Fire won't delay boat launch

The family-owned Hamilton boat company Tristram Marine, which lost part of its manufacturing plant in a fire yesterday, still plans to release two state-of-the-art boats later this year.

Owners Lance and Bronwyn Fink expanded their Udy Pl manufacturing plant in 2003 to 4180 square metre, doubling the size of their existing Te Rapa plant and making it one of the most modern boat manufacturing premises in Australasia. The Finks set up the company in 1987 and since then it has gone from strength to strength.

An estimated 90 per cent of the company's hull models were damaged in the fire which gutted the laminating area of the plant, but only one whole boat was destroyed. The 25 boats in the showroom were undamaged.

The company, which employs about 30 staff, has a string of awards including being named in the Deloitte Fast 50, Waikato Westpac Business of the Year and American Express Innovation of the Year, which it picked up at the Auckland International Boat Show.

A passionate boat builder, Mr Fink has designed boats since he was a young boy and penned his first commercial Tristram boat in 1989.

The company manufactures a range of multipurpose fibreglass boats from affordable to luxurious and still plans to release two new boats in mid-2010, adding to its extensive range of sleek boats.

One of the hulls for the new models had been damaged in the fire, but the company plans to rebuild it straight away and does not expect to have to delay the launch.

Tristram Marine also exports to Australia.

Andrew Fink, Lance's brother, said the company was known within the marine industry as having "the highest pedigree in boat manufacturing".

"That's what's probably so hard to swallow."

Tristram Marine, along with another Hamilton firm Buccaneer Pleasure Craft, have established themselves as two major players in the country in the fibreglass boating market. The city's proximity to both coasts and the shipping ports of Auckland and Tauranga for exports make it an ideal location.

- © Fairfax NZ News