last week to check on the yacht which they hope will help them bring home the America’s Cup. Southern Spars have long been Emirates Team New Zealand’s go-to manufacturer for masts and wing-sails, but for the 35th America’s Cup, the association has grown to include the whole yacht – with the exception of the foils and cross beams. Inside Southern Spars’ massive new carbon-fibre manufacturing plant in Avondale, which has produced wing sails for ETNZ and Luna Rossa as well as… Read More

Coastguard Boating Education’s new general manager, Mike Brown, wants to target groups that don’t usually sit CBE courses and who are often over-represented in boating statistics. “We know that Maori, Pasifika and new arrivals traditionally have a very low uptake of courses such as Day Skipper or Boatmaster,” he says. “We have to change that if we want to reduce the number of people getting into trouble on our waters.” Mike Brown, who has an extensive background in both outdoor activities and education, is also determined to accelerate CBE’s move into offering courses on line. “Education is changing rapidly and… Read More

  Whakatane boat builder Surtees Boats is undergoing a major expansion of its current production facility with the addition of a new 900sqm building. Surtees Boats CEO Adam Dyck says the expansion of the factory is a strategic move to further streamline the company’s manufacturing process and to decrease the lead-time for customer orders. “The brand is enjoying very strong sales across all of the markets in which we operate in, this expansion will give us the ability to increase our production output,” says Dyck. “This ability to increase our production will allow us to expand into new sales markets… Read More

  Southern Spars today announced it has been appointed to build Emirates Team New Zealand’s boat for the 35th America’s Cup. New Zealand’s Southern Spars has provided masts for a range of different teams in every America’s Cup for the past 25 years, including the victorious Black Magic campaign in 1995. The boat, a 50ft foiling catamaran, will be launched early next year ahead of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series and America’s Cup to be held in Bermuda from the beginning of May 2017. Emirates Team New Zealand said it will be its most technically-advanced yacht ever. Last month, Emirates… Read More