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BOAT REVIEWS
Discover New Zealand’s best boats with expert reviews, specs, and local insights—sailboats, powerboats, and yachts covered.
Dreadnort D7500
It takes considerable courage to design and then build a trailer boat as radically different as the ...
Horsepower (HP):
350
Length Over All (M):
7.9
Displacement (M):
3520
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
7.5
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm bottom, chine, transom, stiffening; 5/6mm frames; 5mm sides; 4mm decks, superstructure
Sasga Menorquín 34 HT
Occasionally you see a boat that makes a memorable impression, as happened to Ernest Henshaw a few y...
Length Over All (M):
10.03
Displacement (M):
9000
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Stryda 900C Amphibious
2019 was an auspicious year in New Zealand, although thinking back to those heady pre-Covid days som...
Length Over All (M):
9.0
Construction:
Aluminium
Innovision 656 Explorer
Like the rest of the range, the 656’s distinctive styling – largely the result of function dictating...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
6.65
Construction:
Aluminium
Brig Eagle 8 and Eagle 6.7
The two Eagles are birds of a feather, with versatile layouts, good quality fittings, similar trim l...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.98
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Solid GRP hull, Orca (Hypalon) tubes
BRABUS Shadow 900
Scandinavian design gets a major boost from German engineering in this turbocharged BRABUS, reports ...
Length Over All (M):
11.73
Displacement (M):
5000
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Carbon-reinforced hull
Blue Diamond 680HT
If you can’t find exactly the boat you want to buy, and you’re a handy chap, why not design and buil...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.1
Construction:
Aluminium
Salthouse Coach Boat
How a decades-long family boat building empire has happily downsized to build the world’s best coach...
Horsepower (HP):
70
Length Over All (M):
6.3
Displacement (M):
500
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Rae Line 180 XS
Christchurch-based Rae Line’s latest is the 180 XS featuring Volvo Penta’s new Aquamatic Sterndrive ...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
5.59
Displacement (M):
953
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Rapido 50 Trimaran
So, the pointing ability of the R60 is right up there with racing monohulls.
Length Over All (M):
15.24
Displacement (M):
8200
Construction:
Carbon Fibre
Length Over All (M):
14.96
Machina 551
The Machina 551 sets its foundations on the well-proven principles of strong alloy construction.
Horsepower (HP):
150
Length Over All (M):
5.5
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Integrated pontoons
Sea-Doo Switch
Sea-Doo’s all-new Switch marries the performance of a personal watercraft with the versatility of a ...
Length Over All (M):
6.4
Construction:
Other
Length Over All (M):
3.9
CONSTRUCTION:
Synthetic Polytec hull, tri-hull design
Paragon 25 Cabin
It is somewhat unusual to review a boat of such relatively modest dimensions with inboard diesel pow...
Length Over All (M):
8.52
Displacement (M):
3500
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Modified Tennant Blade Runner
Setting off on Slime – a 13.5m John Hughes extended Blade Runner catamaran – is akin to accelerating...
Length Over All (M):
13.5
Displacement (M):
3100
Construction:
Carbon Fibre
Maritimo M55
Maritimo’s fame comes from its highly refined flybridge cruisers which has put it on the global map ...
Length Over All (M):
17.27
Displacement (M):
30000
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Solid GRP hull, cored topsides and decks
Extreme 645CC
Extreme Boats’ 645CC (Centre Console) was the supreme Boat of the Show award winner at this year’s ...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
6.45
Construction:
Aluminium
Highfield Patrol 600
Tracing its lineage back to the Australian line of Swift boats, Highfield is now a joint French-Chin...
Horsepower (HP):
150
Length Over All (M):
6
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium hull, PVC tubes
Beneteau GT 32
The GT 32 is a comfortable weekender that can sleep up to four adults, but would be ideally suited t...
Length Over All (M):
9.95
Displacement (M):
5377
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Machina 701
The 701 is the latest addition to the growing Machina range and marks a distinct departure from the ...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
7.2
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Integrated pontoons
Riviera 645 SUV
The launch of the 645 at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show completes a stylish six-boat SUV range for Au...
Length Over All (M):
21.23
Displacement (M):
39970
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
19.41
CONSTRUCTION:
Solid GRP keel and hull sections, cored laminate elsewhere, vinylester gelcoat
Caribbean 5.5m Offshore
Offering a dry ride, decent freeboard and good stability at rest, the Offshore is a small fibreglass...
Horsepower (HP):
90
Length Over All (M):
5.5
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Senator 800 HT
The way the Senator behaves gives the impression it would be completely unflappable – easily capable...
Length Over All (M):
8.3
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm hull, 5mm decks and bump rails, 3mm pontoons
Lamont T340 Jet RIB
Although a new name on the New Zealand boating scene, Lamont Jets has an excellent pedigree. The br...
Length Over All (M):
3.4
Displacement (M):
320
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP hull, Hypalon tubes
Wright 46S Powercat
Alan Wright is one of New Zealand’s most prolific designers. A father-and-son team has brought one ...
Length Over All (M):
14
Displacement (M):
16000
Construction:
Composite
Nautitech 47 Power
Businessman and philanthropist Dave Sutherland has teamed up with celebrity chef Ben Bayly to launc...
Length Over All (M):
14.23
Displacement (M):
18168
Construction:
Composite
Offshore Boats 750 HT
She certainly looked like a dedicated sport fisher, her 10-position rocket launcher festooned with S...
Horsepower (HP):
350
Length Over All (M):
7.5
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
8mm hull and transom, 6mm frames, 5mm sides, decks
Yanmar X47 Express Cruiser
Launched at Germany’s Boot Dusseldorf in January last year, the America’s Cup editon of the X47 (47-...
Length Over All (M):
14.53
Displacement (M):
14700
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Fatcat 4000 Fisherman
Lightning Marine’s Fatcat 4000 sticks with the ‘simple is best’ small boat ethos.
Length Over All (M):
3.8
Displacement (M):
240
Construction:
Other
CONSTRUCTION:
Roto-moulded PVC
Moody DS41
When thinking about a new boat you always imagine the sun shining benignly and a playful 12-knot bre...
Length Over All (M):
12.52
Displacement (M):
11200
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
11.42
Prestige 420s Coupé
The Prestige 420s is the sedan express version of the much-applauded flybridge motor yacht that was ...
Length Over All (M):
13.06
Displacement (M):
14400
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Rae Line 205
In a market flooded with facsimiles, the 205 is a refreshing departure from the norm and a great ste...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
6.3
Displacement (M):
1520
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Assegai 51
The assegai is the short stabbing spear once used in battle by the people of Southern Africa, most f...
Length Over All (M):
15.55
Construction:
Other
CONSTRUCTION:
Strip-plank cedar, balsa-cored fibreglass sandwich
Stryda 600s
Auckland boatbuilder Stryda Marine has just released a centre-console variation of its popular 6m 60...
Length Over All (M):
6
Displacement (M):
2000
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Alloy hulled catamaran with foil, Orion 4WD system for motoring on land
Caribbean 420 Express
Melbourne’s International Marine has built around 60,000 boats in 60 years. Founded in 1958 by the S...
Length Over All (M):
13.16
Displacement (M):
11200
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Innovision 707 Explorer
Innovision’s range of bespoke aluminium boats is most certainly ‘different from the rest’ as the co...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.15
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm hull, transom; 4mm sides, decks, and superstructure
Jeanneau Merry Fisher 795 Marlin
Clark Gayford, host of the Fish of the Day TV programme, has pretty exacting requirements. The press...
Length Over All (M):
7.17
Displacement (M):
1750
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
6.98