December 4th 2006
Hukafalls Jet Locals Day New Boats Launch a "Huge Success"
A Taupo charity benefited by more than $10,000 when a hugely successful Hukafalls Jet Locals Day helped launch the company’s new twin engine jet boats on Sunday (December 3).
More than 500 locals experienced The Most Thrilling by Nature at the newly re-branded Hukafalls Jet.
Queues started forming from 8.30am with locals looking forward to experiencing the new 520hp boats, and every boat was full until the final trip at 5pm.
Locals paid $20 a head for the trips, and all of the proceeds (with Hukafalls Jet covering fuel and staff costs) went to St John Taupo to help them buy new hand-held ambulance radios for use at local area events. The jet boat rides raised a grand total of $10,500, and St John Taupo raised an extra $200-plus at a sausage sizzle.
“It was an absolutely awesome day and we’re thrilled to have raised so much for St John,” said Hukafalls Jet Manager Clark Scott.
“The new twin boat launch was a success with many locals commenting on how ‘snazzy’ they looked and how smooth and thrilling the ride was.
“The only downside was that we were so busy we had to put a couple of the older fleet of boats on the water so not all locals experienced a twin ride.
“A definite highlight of the trip for some was head driver Nathan sucking some weed into his jet unit so he had to undress and jump into the water to clear it out!”
The Hukafalls Jet Locals Day was also proudly supported by other local businesses including Harcourts, Bakers Delight, The Radio Network Taupo and The Taupo Times.
St John Taupo Area Manager Graeme Harvey said he was “absolutely delighted and overwhelmed” with the fundraising result.
“This means that St John will be able to provide superior mobile communication between teams at all Taupo local area events in the future, so I’d like to thank all the businesses involved and everyone who supported the day,” he said.
On December 1, 2006, Huka Jet re-branded as Hukafalls Jet and launched four new state-of-the-art, twin-engined jet boats designed by Shotover Jet and built by 3D Design in Queenstown. The engines are supercharged V6 Buick motors which put out a combined 520hp, with twin Hamilton Jet units thrusting 640 litres of water a second. With a third more power and thrust, this translates directly to enhanced acceleration and speed.
This $1.6million investment in boats and associated facilities is helping Hukafalls Jet to implement future stages of its growth strategy as well as offering an enhanced experience for passengers.
The new Hukafalls Jet boats incorporate the very latest technology and development “know how”, with improved safety features and black box technology for improved maintenance and engine efficiency.
Hukafalls Jet operates four boats, has 17 full-time staff and is visited by around 50,000 people a year. Hukafalls Jet is Qualmark endorsed and won the Peoples Choice Tourism Award for Taupo in 2005.
To date (December 2006) Hukafalls Jet has carried 610,000 people.
