Cat for Carib. to NZ cruise?

[GMac]

REDTWIN has it right with the numbers relating to imports into NZ. When you 1st arrive you can get a Temporary Import Exemption (TIE) and this gives you 12 months to cruise/rebuild or whatever before the taxman cometh with hand out. The nasty number will be calulated on the boats worth and our Customs do have a good idea so trying a dodgy probably won't work.

While you have a TIE you can get boat related supplies (not food and the like but actual boat bits) with no GST, our sales tax of 12.5%.

When your 12 months is up you can get an extension with a bit of sweet talking for another 6 months. After that the boat leaves NZ waters or money changes hands. It is far from un-common for vessels to do a quick trip across the Tasman to Aussie or upto the Pac Islands for a couple of weeks and then come back with the tax clock reset. I know of one or 2 Customs guys who will actually 'suggest' this. Our Customs are the only government department not staffed with the 'brain-deads' and are very good/fair to deal with.

Setting up a NZ company will not get around this. Anyone be they a person or company pays these 2 taxes on all imports, simple as that.

Multis down here were regarded as the domain of long haired freaky people only untill about 10 years ago. These days they are proving to be very very popular, both sail powered and stinky motor powered as well. There is a pile being built around the country at the moment (I'm in the marine game) and a lot are 50-65ft sailing cats. There is a lot of people looking that way and not many boats available. There are quite a few around but they seem to have quite a $$ premium on them over mono's for some reason. This has resulted in a fair few being on the market for a while.

I would think if you sailed down and then were able to sell around the NZ$400K or below it would be a lot quicker gone than numbers larger. Big $$ will sell but it could take a lot longer. Just remember there is only 4 million of us so the number of 'buyers' will be a lot smaller than the US.

I think some of the problem is a lot of imports (all sorts of boats) are very fussy/gimicky/busy (looking for the right word) for us simple folk. We tend to be a 'simple boat that goes very well' type of people rather than having chrome plated grease nipples in each of the 10 cabins on our 40fter. Give us a shell that sails real well and fast. Chuck in a few bean bags, piles of cold beers and a good stereo and we are happy as pigs in s**t. Some of the imports seem to be built by Japans Microsoft, way to many cabins for the size and enough electrics to wire a small city. As the standard repair kit for a Kiwi is just a hammer and a bottle opener we have to keep things simple.

Our cruising ground are either exposed costal or a 1000 miles away to the Pac Islands or Aussie. No soft sailing down this way when the weather goes bad.

Aussie's love Multis a lot more than us so that might be a better option if you are in a hurry to sell.

[Michaele]

Originally Posted by cjenkins

1) is a cat a good choice for the Pacific crossing? (I might make the crossing with two other crewmen, and pick up my wife and daughters in Tahiti.)

2) what make will be most "sellable" at the end of the trip in NZ (or Australia if needed)?

I) When I went that way all the folks in Cats were having a very comfortable time... I was in a 36ft monohull... It is all down wind sailing, pretty light trade winds - seldom much over 30knots. They seem the ideal boat. A bit sad to leave your wife and daughters behind when the Galapogos and Marquesas are some of the most beautiful and interesting islands in the Pacific... It is not a challanging run -

2) Boat prices are much lower in NZ and Aussie than in europe - up to 30% and the market is of course quite small. There are no other countries nearby to sell to. American - Caribbean prices are also lower than European prices so are probably going to be only slightly higher... You will have to pay import taxes, make the boat conform to the local safety laws by having things like an orange storm trisail etc -

Michael