With close to 25 years in marine sales and marketing roles, working with major global boat and electronics brands, company founder Cameron Burch is relishing a fresh start at the helm of Chalie Bravo Boat Co. a new business operating out of Z Pier at Westhaven Marina in Auckland.
“As we were working on the business plan, I made an approach to Elan Yachts as a brand I have long admired for doing things differently in the world of production boat building. We’re very selective as to which brands we’ll align with and their range of performance and cruising yachts is great. It’s been getting harder and harder to distinguish one manufacturer from another as the designs have been converging in one, quite singular direction. Elan take a completely different approach and simply build boats better by combining advanced manufacturing techniques (VAIL infusion, for example) with well established production processes. The internal structures of these yachts (stringers and bulkheads, for example) are fully laminated into the hulls with their vacuum infusion process (no bonding or glueing of bulkheads here!). This produces an immensely stiff, strong composite with the added benefit of precise control over the weight and finish.
It sounds technical, and it is, but then the devil is always in the detail – to put it more simply, Elan Yachts use what I would call proper composite manufacturing techniques to produce boats that are as strong and offer the longevity of the composite boats we grew up on. It’s a better build process that produces better sailing performance, and then there is the naval architect behind the design – Rob Humphrey is a very smart man!”
We have various Elan Yachts available to view here in Auckland, including Elan’s flagship E6 and GT6 models. Alongside the Elan representation, Charlie Bravo will be offering marine electronic sales and installation services. “I started my marine career in the electronics sector and, like yachting, it remains a passion. Charlie Bravo has a solution for everyone – big boats and small, power & sail – plus decades of experience and knowledge in that electronics sector.”
There are more announcements to come in the coming months as Charlie Bravo brings other products and services into the portfolio.
“I think we’ve forged a great reputation for delivering straight up, honest advice to provide the right boat or system solution for each client,” says Burch, “it’s exciting to be moving into business ownership and we look forward to continuing to grow the long-term client and supplier relationships formed over so many years in the NZ Marine industry.”
