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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