| 39 T T Russell Fredric New brand boosts options The deep-V hull of Surtees Boats cuts through chop, providing a comfortable ride and a great experience on the water. Steve Gooding Marine REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Steve Gooding Marine is as busy as ever, selling and servicing boats and outboard motors alongside its popular hire service for fully equipped alloy boats. The Invercargill business is especially excited to announce its recent appointment as the lower South Island dealer of Surtees Boats, adding an alloy option alongside its popular Huntsman Boats line of fibreglass pleasure craft. Ideal for Deep South conditions, the deep-V hull of Surtees Boats cuts through chop, providing a comfortable ride and a great experience on the water, with every detail well considered to create the perfect platform for fishing and recreation. The smooth ride Surtees Boats offer is based on their extremely robust hull construction comprising six fully welded under-floor stringers running the length of the hull, with gussets every 400mm, plus a fully welded tread plate alloy floor. They have a European CE safety rating, one of the strictest in the world and recognised in more than 70 countries, as well as the ABYC rating recognised in the United States. Steve Gooding Marine is owned and run by directors Steve and Trish Gooding. They were approached by Surtees Boats, which was looking for a dealership in the lower South Island, and saw that adding its range was a great opportunity to further diversify and provide another option to the market. The business has been an authorised Huntsman Boats dealer for about a decade, with its range starting from the 5.0-metre La Plata, to the 7.0m Explorer Hard Top, with the most popular model currently being the 6.5m Centurion, available in both cabin and hard top configurations. Boats sold by Steve Gooding Marine are paired with a Honda four-stroke, or a Tohatsu two- or four-stroke motor, depending on their size. In the 33 years the business has been operating, it has grown an extremely large customer base, with Steve being highly regarding in the industry, Trish says. “We have a very good reputation, a very good name for what we do. We always stick to what we know, and do that well.” Having built such a strong reputation, new and second-hand sales – currently with a bias towards high-end boats – remain buoyant, while servicing is as busy as ever, Trish says. “We have noticed sales of smaller new boats and second-hand boats have slowed, but the market for the top-end has not changed whatsoever.” Because of the high servicing workload, Trish urges boat owners to book several weeks in advance for annual servicing, maintenance, or repairs, especially before Labour Weekend and Christmas. Alongside Steve and Trish, the business employs four staff, of which three are fulltime outboard motor technicians, a role that requires broad expertise, due to motors serviced ranging from older normally aspirated ones to today’s high-tech fuel-injected units that require electronic diagnostics. “We have motors that come in that would be 40 to 50 years old, so we go right across the range. Motors have advanced significantly in the last five to 10 years,” says Trish. “We are proud to be New Zealand’s number-one Honda outboard motor dealer. Honda outboards are all four-stroke, low on emissions, extremely economical and quiet and are ultra reliable, coming with a seven-year factory warranty. “We also sell a lot of Tohatsu outboards, especially in the two-stroke range mainly for their portability and reliability.” Steve Gooding Marine also hires Frewza F18 alloy boats fitted with Honda outboards, which are registered with Maritime NZ. These are fully equipped with all the recommended safety equipment, plus outboard motors are also available for hire. “One of the biggest markets for our hire options is hunters and fishermen using them for their Stewart Island or Fiordland trips.” Specialists in high quality S/S & Alloy Fabrication CNC Plasma Cutting Tube Bending General Engineering & Sheet Metal Fabrication www.esmltd.co.nz Ph 03 2188456 Mobile 021 376583 Email info@esmltd.co.nz Port Craig Building Tweed St (by the overbridge) P.O. Box 538 Invercargill ibattery.co.nz • 213 Bond Street Invercargill 03 218 8858 027 588 8582 Free Phone 0800 888 582 RANGE OF TOP BRANDS IN-STOCK SUPPLIERS TO FARMLANDS, RURAL CO & RD1 FREE BATTERY TESTING Proudly supporting Steve Gooding Marine We are proud to support Steve Gooding Marine Ltd with friendly, personalised accounting and business advisory services. Alice Beer – Principal Phone 03 218 7111 www.businessadvisors.co.nz
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