Sealegs 7.1m amphibious boat commences production

Sealegs new 7.1 metre amphibious boat is about to commence volume production following successful sea trials. The NZ$98,000 (US$77,600) 7.1m Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) is the third and largest model released by the amphibious boat manufacturer and is expected to attract a lot of interest from tourism and water transportation operators. Its obvious strength is the additional space, which enables eight adults to be comfortably seated within its 700kg payload. It has a top land speed of 10 kph and with an 115hp motor can do up to 78 kph on water.

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 the Fire Department to use in flood prone areas.

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,” said Sealegs CEO Mr. David McKee Wright.

Sealegs recently appointed OCB Marine as its distributor in Hong Kong, taking the total number of Sealegs worldwide distributors to ten. The company is actively seeking overseas distribution and international sales partners.