Haines Hunter reveals big plans including new brand

Haines Hunter in the industrial Melbourne suburb of Derrimut looks like any other trailerboat builder. There’s a big sign on a concrete wall, tinted glass windows, some old moulds lying down the back, a car park and an entrance door.

You step inside the building and see a few posters, a cabinet with awards, and an old lounge. With the safety vest on, we move into the manufacturing area where we notice something.

There are 25 boats in various stages of build, with around 30 people on the floor, and, beyond that, contractors flattening asphalt for a new extended yard.

Indeed, there’s something afoot at Haines Hunter that goes beyond the new 700 model that first attracted our attention and led us here.

THE NEW 700 HAINES HUNTER
The new Haines Hunter 700 in build answers the call of today's market for bigger and more capable trailerable fishing craft.

While Hunter owner John Haber is a firm believer in glass-encapsulated plywood, after more than 30 years of brand ownership and boat building, this new 700 model has composite construction to keep weight below the common 3500kg on-road dual-cab towing limit.

The new Haines Hunter 700 will officially make its debut at the Melbourne International Boat Show from June 16-19, with the maximum twin 200hp outboards on the transom.

While it’s early days when we check its progress, and the hull and deck has only now been joined, you can see that the game is changing at Haines Hunter. Trailerboat fishos are pushing the offshore boundaries in their pursuit for bigger and bigger fish.

"There is no questioning that game fishing is back in a big way, maybe bigger than ever. Huge swordfish, massive tuna, days where anglers are catching double-digit figures of marlin and 90km trips out to the shelf are becoming the norm."

"We wanted to make a boat that offered the ultimate fishing platform for this style of fishing without it being so big that you need an F-Truck to tow it or a redesign of your house to store it."

Clearly, the 700 is a high-volume boat with a deep forefoot for cleaving the waves, a huge cockpit for a keen crew, and underfloor fish box and live bait tanks that resemble aquariums.

The new model will be available in three versions: Hardtop, Enclosed and R (a bimini-style top) and, we're told, it has already accounted for six sales.

A NEW BRAND
But Haines Hunter also wanted to share with us something bigger still. The news whispered in our ears  behind closed doors is the most significant thing to come out of the Haines Hunter factory in many years.

Haber sits us down at head office to share his philosophy...

"A couple of years ago we realised we do well in our market space, but there is also a Haines Hunter customer who looks for a different kind of boat. We could see that the old school Haines Hunter was doing well.

"So we are launching a new brand that we want to keep separate from Haines Hunter, that will be sold differently to a Haines Hunter, and we’re doing something unique for the DIY market," Haber explains.

"People are spending a lot of time, energy and money refurbishing their boats to bring them up to what is, really, a very primitive boat inside," he says.

"But the old school Haines Hunters are not designed for today’s outboards. And refurbing one of these boats isn’t cheap unless you can do the fibreglassing yourself."

Haines Hunter is now poised to launch a range of new boats that competes in that DIY old-school market, where the customer has the option to buy just a hull and deck and fit it out themselves.

Haines Hunter will offer joined hull and decks through select channels including a direct model where you can rock up, buy the basic boat, and then build on that from a pick-and-choose display of components.

"The idea with this product is for the customer to just buy a hull and deck and then to fit it out themselves. It is almost a DIY concept," Haber explains.

"They will also have the option to buy in the configuration of every other boat brand and ask the dealer to sell it to them as a turn-key package."

More on this soon.

HAINES HUNTER EXPANSION
To cater for the new brand and the bigger trailerboats, Haines Hunter is adding a 3000sqm extension that’s part of a massive $2 million-plus investment this year.

This new part of the factory will include R&D, a bigger after-sales service area, and facilities for the aforesaid new line of boats.

The new factory area will use shipping containers as the building blocks for these key new products and services. It’s all supposed to be coming on line before Melbourne boat show in mid-June 2017.

"We're growing the business and we’re more innovative. We’re concentrating on what we have to do. We will also be supplying a full range of stainless steel fittings to the public."

"I’ve been in the business 18 years and I’m not getting bored," Haber says, as rollers compact the asphalt behind us.

From our brief factory visit it’s clearly all systems go at Haines Hunter.  The famous Australian brand is now looking to employ more boatbuilders as well.

Meantime, you can check out almost-300 Haines Hunter boats listed on our sites with this Haines Hunter search.