A team of apprentices from Alloy Yachts are to compete in the Trans-Tasman Boat Building Challenge
After convincingly winning the 2013 Marine Trades Challenge and Harken Cup in Auckland in February, a team of apprentices from Alloy Yachts is heading this week to Sydney to represent New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman Boat Building Challenge.
Held on 3 August at the Sydney International Boat Show (SIBS), the event sees teams from around Australia and New Zealand competing against each other for the coveted first place.
The Trans-Tasman Boat Building Challenge is one of the most popular events at SIBS, with teams allowed two hours to build a boat, before racing their creation around an inshore course.
The Alloy team has been working hard to prepare for the challenge in the past few months, with their ultimate goal to secure victory over the Australian challengers.
The team is made up of apprentices Jac Hebson, Luc Whitehouse, Travis Page and Theo Finlayson, lead by team leader Tim Rattray. They will be the one’s to watch in the competition after having won so convincingly at the Auckland event, where they won Best Built Boat and the innovation categories as well as placing highly in many others.
The yacht builder places great stock in its Apprenticeship Scheme, which employs more than 70 trainee shipwrights. In a testament to the overall talent of all of Alloy’s apprentices, an additional team of Alloy apprentices also came second overall in the Auckland Marine Trades Challenge Event.