Welcome to Franklin Boatyards
Choosing a boat builder for your next boat isn't always easy,
there are many aspects that must be considered…
Expertise - Do they have the necessary experience and knowledge to build my boat?
Innovation - Will they offer innovative ideas and approaches to benefit my project?
Quality - Will the end product be a boat of superb quality?
Performance - Can they complete my project on time and on budget?
When you choose Ian Franklin Boat Builders
you are choosing a team of highly experienced New Zealand boat builders with a world wide reputation for expertise, innovation, quality and performance.
A team spurred on by their own and
New Zealands' international successes with innovative high performance yachts and
power craft.
“Plus you'll have our personal attention and
supervision of your project.”
Ian and Tyrone Franklin
Our History
Established in 1971, Ian Franklin Boat Builders Limited is headed by its founder, Ian Franklin.
Ian's background in yachting began with sailing junior dinghy classes in his early years and progressed through to senior racing skiffs. His early years in the industry saw Ian specialising in the building of high performance racing dinghies.
During this period he built and raced the very successful Laurie Davidson designed 780 trailer yacht Storm Rider. Storm Rider won every national and regional title it was eligible for in the following four years in New Zealand. This early association with Laurie Davidson became a close working and personal friendship as Ian Franklin Boat Builders moved into the big boat field, building IOR boats and working with the ‘new’ composite construction methods.
Significant boats from this era included Davidson’s Ex-tension, winner of the Sydney to Hobart, Indian Pacific winner of the Hamilton Island series, then Kings Cross and his own partnership boat Southern Fun, the most successful line honours boat in the local yachting scene for many years.
In 1982 Ian Franklin Boat Builders began the construction of the first of many Bruce Farr designed boats.
With support coming from the United States based Farr office for the Franklin Teams' ability to build high quality, high performance yachts — a number of top line, custom built Farr designed yachts were completed, together with several from the drawing board of Laurie Davidson and others from Nelson Marek, Carl Schumacher, Bill Dixon, Rob Humphreys and Tim Barnett, plus Scott Robson power craft.
More recently designs from Reichel Pugh, Morelli and Melvin, Paul Bieker, Bruce Askew,Sparkman and Stephens and Laurie Davidson have filled the workshop.
But this success didn’t just happen… it’s the result of a concerted effort to excel in the international custom built boat market and being driven by the Franklin Philosophy.
