Photos up now from the 2012 Hutchwilco Boat Show held at the ASB Show Grounds in Auckland. I thought I would sneak through and get some photos on Friday evening when the crowd would be a little smaller.
I was a little wrong as there was a very steady stream of people walking through the gates and having a good look around the amazing put together displays.
I was lucky enough to spend some time with Karen from Benelli, she had made the trip all the way from Italy to help represent her brand with the new New Zealand dealer (Armstrong Marine, based in Christchurch). Karen was more than happy to answer all the questions I could throw at her, and if all goes to plan we should be lucky enough to see these watercrafts on sale here in New Zealand in August. It was great to finally see these watercrafts in person, the B3S stand up ski was very well finished, a little larger in life than I thought, but it makes sense when you have to fit a 1602cc DOHC engine into the engine compartment.
I was informed the B3R Run-About (sit down) will have a couple of very minor changes (mainly cosmetics) to the craft before we see it in stores later this year. But mechanically they will stay the same.
For more information on the Benelli lineup, check out their site www.armstrongwatersports.com.
Sea-doo like normal had a very impressive display, showing pretty much their complete lineup. As expected the all new Sea-doo RXP-X 260 was getting a lot of the attention from the crowd. Kirk from www.jetskifishingchannel.co.nz had his watercraft there as part of the Sea-doo display, showing with a few accessories added the Sea-doo GTX is an ideal ski for heading out to try your luck at catching some fish.
Next up was Yamaha, Yamaha had their two FX series and their VXR watercrafts on display, the VXR was the watercraft that Jeremy Burfoot used to complete his 6 hour world record on (info here). Yamaha also had their 2012 Superjet on display, the superjet is the only current manufactured stand-up skis, until Benelli start production.
I’m not sure why, but this year there was no Kawasaki stand at what I would think would be the top boating and watercraft show in the country. But it was great to see the other brands waving the flag for our sport / industry.
Photo’s online here or on our facebook here
