Whittley Boats Claim Victory at Melbourne Boat Show
The doors to the 2013 BIA Melbourne Boat Show may have closed a month ago but one player in the marine game says the order books are still being filled.
The Whittley Marine Group — the iconic Australian boatbuilder which happened to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year’s show— counted at least two dozen boats sold across all its ranges at the show alone through local dealer Marine Max World (not counting post show follow-up leads, which at the time of publication we’re told are still going strong).
According to Whittley, higher end boats like the company’s newly released Whittley SL 28 were show standouts; a surprisingly high level of interest is also said to have been shown in its Spy Boats.
Managing Director of the Whittley Marine Group, Neville Whittley said: “We were quite proud to have on display as many Whittley models as what we did at this year’s show. It demonstrated the strength of the Whittley brand, and gave the public the ideal forum to see our strong model range, from the smallest CW 1580, right up to the flagship CR 2800 and every model in between.”
As a direct result of the show and strong interstate dealer sales, Whittley says its factory is near maximum production capacity. “To meet the strong demand, we have had to employ an additional 30 per cent of our current work force,” Mr Whittley said.
“The company has not experienced growth like this for many years, and what great timing to coincide this with our 60th year of boatbuilding. What started as a favour for a mate — when Jim Whittley turned a lump of wood into a bondwood boat 60 years before and three generations of Whittley’s ago — has grown to see Whittley the leading manufacture of fibreglass boats in Australia.”