All boats, all in one place!
New Zealand’s largest on-water boat show is playing host to this year’s new boat releases when it forms part of Moana Auckland this March. Preparations are underway now for the huge selection of boats journeying to Auckland for the Auckland Boat Show. With more than 500 marine brands, and 150 boats on display, the 2024 show will host this year’s new boat releases with an enormous array of vessels from sailing yachts, to RIBs; trailer boats to luxury motoryachts. It’s a jewel in the crown of Moana Auckland; New Zealand’s Ocean Festival. The show comes on the heels of an industry report by NZ Marine showing the value of the $3billion industry, which achieves $800 million in exports per year. New Zealanders now own 1,540,000 boats with those boat numbers increasing by 44,810 per annum.
A wide range of domestic businesses cater to that demand. Auckland RIB builder, Smuggler Marine, will release its new Strata 750 Centre Console RIB model. With its 27 degree deep vee hull delivering incredible rough water performance, it will also feature Smuggler’s all-new Gen 2 console, which includes an onboard refrigerator under the helm and upgraded seating. Combining one new release with another, the new Strata 750 Centre Console RIB will be powered by the latest Yamaha 250hp four-stroke outboard with Helm Master EX joystick control.
That new Yamaha will be alongside other models from the brand, including the release of Yamaha’s new 4.3L F350 V6 outboard. It’ll be fitted to a new Senator RH770, complete with Helm Master EX joystick control and bow thruster integration for on-water demonstrations throughout the duration of the show.
Auckland-custom builder, Lloyd Stephenson Boatbuilders, will present its new launch, Zaphira. This 18 metre is striking in a metallic paint which shines gold as the light changes and highlights the design elements put into this vessel. An expansive pilothouse provides a second entertainment area alongside the helm station, allowing guests to make use of comfortable sofas as they watch the views unfolding outside the three-panel-stacking sliding doors to exterior seating on the tender deck. Other new releases at the show include trailer boat debuts, the premier of motoryachts straight from Italy, and a wide range of large luxury motoryachts; both New Zealand-built and imported.
The dates of the 2024 show which runs from 14-17th March, have been set to form part of a plethora of on-water activities during summer for the first edition of Moana Auckland. Supported by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, the festival not only includes the boat show, but 14 other events which celebrate the ocean including a range of regattas and the New Zealand Millennium Cup superyacht regatta, the inaugural Auckland Wooden Boat Festival, the World Manu Champs, Perpetual Guardian’s Sculpture on the Gulf and many more.
The Auckland Boat Show brings festival goers in contact with New Zealand’s, and the international marine industry. Known for its unique sea trial area; the only one of its kind in a New Zealand boat show, it presents attendees with the chance to experience how vessels perform on the water, getting them up close and personal with manufacturers and dealers. It presents the largest collection of vessels on the water available to view in New Zealand, acting as a one-stop shop for the industry to gather with its audience. On land, exhibitors include a range of brands across the industry, including engines, commercial, electrical and paint and antifoul. Tickets are on sale now.
