New 7.1m Sealegs Boat Gets The Go Ahead
19 July 2007
19 July 07
New 7.1m Sealegs Boat Gets The Go Ahead
Sealegs International Ltd today confirmed that its new 7.1m amphibious boat is heading into full production following successful sea trials.
The 7.1m amphibious Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) is the third and largest model released by Sealegs in the last three years. It is designed to cater for the demand for more boat space and extra seating as well as to assist the extraordinary growth the company is experiencing.
The 7.1m RIB has come as a direct result of market feedback and already has confirmed pre-release orders for 14 of the new model which sells for $98,000. According to Sealegs CEO Mr. David McKee Wright, “the 7.1m amphibious RIB will create new markets and business opportunities based around tourism and water transportation.”
While New Zealand’s recent floods have been a cause of wide spread concern, they have resulted in more business leads for Sealegs. “We’ve received streams of enquiries as a result of these floods as people have realised how advantageous our boats can be in these situations,” he says.
Sealegs is shipping its first 7.1m RIB to Italy for the Genoa International Boat Show in October 2007, where it will be unveiled to the European community for the first time. Italy is a very important market for Sealegs with the Italian Government having previously purchased Sealegs amphibious boats for their Fire Department to use in flood prone areas.
The Sealegs 7.1m RIB can comfortably seat up to 8 adults and has a payload of 700kgs. It has a top land speed of 10 kph and with an 115hp motor can do up to 78 kph on water.
To cope with the increasing worldwide demand for its amphibious boats, Sealegs has employed 10 new staff within the last month. The company has over 100 orders from customers for its amphibious boats representing approximately $8 million in future revenue.
Sealegs has appointed OCB Marine as its distributor in Hong Kong with an initial 7 boat order. The appointment of OCB brings the total number of Sealegs worldwide distributors to ten as it continues to build its international sales network.
