Bastion of the Boat Building Industry

New Zealand is “a bastion of hard-nosed sailing and boating knowledge,” according to The New York Times. “Being so far away from all places except for Australia, they’ve had to make amends generationally, and it’s almost part of their DNA to figure out things if they need to,” said Rob Humphreys, a yacht designer who has had several projects built in New Zealand. Ed Dubois, a naval architect who has designed 37 yachts produced in New Zealand shipyards, adding up to slightly over $NZ1 billion, predicted that the country’s industry as a whole would continue to do well. “The New Zealand industry is successful for three reasons: they are inventive, capable, and boat people by nature,” Dubois said.