>> LOOKING BACK
1976 - NO HARDTOPS, NO RIBS AND ALMOST NO ALLOY! By Barry Thompson
The Fi Glass Baron was one of the biggest production boats in 1976.
In 1976 the New Zealand trailerboat market was pumping. Boats were being produced in huge numbers, engines were getting bigger and the boats had to follow. If you are looking for a new production trailer boat today your choices are huge. There are hundreds of models from local and overseas manufacturers, from the smallest 4m tinnie and RIB through to 9m hardtops. Aluminium in recent years has made huge gains into the production boat market. It is a long way from back in the 1970s when an alloy boat over 4m was a rarity, or the domain of river jetboats at best. I was looking through a boat buyers’ guide I produced back in 1976 which included virtually every production trailer boat built in New Zealand. There were no imports, the closest being the Glastron that was built under licence in Hamilton and Haines Hunter which was also being produced under licence from Australia. There were no RIB manufacturers. If you wanted a RIB then you had to import one privately. Aluminium was starting to show its face in the trailerboat market, but generally it was all fibreglass. In 1976 I listed 106 boats from 33 manufacturers. Today nine of those brands still exist albeit having undergone some serious ownership and design changes over the past 30 plus years. Gone are brands such as Andrews, Apollo, Barracouda, Campbell Craft, Glasskraft, Condor Craft, Kingfisher and Vistacraft to name but a few.
The leading brands were Bonito, Condor Craft, Cresta Craft, Fi-Glass, Fleetline, Glasskraft, Haines Hunter, Hamilton Jet, Marlborough, Plylite and Sea Nymph. Fi-Glass for example offered 23 different models from the Ski Angler 14 ($977) through to the Baron 23 ($13,960 with 188hp MerCruiser). Fi-Glass also had a 29-strong dealer network to service the whole country. Christchurch based Hamilton Jet advertised a 16-boat model range that included a couple of cabin models which were aimed at the ‘bluewater’ market. Hamilton Jet’s top-ofthe-line Jet 210 cabin was unfortunately not a success despite its very upmarket looks. One of the biggest names of the time was Sea Nymph, which listed 12 models based on six hull sizes from the extremely popular V13 ($1285) through to the also not hugely successful, Sovereign 24 ($12,500). Too narrow for its length, this mini flybridge cruiser suffered from stability problems with more than one person on the flybridge. Another of the market leaders of the time, Condor Craft, presented a four-boat line up, with the Stiletto 14 ski boat ($1485) and the Skipjack 136 ($4200) the most popular. Bonito was just getting started in the market with two models, the Bonito 16, available in both cabin ($3120) or runabout ($2790) versions and the Bonito 20 cabin cruiser ($6850). The Bonito 16 was an exceptional seller for the company for many years, and almost all are still around today. Another Christchurch builder, Glasskraft, run
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by the Cooke Brothers, had five very ‘flashy’ models and used bright colours and unique deck and cabin top styling to show their point of difference. Glasskraft’s Statesman 22 ($7100) was one of the most popular boats of its size, especially in the South Island. Haines Hunter had a five-model range in 1976, with the V198 ($4976) quickly becoming one of the biggest selling boats in the 1970s/80s for its size. It ideally suited the ‘big’ new 200hp outboards that both Mercury and OMC were producing. The Morgan 6.3 ($11250 complete with engine) was also right up there in popularity and reputation for offshore boating. Sea Craft (now Haines Hunter) had three cabin models from the Costa Mesa 15 ($1425) through to the Valencia 17 ($2675) and advertised at the time one of the only temperature and humidity controlled mould rooms. When you look at the line-up of the 106 boats, there wasn’t a hardtop in sight. There were a few small flybridge cruisers such as the Bay Cruiser V7m, Sea Nymph Sovereign and the Cresta Craft V26. Today there are none. Glamour boat of the day was unquestionably the Clipper 24, which cost you upwards of $25000 - $30000 to put on the water. It was in a class of its own. The alloy boat boom was a long way off, with Fyran leading the charge with a Fyran 14 ($815), the biggest production alloy trailer boat aimed at the recreational market. How things have changed!