It's
Full Steam Ahead for Invercargill's Image Boats
Image Boats rolled boat number 30 out of its
Invercargill workshop at the weekend after cruising
into the boat building market three years ago.
Owner Dean Wilkes said his company, which made
everything from fishing boats to pleasure craft, was
booked solid for the next five months.
“I started it up myself and built it up from there.
The boats speak for themselves, so we’ve just got to
keep making them,” he said.
In the past three years, Image Boats had carved a
niche in a competitive southern boat building market
by designing a robust boat capable of handling
rougher conditions, he said.
The company now employed seven staff, but also used
sub-contractors in some areas of the boat building
process.
Mr Wilkes completed a boat building apprenticeship
in Invercargill before heading to Perth to gain two
and-a-half years’ experience.
He returned to New Zealand to start his own business
three years ago.
“Perth’s where I got my love of making boats.”
"People seemed to be buying bigger boats that could
go further out to sea", Mr Wilkes said.
“New Zealanders are getting a bit more keen … going
to Stewart Island for a weekend, or up to Doubtful
Sound.”
Last year Image Boats won the best boat award in the
Otago Boat Show in Dunedin with a 8.3m hard top
pleasure craft.
By Phil McCarthy "The Southland
Times"
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Boat Builders ride wave of
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