Stabicraft founder warns of look-alike boats

Sunday, 19 July 2020

Stabicraft service centre manager Aaron Watt, left, and ceo David Glen are concerned that imitation boats have come into the New Zealand market and worldwide. They are pictured in front of one of the boats they produce from their Southland-base.

The boss of an award-winning boat building company is warning people away from imported boats he says are similar to what he produces.

Southland-based Stabicraft founder Paul Adams said he had seen posts on social media of look-alike boats that he believed were targeted at his customers.

He bought one of the imported boats, and a New Zealand Marine Industry Association surveyor’s assessment found several problems.

'It's the buyer beware. You may think you are getting a Stabicraft look-alike, but it's far from it,” Adams said.

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He’s posted two videos warning people about the imitation boats. The video in September 2019, was to educate people that “imitations of their boats are being dumped in market around the world”.

And, in his latest video posted on social media in late June 2020, Adams confirms that its imitators do not have its CAD (design) files.

”Their hulls are wildly different from anything we have produced. They trade solely on surface level imitation.

'What we found wasn't just poor quality, but fundamentally these boats are not safe,' Adams says.

It was amazing how closely the boat was imitated, on the surface. However, after the look-alike had been put through standard testing, they found it performed a lot differently, he said.

Robin Williams and Associates Ltd conducted a sea trial and inspection of the imported boat.

Its report says “It is my considered opinion that vessels constructed to and fitted out as poorly as this tested clone vessel had been, have no place in the New Zealand market and this should be pointed out to the general public”.

New Zealand did not have any mandatory compliance regulations for making boats, meaning anyone could make a boat and sell it, regardless of safety.

Boats can be audited to New Zealand standards through a Compliance Plate Certification, the equivalent of an AA inspection on a car.

Although this is not mandatory, Stabicraft had all its boats checked this way.

Adams said the business was in the process of talking to the Chinese High Commission, the New Zealand Government and lawyers, and cease and desist letters had been sent to the company producing the boats.

A Maritime New Zealand spokeswoman said the matter had been raised with them by the Marine Industry Association.

“We are following it up from a safety perspective, but at this point in time, we have no further comment.”