Seakindly Boating with Seablade Better seakeeping, seakindliness and seaworthiness
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t may come as a surprise to learn that Lancer Industries Ltd is the Southern Hemisphere’s oldest inflatable boat manufacturer. This remarkable family owned New Zealand business is responsible for the crafting of many prominent boating brands. They’re well known for their construction of inflatable boats and have more recently moved into the arena of hard sided boats. Lancer Industries Ltd is a ‘hard core’ Original Equipment Manufacturer otherwise known as an ‘OEM’ within the industry. Based in Henderson, they boast the largest factory in Australia and New Zealand. Eye Magazine caught up recently with Charles Winstone, General Manager of Lancer Industries to learn about the exciting new Seablade boat recently launched.
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Charles explains that with the global financial crisis now behind us, the marine industry is starting to benefit. The Seablade is an exciting new product with patented hull technology. It features a unique hull with fins on each side giving the boat greater stability than a run-of-themill hull. Seablade is owned by a Hawaiian company called Navatek, a world leader in marine technology which supplies technology to the US defence force and US navy. Navatek is well known for focusing on the tech stretch in future technologies and for having said “Our graveyard of past projects is the future of marine technology.” Seablade boats are licensed to Lancer and their advanced hull technology sets them apart which defines everything about them below the waterline. These boats were born out of navy requirements, and ensuring that
crewmen were not injured while travelling on the water. A Seablade boat can operate in higher sea states at relatively high speeds with reduced shock on passengers and crew. Benefits of a Seablade Hull: • • • • • •
Reduced slamming, pounding and plunging Better seakeeping and seakindliness in rough seas Better comfort Wide beam, roomy cockpit and large deck Better efficiencies in rough seas Less fatigue on driver and passengers
Seablade’s are available in a number of different layouts including the Open Centre Console, Side by Side Consoles and Cuddy Cabin. Using Lancer’s expertise each model can be done with a range of tubing including d-tubes, full tubes and foam tubes.