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Hunts Marine is a third generation family-owned marine retailer with over 60 years experience in recreational boating. Boating is great fun and at Hunts, we make it easy. Hunts Marine - The Story 1946 - This was the year in which Edwin Hunt, engineer and well known game fishing enthusiast pioneered the principle of providing standard design boats for immediate delivery. It was on the current site of Hunts Marine at Blakehurst that Edwin Hunt constructed a showroom and became a stockist of a range of wooden launches and plywood dinghies. He also carried out marine engine repairs and manufactured boating hardware. 1951 - By this year Edwin Hunt had been joined by his two sons Ted and Peter. 1953 - The original trading name “The Marine Centre” was changed to “Hunts Marine Centre”. 1953-1958 - The business continued to grow, with up to nine teams of boatbuilders contracted to build timber launches, plywood and aluminium dinghies, and also canoes. Severe import restrictions prevented the importation of American outboards so British brands like British Seagull, Anzani, Brittania and Penta were available alongside local brands like Riptide, Waterboy, Mermaid and numerous lawn mower engine conversions. 1959 - A branch of Hunts Marine was opened in Fairy Meadow, a suburb of Wollongong. This branch was sold in 1983. 1960 - In this year Outboard Marine Corporation opened an outboard assembly plant at Bankstown. Hunts Marine were the first Evinrude dealers appointed in Australia. 1961 - To cope with the expanding demands of the market the property adjoining the Blakehurst showroom was purchased for showroom and service facilities. 1961-1967 - This was the period in which wooden boats went into rapid decline. Buyers were responding to the new materials like aluminium and fibreglass. Hunts acquired franchises for Pride, Pongrass and Savage fibreglass boats, sales of Quintrex aluminium boats boomed, and the franchise for DeHavilland aluminium boats was also taken up. 1968 - The next adjoining property to the showroom was also acquired, the showroom extended and the first Boating Accessory Supermarket in Australia was opened in the new area. A property was also purchased nearby in West St, Carlton and a purpose built service facility was built and fitted out on the site. 1987 - With the market slowly recovering from the depressed years of the early 80’s Hunts Marine acquired the Mariner outboard franchise. The Workshop and Spare Parts were expanded to offer service and parts for Mariner, Mercury and Mercruiser as well as for Evinrude and Johnson. The prestige range of Whittley Family Cruisers was also added to Hunts range of quality brands. 1995 - After the recession of the early 90’s the demand for trailerable boats bounced back. With the acquisition of the Yamaha outboards and Signature boat franchise Hunts Marine were in a strong position to offer the widest and best possible packages available on the market. Minor renovations took place in the portable outboard motor display and were also commenced in the service and boating accessories department. A regular newsletter was also started in order to keep our customers informed of new and interesting developments and special discounts. 2000 – With Peter’s son Jon now firmly at the helm the Blakehurst showroom underwent a million dollar rebuild. This opened in March 2001 with a mezzanine level for offices and accessories at the rear, undercover customer parking and space for a further 20 boats to be displayed on the floor. With a commitment to personal and professional service, an aggressive pricing policy and the best product range available Hunts Marine look forward to continuing their market leadership for many years to come. 2002 - Early in the year we purchased the adjoining property in West St, Carlton. Used for additional undercover storage for used boats, the building also houses our own custom canopy making division with three full time trimmers. 2006 - This was the year that we celebrated our 60th anniversary. In December of 2006, Hunts Marine acquired the Quintrex dealership of Kro Boats in Wollongong from well known industry indenties Don and Christine Banning. The business is an agent for Yamaha outboards and now had access to the additional boat brands of Whittley, Bayliner and Haines Signature that were currently available at the Blakehurst showroom. Blake McArthur relocated from the Blakehurst showroom to Wollongong as General Manager. 2007 - 2009 - In March of 2007 Hunts Marine, Sydney and Wollongong, had the opportunity to become the greater Sydney and South Coast dealer for CruiseCraft fibreglass boats. The franchise of Haines Signature was resigned at this time. Also established in 1946, CruiseCraft has a long family history in the Australian marine market and the brand sits very well in our product line-up giving both dealerships a range of high quality dedicated fishing models. Yamaha outboard motors are the world’s most popular outboard. Travel almost anywhere in the world, from the busiest harbour to the quietest river and the evidence is all around. With an unparalleled reputation for performance and reliability it’s hard to go past Yamaha outboard motors. The Yamaha outboard motors lineup includes a wide range of both 2 stroke and 4 stroke models. The experienced Hunts team will match the right Yamaha outboard motor to your new boat. Hunts carry over 100 Yamaha outboard motors in stock at any one time so immediate delivery on almost all portable engines is guaranteed. Should you be looking to re-power an existing boat we offer fixed price and all trades are welcome. Hunts Marine also supplies a range of genuine parts and accessories for all Yamaha outboard motors. EASY TO OWN AND OPERATE Evinrude E-TEC outboards require no scheduled dealer maintenance - that's right, zero - for the first three years or 300 hours of normal recreational use. Not even gearcase lube. You'll never have to change the oil or the oil filter, which can cost several hundred dollars each year for other technologies. Evinrude E-TEC uses up to 75% less fuel than typical 2-stroke carbureted engines and up to 50% less oil than competitive direct injection engines (when run with Evinrude/Johnson XD 100T oil with optional dealer programming of the Engine Management Module, versus normal TCW3 oil). And you'll use 30% less oil compared to a 4-stroke with a typical maintenance schedule under normal operating conditions. That's just the start. The Evinrude E-TEC engines use an exclusive low friction design. There are no belts, no chains, no powerhead gears, no cams, and no mechanized oil pumps. No two boaters are exactly alike. Which is why MerCruiser® offers gas sterndrives to meet virtually any expectation. Whether you’re into fishing, cruising, pontooning, or performance boat racing, our lineup is designed to help you get the most out of it. That’s why every new gas multiport fuel-injected sterndrive in our lineup comes complete with our performance-enhancing SmartCraft® technology. This exclusive technology actually monitors and fine-tunes your engine to be sure it’s running at peak efficiency and performance—through system features like our multiport fuel injection system, Engine Guardian™ and more. The result is a powerful combination of protection and performance. Minn Kota offers a wide range of electric boat motors for freshwater or saltwater conditions. Electric boat motors by Minn Kota are available in different strengths (measured in pounds thrust), different shaft lengths for different sized boats, as well as bow mount, transom mount and engine mount. The best electric boat motors for Australia’s conditions are the saltwater “Riptide” range by Minn Kota. They have fully encapsulated electronics, sacrificial anodes and indestructible composite shafts which are impervious to the corrosive effects of saltwater. There are 4 variants of the Riptide saltwater series which are described below. Should you require information on any of the freshwater models please give our Accessories department a call on (02) 9546-1324 and we will be happy to help. |
Hunts Marine
PO Box 3006 Blakehurst, New South wales 2221
✆ (02) 9546 1324
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