Younger fishos embrace Stacer

Telwater, Australia’s biggest builder of the humble tinnie, has an interesting battle brewing.

For years the Coomera (Qld) based boat building giant has enjoyed a position where its premium Quintrex brand and up and comer Stacer have been comfortably separated in terms of product sophistication and volume. Now, it seems the arrival of Stacer’s all-new Revolution models is set to rock the Telwater boat.

This weekend’s Melbourne Boat Show plays host to the first near-full range display of the upgraded and rationalized Stacer line-up.

New Stacer Crossfire, Crossfisher, Sea Master and Wild Rider are making their local debut on Melbourne Marine’s stand at the winter showcase.

Launched to the marine media in May, the Revolution range features a host of changes that not only improve the performance of the craft, but also moves Stacer into a more premium position in terms of fit, finish and standard equipment.

Insiders say some of the new Stacer Revolution models have as much of $3000 extra equipment ex-factory with price increases limited to perhaps as little as 25% of the added value.

While Quintrex will remain Telwater’s premium offering, Stacer is on the rise.

It’s a fact not lost on Telwater Director of Sales and Marketing, Damien Duncan, whose responsibilities straddle the brands.

Duncan told boatsales.com.au that he expected Stacer sales to overtake Quintrex.

“Quintrex is still our premium product but Stacer has a younger [dealer] network that’s up and coming and it’s probably going to overtake the Quintrex network,” Duncan explained.

“There’s [already] a number of areas where Stacer actually oursells Quintrex,” he revealed.

Stacer’s Revolution update is a step change for the brand. One aspect of this is the ability for Telwater to separate the products in look, if not feel.

“We separate the brands and their advertising and the strategy behind them… The boat quality is very good, but there’s things that Stacer has, that have to look different,” Duncan said.

The new Stacers feature flat plate sides and new fully welded side-decks. There are more options available and a re-jig in the brand’s standard floatation strategy means that the craft can be certified for more payload.

Telwater says Stacer buyers are typically younger. And they are more likely to be hardcore fishos.

While its data says the use of both brands’ boats is heavily biased towards fishing, Duncan says families still gravitate to Quintrex.

“On the research, we still have 80 per cent of people fishing with [their] Quintrex and 20 per cent family [use]… But 50-60% of that fishing is done with the family.

“The Stacer buyer is more focused on fishing,” Duncan stated.