Kumeu-built Southern Pacific Boats becomes the official RIB supplier to Australian Sailing and the Australian Sailing Team through to Brisbane 2032, backing coaches on the road to LA28 and a home Games.
A New Zealand RIB builder is about to have a front row seat at two Olympic Games. Southern Pacific Boats, based in Kumeu, West Auckland, has signed a six-year global partnership with Australian Sailing, becoming the official RIB supplier to Australian Sailing and the Australian Sailing Team (AST) through to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Southern Pacific locks in six-year Olympic RIB deal
Under the deal, Southern Pacific's PerformR and SeekR models join the AST coaching fleet, supporting Australia's Olympic class sailors in training and competition as they build toward both Los Angeles 2028 and a home Games at Brisbane 2032. It is a six-year commitment that ties a Kiwi manufacturer directly into one of the world's leading Olympic sailing programmes.
Kumeu-built RIBs join the Olympic coaching fleet
Southern Pacific has been building inflatables in New Zealand since 1988, with a range stretching from small tenders to 14 metre Hypalon tubes for international coastguard and military contracts, and describes itself as the country's leading inflatable boat producer. The company's board includes Dean Barker, the former America's Cup skipper, adding some serious high performance sailing experience to the company.
The coach behind four Olympic sailing golds
AST Technical Director Michael Blackburn OLY, himself a Laser bronze medallist at Sydney 2000, has coached sailors to four Olympic gold medal performances across London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. He put the deal in performance terms: their RIBs give coaches a reliable, high-performance platform to work in all conditions while supporting Australia's leading Olympic class sailors.
Club pricing: how to get the deal
The reach goes beyond the national team. Australian Sailing Affiliated Clubs get exclusive pricing on three models, the Vortex, SeekR and PerformR, for race management, coaching, safety and on-water support (all built to order, so lead times apply). It follows a similar recent tie-up between Australian Sailing and Mercury Marine, which gives affiliated clubs discounted outboard purchases through participating dealers, building a broader push to lift on-water support from grassroots clubs through to the high performance programme.
Clubs after pricing can contact Simon at sales@southernpacific.co.nz, with full specs at southernpacific.co.nz.
