Auckland On The Water Boat Show 2015 shows industry healthy

by Richard Gladwell on 30 Sep 2014 The Auckland On The Water Boat Showis over for another year, having survived Auckland's inclement Spring weather largely unscathed.

This Show is essentially a display of the latest in marine technology and products, of which boats are an integral part - obviously.

But what makes this Show unique for the New Zealand and International visitors is that it affords the opportunity for the general public to have a close look at boats that would normally be off-limits. Certainly you can't see this line-up in a regular marina.

We don't have the numbers through the show as yet. Certainly the visitors come in waves, and attendance is as much a reflection of external influences such as Rugby Tests, the weather and daylight saving.

Talk around the Show was mixed. Some spoke of good sales and interest for products at the bottom end of the price range. For others it was more product and technology explanation, with an eye on sales being realised in the medium to longer term.

For all exhibitors, the Show is an excellent opportunity to network and keep the momentum flowing in one of New Zealand's major industry groups.

Highlight of the Show was probably the SUP record mark set on the Lancer SUP based on their unique AirDock technology.

In itself, that project represented what the New Zealand marine industry is all about - a NZ family company having an idea, getting the prototype built and refined, turning it into a viable product that can be sold commercially, and then pushing it into a new purpose for which it was never originally designed - and seeing what happens.

The Lancer AirDock technology came through with flying colours - travelling very quickly and with impressive stability down the 100 metre course. Having set a new record mark the 52 paddlers then turned the Lancer AirDock at the top of the course, and paddled another 100 metres - all without incident and under perfect control.

Many of the exhibits came from similar beginnings and had bloomed at the Auckland On the Water Boat Show. Plus, of course, there are hundreds of similar stories in the wider marine industry who hadn't exhibited at the AOWBS.

One of the features of this show - that came up through the networking process - was the amount of new blood coming into the industry. New employees or family members becoming more involved in their parents business - and looking to take the family developed marine technology to a new level.

On reflection, this process has been happening for several years - with the families like the Brookes, Salthouses, Wilson's, Lidgards and Mackay's. But now with the baby-boomers getting in the back seat, there is a new momentum.

That is a sign of a very healthy and stable marine industry.