Spotlight on the Gold Coast

Charles Dickson, manager of Marine Queensland’s Gold Coast Division, said well in excess of $30 million worth of work is currently underway at the Coomera Marine Precinct.

Other boat builders ranging from tinny manufacturers to luxury cruisers are reporting almost zero inventory levels and lengthening forward orders.

One of the largest orders being filled is for a totally pre-fabricated $10 million fit-out for a 56 metre superyacht currently in build in a US yard. Azzura Marine has constructed a full-sized mock-up of the boat’s interior cabins to enable the cabinetry to be accurately cut, assembled and finished. On completion, the entire job will be loaded into containers and shipped to the yard for installation. This project is employing 100 people and Azzura’s MD Dave McQueen said he could employ an additional 14 tradesmen if he could find the right people.

Ryan Leigh-Smith from Gold Coast City Marina said his company had six boats booked to come out of the water for major maintenance work and refits between February and May of this year. Included are an 80 foot luxury cruiser, an 85 foot long range motor yacht, a 90 foot Lloyds built luxury cruiser, a 105 foot superyacht and two 110 foot superyachts. In all, well in excess of $3 million worth of work over the three months.

Murray Owen from Marine Engineering Consultants recently launched a privately commissioned 12.5 metre power cat plus an 18 metre cat built to commercial survey standards for a private owner. These custom-built all-aluminium cats were valued at in excess of $3 million. Work has now commenced on two more custom cats: a 15 metre boat for a private owner and an 18 metre boat destined for charter work in Darwin. As an aside, Murray also has 10 apprentices undergoing their training in conjunction with the Coomera Marine Precinct’s TAFE college.

Riviera Marine said their inventory of new boats had almost completely sold out with orders being taken for May/June delivery. As at the end of February the company had a healthy number of new boats under construction and staff numbers were increasing.

Mustang has just released its new 2850s and the stunning new 550 Sports Euro is set to debut at the 2010 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show. Mustang’s CEO, Chris Heaton, said the 550 Sports Euro includes a range of features never before seen on a Mustang and quite possibly any other Australian built boat of this size. “Already, we are holding confirmed orders for this sleek, European inspired design that will impress the most discerning big boat buyer,” said Heaton.

Further down the food chain, Argus Boats has a new 35-foot fibreglass coastal cruising power cat under construction and Montebello Yachts is building another slightly larger power cat.

Horizon Aluminium Boats, one of the Coast’s leading tinny manufacturers is currently quoting deliveries for three months and like Azzura, say they could employ more skilled tradespeople if only they could find the right staff. Another Gold Coast tinny manufacturer, Dennis Harland from Stessl Boats said he has a strong order book for his 5-6 metre boats and his revised designs are attracting keen interest from dealers and customers alike.

Sales of PWCs continue to astound all predictions; the Gold Coast being Australia’s fastest growing market for PWCs. As at the end of January 2010 there were 14,069 PWCs registered in Queensland. 4,108 of these were registered to Gold Coast owners, 207 having been registered in the previous three months.

As at the end of 2009, Queensland registrations of trailable family boats of under 6 metres in length had swelled to 233,224, an increase of 5,244 boat registrations over the same time the previous year. “That’s more than 100 new boats each week in the industry’s toughest-ever time,” Charles Dickson said.

Total Gold Coast boat registrations for the year rose to 26,909, up by 255 on 2008 year-end figures. Of these, 21,701 were small family boats of between 3.0 and 6.0 metres in length.

At the luxury end of the market, the total number of boats of over 15 metres in length registered to Queensland owners fell by 21 to 1020 boats, although Gold Coast registrations in this luxury class remained steady at 325 boats.

“Families with a love of boating appear to be buying something that is safe, fun and more easily affordable,” Dickson said.

“If they can’t afford something more glamorous, they’re settling for a slightly smaller boat so they can continue to enjoy time on the water with family and friends.”

At the time of going to press (early March), Dickson said Brisbane’s 2010 Tinnie & Tackle Show had been fully booked and the industry was looking forward to another record-breaking show. Marine Queensland was also preparing to launch its new Boat Club in conjunction with the show.

“Boat Club aims to represent the interests of all boat owners and to provide a strong and cohesive voice through which they can voice their concerns to all levels of government,” he said. “For an annual fee of just $55 boat owners will be able to access a wide range of discounted products and services including access to marine finance facilities, general boating and legal advice.

“Members will also be invited to participate in a broad range of informative and practical training courses run by the club.

“The majority of boat owners should be able to recover far more in benefits than their annual membership fee. As an introductory offer, anyone buying a new boat at the Tinnie & Tackle boat show received free Boat Club membership.”