Boat Reviews & Insights Menu
BOAT REVIEWS
Discover New Zealand’s best boats with expert reviews, specs, and local insights—sailboats, powerboats, and yachts covered.
Fountaine Pajot MY44
Tapping into the growing power cat market, Fountaine Pajot’s new MY44 is destined to become a serio...
Length Over All (M):
13.4
Displacement (M):
22500
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Lancer RK5000
When Yachting New Zealand began looking for the ‘ultimate support boat’, it turned to Lancer Indust...
Horsepower (HP):
80
Length Over All (M):
5
Construction:
Inflatable
CONSTRUCTION:
Alloy RIB
Riviera 6000 SY
With every new model Australia’s Riviera Luxury Motor Yachts seems to up its game. That’s certainly ...
Length Over All (M):
19.3
Displacement (M):
27800
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
OC Tenders
The cruising yachtie’s tender is a hardworking, ill-treated and vital part of the cruising experienc...
Horsepower (HP):
15
Length Over All (M):
3.5
Displacement (M):
54
Construction:
Composite
CONSTRUCTION:
Foam sandwich: Divinycell, bi-axial fibreglass cloth, carbon and West System epoxy
Jeanneau 51
I don’t want to stand accused of having a fickle heart, but I have fallen for the younger, smaller s...
Length Over All (M):
15.38
Displacement (M):
14400
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Whittley CR 2600
Whittley’s new CR 2600 model – the second-largest in the company’s Cruiser range, is an ideal vessel...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
8.5
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Solid hand-laid fibreglass
Boat Review
Greenline 39 Hybrid
In hybrid cars, an internal-combustion engine is complemented by an electric motor. The same concept...
Length Over All (M):
11.99
Displacement (M):
7000
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
11.32
CONSTRUCTION:
Hand-laid fibreglass laminate
Given T9 Powercat
The Bay of Islands on a crisp winter morning is a far cry from the balmy air of Tahiti, but this Giv...
Length Over All (M):
9.7
Construction:
Composite
CONSTRUCTION:
Epoxy, ply, foam and fibreglass
Farrier F22
Good things take time they say, and good things are worth the wait. It’s the sort of advice you will...
Length Over All (M):
7.0
Displacement (M):
1400
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Boat Review
Assault Vesta 380 RIB
Exclusive to Family Boats in Auckland, Assault RIBs are manufactured in eastern Europe with GRP hull...
Horsepower (HP):
30
Length Over All (M):
3.8
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
PVC tubes
Boat Review
Assault 610 Adventure RIB
Exclusive to Family Boats in Auckland, Assault RIBs are manufactured in Eastern Europe with GRP hull...
Horsepower (HP):
130
Length Over All (M):
6.1
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
PVC tubes
Smuggler Strata 780 SuperSport
Smuggler Marine’s boats extend the boundaries of functionality and design. The latest iteration, the...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.8
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP hull, Hypalon tubes
Herley Commander
It’s always a buzz to step aboard a new boat, in this case the first offering from a newcomer to the...
Length Over All (M):
7.0
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm bottom, 5mm sides
Everyman 840 CC
In a few short years Hamilton’s Everyman Boats has forged a reputation for producing high quality al...
Length Over All (M):
8.4
Construction:
Aluminium
Roger Hill 18.5m sailing cat
Her owner describes this 18.5m cat as a ‘fun’ boat. That she undoubtedly is, but she also represents...
Length Over All (M):
18.53
Displacement (M):
15560
Construction:
Carbon Fibre
Length Over All (M):
18.42
CONSTRUCTION:
Composite
Penguin 4m
It’s so simple, you wonder why no one’s done it before. But this Kiwi invention – a 4m amphibious in...
Length Over All (M):
4.0
Displacement (M):
151
Construction:
Inflatable
CONSTRUCTION:
Fibreglass hull, Hypalon tubes
Boat Review
Axopar 28
If you are expecting the Axopar 28 to look like a traditional 8.5m powerboat, you’re in for a surpri...
Length Over All (M):
8.6
Displacement (M):
2300
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Rayglass 3500
Rayglass 3500
The new, much-anticipated Rayglass 3500 is a very important boat for Auckland-based m...
Length Over All (M):
11.5
Displacement (M):
7500
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Fully moulded liner
Lazercraft GT 650 HT
Since coming under the same umbrella as Southern Boats, Lazercraft has enjoyed a burst of developmen...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
6.5
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
5mm bottom, 4mm sides, fibreglass hardtop and decks
Smuggler Strata 820 Cabin
Big pontoons, a legendary deep-vee, triple-straked fibreglass hull, twin engines and a hardtop cabin...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
8.2
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Hypalon-tubed RIB
Dickey Custom 800 O/B
Displaying all the hallmarks of her builder’s precision approach, the Dickey Custom 800 is a quality...
