Revolutionary world beating pontoon pleasure craft to hit Australia
by Paul Wilson 9 Oct 2018 05:23 UTC
The stylish new Bennington range of pontoon boats are set to hit Australian shores before summer © Paul Wilson
The Australian retail boating sector is about to receive an exciting new product injection with one of the fastest selling pleasure boat brands worldwide set to hit Aussie shores in time for the summer boating season.
Within three months the world's largest selling and fastest growing pontoon boat manufacturers full product line will be available Australia wide and its distributors say the Australian boat buying public will have their impression of pontoon boats changed forever as a result.
USA based Bennington Boats will be distributed, sold and serviced by Bennington Boats of Australia.
General Manager of Bennington Australia, Andy Clayton, said the state of the art pontoon boats would be sold through a network of new dealerships which will be prolific along the east coast with retail showrooms opening in Queensland, Sydney and Melbourne next month (November) to coincide with new 2019 Bennington models arriving for sale.
The team from Bennington Boats of Australia will be expanding to represent the American line with a new office opening at The Boat House in Sydney Harbour, Carrum Downs in Melbourne and a new purpose built showroom at Boat Works on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Clayton said the negotiations and planning to bring Bennington to Australia had been taking place since December 2017.
"We have now finalised everything with new Bennington vessels in build now heading for our shores," he said.
"One of Bennington's premium 27 QX twin engine 10 ft wide boats ordered by an Aussie client and retailed in excess of $300,000 will arrive in time for Christmas.
"The premium triple hull pontoon boat market in the USA has become the growth story of the last few years outpacing all US niches of pleasure boats in growth and market share.
"Extensive research and development and new product creation has seen the new era of this style of boat go from a stodgy 20 ft twin engine square platform to a mega cruiser with twin outboards capable of speeds up to 56 mph with handling and performance similar to a deep vee fibreglass boat."
Clayton said the associated benefits of the overall area and entertaining platform gives owners endless opportunities to create a layout just for them.
Bennington Boats USA began in the 1990's and it has now grown to be the largest pontoon boat builder in the world building 65 units a day. It is owned by the Polaris group, a six billion dollar multinational leisure based company.
"The 2019 product line and 10 year warranty puts Bennington streets ahead of its competition but the new designs and performance make this style of boat incredibly well suited to Australian boating," said Clayton.
"These vessels have incredible space and entertaining areas and will be equally at home in areas such as Pittwater, the Gold Coast's Broadwater, The Whitsunday's and elsewhere.
"Bennington has re-imagined the whole pontoon leisure boat sector and is now providing the performance and handling ability of a traditional single hull fibreglass pleasure boat with all the benefits and additional facilities able to be incorporated into a pontoon platform hull.
"It is very exciting and we are extremely confident that these boats will be a runaway best seller in Australia.
"We can't wait to showcase the versatility and practicality of this new breed of family cruisers for Australian's who enjoy or aspire to a boating lifestyle."