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BOAT REVIEWS
Discover New Zealand’s best boats with expert reviews, specs, and local insights—sailboats, powerboats, and yachts covered.
Sea Ray SLX 260
Sea Ray has always been about raising the bar and going beyond the expected.
Length Over All (M):
9.41
Displacement (M):
2.52
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Buccaneer Exess XL
The overwhelming impression I took away from our few hours on Lake Dunstan is how well this boat goe...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
6.46
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
6.05
Candela C7
One of the keys to the C7’s impressive performance is its light weight. All up, it weighs just 1.4 t...
Length Over All (M):
7.7
Displacement (M):
1300
Construction:
Carbon Fibre
Dreadnort V5500 CC
Gypsy Rose is a highly-spec’d semi-custom V5500 CC model with several customer-driven features.
Length Over All (M):
5.76
Displacement (M):
1970
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
5.50
Assault Pursuit 8m Amphibious
New Zealanders have led the world in developing amphibious RIBs, and the latest offering from Assaul...
Length Over All (M):
8.6
Displacement (M):
1900
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
8.0
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP composite with Carbon Hypalon tubes
Innovision 616 Explorer
Painted in a striking metallic Brisbane Blue from Superyacht Coatings, this distinctive looking trai...
Length Over All (M):
6.18
Displacement (M):
1950
Construction:
Aluminium
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
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
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
Sealegs 7.5m Amphibious RIB
With a modular deck plan, this is Sealegs’ most customisable model to date. Almost 30 have already s...
Length Over All (M):
7.55
Displacement (M):
1600
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
6.29
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium hull, Hypalon tubes
Haines Hunter SF635
Any new boat from Haines Hunter is big news, but a totally new design makes the SF/SP635 an especial...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
6.76
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
6.35
CONSTRUCTION:
Hand-laid GRP, composite floors
Buccaneer 550 Enforcer, Zodiac Open 5.5
Rigid hull inflatables (RIBs) used to be the preserve of serious sailing coaches and Optimist mums b...
Length Over All (M):
5.5
Displacement (M):
595
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
RIB with fibreglass hull, PVC or Duotex tubes
Sealegs 8.5 Alloy Cabin
Sealegs’ new 8.5m Alloy Cabin take’s the company’s aluminium recreational range up another notch, a...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
8.5
Displacement (M):
2230
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
5mm plate
Haines Hunter SS660
The Haines Hunter SS660 (Sport Sedan) debuted in 2006, quickly becoming a sought-after model that’s ...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
7.35
Displacement (M):
1231
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Fi-Glass Lightning 5.8
In 61 years of boat manufacturing you can learn a thing or two. You’ll see good times and bad times...
Length Over All (M):
5.8
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
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
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
Southern XP896
Smart looking, nicely finished and boasting great performance and handling, the top of the range twi...
Horsepower (HP):
400
Length Over All (M):
9.43
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium with GRP hardtop
Stabicraft 2500 Ultracab XL
Just when you think Stabicraft’s design team has settled into a conventional frame-of-mind, along c...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.62
Displacement (M):
2500
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
7.62
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium
White Pointer 970 Pro Sportsman
Boating New Zealand · Review
Boat Review / Aluminium Trailer Boats
Straight to the Poi...
Buccaneer Five Seven Five HT
The spacious cockpit is uncluttered but has plenty of seating. The cockpit sole is covered in SeaDek...
Horsepower (HP):
150
Length Over All (M):
5.75
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
5.4
Haines Hunter SP635
The hardtop SP635 shares the same underpinnings as the popular SF 635 which was a completely new mod...
Horsepower (HP):
200
Length Over All (M):
6.76
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
6.35
Sealegs 12RC
‘Behemoth’ is a word which springs to mind or, perhaps more nautically, ‘leviathan’.
Length Over All (M):
12.3
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Alloy RIB, amphibious
Rayglass 3000
There are two different powerplant configurations currently available: either twin outboards or sing...
Horsepower (HP):
600
Length Over All (M):
8
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Haines Hunter Overlander OP725
The Anura system is not only pleasingly quiet in operation (no noisy internal combustion engine in t...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.5
Displacement (M):
2400
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
Length Over All (M):
7.25
CONSTRUCTION:
E-glass with carbon fibre reinforcement
Innovision 555
The boat had to be a ‘pure lure-fishing weapon’
Horsepower (HP):
150
Length Over All (M):
5.56
Construction:
Aluminium
McLay 741 Raptor
A boat that can operate on land as well as on water is obviously attractive: amphibious vessels and...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
7.4
Construction:
Aluminium
Marco 750 Sou’wester
If you plan to spend your fishing hours in the turbulent waters of the deep South, you’d better mak...
Length Over All (M):
8.10
Displacement (M):
2300
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm hull plates and transom, 4mm sides and decks
DNA 570 XHT
Game On was a special project for Jake, the DNA 570 XHT’s Taupo-based owner, replacing a smaller DN...
Horsepower (HP):
140
Length Over All (M):
5.7
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium pontoon/chamber boat
CSB Huntsman Centurion
The new CSB Huntsman Centurion Carbon Edition debuted at the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show – and...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
6.5
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Hand-laid fibreglass
Purekraft 700 HT
Purekraft is a relative newcomer among aluminium trailer boat brands, but the personnel behind it c...
Length Over All (M):
7.2
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
6mm bottom, 5mm sides, 4mm decks
Marco 950 Sou’wester
The award-winning Marco 950 Sou’wester Resolute is the Tauranga company’s third custom aluminium bui...
Length Over All (M):
10
Displacement (M):
4800
Construction:
Aluminium
Length Over All (M):
9.5
CONSTRUCTION:
8mm bottom plates
2017 Yamaha PWCs
A little unfairly, society tends to view PWC owners as petrol-heads drowning in testosterone. As Yam...
Length Over All (M):
3.35
Displacement (M):
349
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
NanoXcel 2 composite
CSB Huntsman Xcalibur
Most of us can only afford one boat and if it is a family asset, the boat has to be multifunctional ...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.5
Displacement (M):
1650
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
GRP
Image 7.08 Pontoon
The Image Pontoon 7.08 is the latest addition to the now 15-strong Image Boats range and marks a dis...
Horsepower (HP):
250
Length Over All (M):
7.36
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium
Image Boats 7.08m Pontoon Alloy review
Check out this review of the impressive 7.08m Pontoon Alloy by Image Boats, which our boat tester to...
Length Over All (M):
7.36
Displacement (M):
2867cc, 147 kw
CONSTRUCTION:
Alloy
Broadbill 8m Walk-around
It’s amazing what can be achieved when passion meets know-how – and it’s superbly demonstrated in th...
Horsepower (HP):
500
Length Over All (M):
8.250
Construction:
Aluminium
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium
Tristram 701
The 701 is the latest model release from Hamilton-based Tristram Marine, available in a soft top con...
Horsepower (HP):
300
Length Over All (M):
7.40
Construction:
Fibreglass (GRP)
CONSTRUCTION:
Fibreglass
Ultimate Boats 21
Ultimate Boats is a new arrival on the New Zealand boating scene, though the company’s principal Mar...
Length Over All (M):
6.35
CONSTRUCTION:
Aluminium
Nereyda 580 Regal
The Nereyda 580 Regal is an economical, all-purpose runaround boat.
Previously known as Sea Nymph...
Horsepower (HP):
90–130
Displacement (M):
1727cc
Length Over All (M):
5.8
CONSTRUCTION:
Fibreglass