Length Over All (M):
8.7
Displacement (M):
2000
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium. 4-10mm thickness
Takacat Inflatables/Honda Portable Outboards
Takacat’s new inflatable cats are light, stable and fun –and tough enough to handle whatever your re...
Length Over All (M):
3.4
Displacement (M):
35
Construction:
Inflatable
Sealegs 7.7m Sport D-Tube
Sealegs continues to forge ahead, providing amphibious enablement systems (AES) to local and interna...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
7.8
Displacement (M):
1690
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
D-tube aluminium pontoon
Open Ocean 46
The cartoon cat Garfield is a fat, feline couch spud, but his maritime namesake, launched recently a...
Length Over All (M):
14
Displacement (M):
14000
Construction:
Aluminium
Elan S3
A sunny day on the Hauraki Gulf might be half a world away from Dracula’s castle – but the dead trav...
Length Over All (M):
9.25
Displacement (M):
3690
Construction:
Composite
Length Over All (M):
8.71
CONSTRUCTION:
Foam sandwich
Boat Review
AMF 950 RIB
Replacing Coastguard North Shore’s 10-year-old Quick Response Vessel was a complex project, but a de...
Horsepower (HP):
500
Length Over All (M):
9.6
Displacement (M):
3505
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
9.6
JP RIBS Custom 800
The words ‘luxury’ and ‘RIB’ are seldom used together, but innovative Kiwi boatbuilder JP RIBS is ma...
Horsepower (HP):
400
Length Over All (M):
8.0
Construction:
Inflatable
Length Over All (M):
7.25
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP RIB
Jeanneau Leader 36
The comfort, performance and versatility of the Leader 36 are ably demonstrated in the pursuit of in...
Length Over All (M):
11.47
Displacement (M):
6616
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
9.86
CONSTRUCTION:
Solid fibreglass laminate
Pachoud 24m Power Cat
A Canadian electrical engineer and his botanist wife have taken delivery of Samara – their NZ-built,...
Length Over All (M):
24.2
Displacement (M):
74000
Construction:
Composite
CONSTRUCTION:
epoxy composite
Surtees Game Fisher 700
With each new edition of the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show the gate prize seems to be even more i...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
7.0
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium, 6mm bottom, 4mm sides
Grand Soleil 43
If you’re wanting a little performance with your cruising, this new Italian import could be just the...
Length Over All (M):
13.25
Displacement (M):
9100
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
11.7
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP hull and decks
Hanse 455
Following its 2015 debut, Hanse’s mid-sized 455 cruiser (13.95m LOA) has quickly become one of the m...
Length Over All (M):
13.95
Displacement (M):
11600
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
12.20
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP
Upfold Elite 13.5m Sports Sedan
NZ’s launch market might be import-heavy, but international designers don’t have the monopoly on cla...
Length Over All (M):
13.5
Displacement (M):
10200
Construction:
Composite
Length Over All (M):
10.4
CONSTRUCTION:
Epoxy timber composite
Boat Review
Bluefix BoatWorks NorthCape 40 Commercial
A rising star proves that with the right experience and attention to detail great challenges can lea...
Length Over All (M):
12.2
Displacement (M):
14000
Construction:
Composite
CONSTRUCTION:
Foam core epoxy composite
Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge
While the Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge debuted in Australia, this model – one of the stars of Octob...
Length Over All (M):
17.26
Displacement (M):
24960
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP
Navetta 58
The Navetta 58 might look unusual to Kiwi eyes, but it packs a lot of Italian flair into its generou...
Length Over All (M):
17.0
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Elite 15.5m Sportfisher
Bill Upfold’s Elite 15.5m ‘Humdinger’ is part game-fisher, part luxury family cruiser.
Length Over All (M):
15.5
Construction:
Composite
CQS
In the realm of modern maxi racers, ‘radical’ is almost the default description. The newly-launched ...
Length Over All (M):
33.7
Displacement (M):
24500
Construction:
Carbon Fibre
CONSTRUCTION:
carbon fibre/Nomex sandwich
Integrity 380 Flybridge
The full-bodied Integrity 380 is a ringing endorsement of the old adage: forget the destination – th...
Length Over All (M):
11.12
Displacement (M):
12000
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP
Super Air Nautique G23
Sitting high and mighty on a custom Enduro trailer, the Super Air Nautique G23 exudes tow sport powe...
Horsepower (HP):
550
Length Over All (M):
7.7
Displacement (M):
2676
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP