Canada seen as jet boat market

Press, 29 March 1980, Page 20

Canada seen as jet boat market

By NEVIN TOPP A Christchurch jet boat I manufacturer is aiming to , export 40 jet boats a year to ; Canada. ; Last September, Mr lan ’Andrews. the managing director of Andrews Fibreglass, Ltd, went to Canada ■with a jet boat his firm had I made with the intention of seeing if Canadians were 1 interested in further orders. The initial reaction to the I New Zealand-built craft was good, and he obtained an agency in Calgary and Vancouver. Two 4.65 m jet boats left by container on Wednesday ■ for the agencies, and Mr Andrews intends to help commission the craft in Canada, where they will be fitted with U.S.-made Chevrolet 4-cylinder 17Ohp turbocharged motors and demonstrated in the western regions of Canada. According to Mr Andrews, the agency dealer in Calgary did not see why 40 N.Z.made jet boats could not be sold by his agency in a year. The population, the rivers,

and the market were in Ca-, nada, and the intention was; to spend between three, weeks and a month demonstrating the boats in places ■ such as Edmonton and Red 'Deer to help secure orders,; I he said. i Promotional film of the 'jet boats in action would /also be shown. Since the imposition of; the 20 per cent sales tax on I boat builders last July, the! downturn in the local mar-1 ket had taken away the abil-i itv to sustain exports on a, ‘cost-basis, Mr Andrews said. [ Before the sales tax was; : applied the turnover of An- 1 I draws Fibreglass was 85 per; cent ahead of last year, but Mr Andrews said he expected his turnover to be down about 20 per cent at ’March 31. ; I “We would be looking .very seriously at setting up! ■a factory in Canada.” he; [said in reference to the sales', itax question. i The New Zealand-built jet jboats were able to compete; [favourably on the North ■American market because of

.the lower labour charges in [this country and the cheap ; shipping rates to the United States and Canada, compared with those across the Tasman. ; The North Island was not; [considered as a market be-[ [cause it was “harder to get I a jet boat transported across! ■Cook Strait, than to freight! ;a craft to Canada.” I Mr Andrews said in one; [instance he found the pricei Ito freight a jet boat to Na-i ipier by rail was “in the 1 [thousands.” compared with;. [sB6l for a single boat in a[ (container going to Canada. 1 ; with the craft not taking up; all the space in the contain-; er. [ Eight weeks ex-factory j was the maximum time ex'-l pected to fulfil a Canadian; .order after it was received,! he said. ! Mr Andrews said he [would also be visiting Washington and Oregon on his I trip, hoping to establish a market in the western seaboard of the United States, and South Africa was also under consideration.