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POWER TO THE PEOPLE - Honda back in force in South Africa
by Erwin Bursik
IN the early autumn of 2006, Honda Marine, South Africa, together with D7 Boats and Falcon Inflatables, chose Sodwana Bay as the venue at which to expose South African boating journalists to the raw power of Honda outboard motors. They wanted to prove how well they powered the array of craft that were available for demonstration. Sodwana Bay literally shone on Honda. The sea was flat with a light north-easter just ruffling its surface, and a small swell pushed in around Jesser Point providing just enough surf to make a very safe launch just a little more interesting. And the autumn sun shone down brightly, to add just a little bit extra to this beautiful ski-boating mecca on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast. Whilst Honda outboards have been available in South Africa for the last decade, it is only during the last twelve months that a marketing strategy, along with a dealer network to handle this product, has been set in place. Arthur Duvenhage of D7 and Unique Boats has been involved with Honda outboards since their entry into the South African market. He believes strongly in the product as he has sold, owned and worked on these motors extensively, generating a great liking for the brand that has found strong acceptance amongst the boating fraternity worldwide. It is not surprising, therefore, that Honda Marine South Africa, has harnessed Arthur's knowledge, enthusiasm and craft to help with their marketing thrust into our market. What better way to convince boaters of the quality of their motors than to put four Unique craft onto the water, all powered by twin Honda outboard motors. The craft were D7's flagship, Finally, a 9,5 metre craft powered by twin Honda 225s, two Unique 680s - one sporting twin 90hp Hondas and the other the new 150hp models, and a Unique 530 with twin 50hp Hondas that had 9 000 hours of hard work to their credit. Another boating company that fully supports Honda's penetration into the leisure boating market is Pieter Heyneman's Falcon Inflatables. Pieter has designed two exclusive RIBs for Honda - the 6,5m Extreme 650 and the Extreme 575, both of which were also on show for demo purposes. The RIB Extreme 650 was powered by twin 75hp Hondas and the 575 by two 50hp Hondas. These two, together with the Unique Wave Extreme 5.3, Wave Extreme 6.8 and Wave Extreme 9.5 make up the core of Honda Marine OEM's (original equipment manufacturers) base for the offshore anglers. What's more, other craft are also currently being considered by Honda to fill certain gaps in this already composite offshore range. A full range of pleasure/waterskiing craft will also be marketed by Honda Marine, and of course they'll all be boasting Honda four-stroke motors on their transoms. Honda Marine have adopted a method of penetrating the boating market that's new to this country. As they already have an incredible network of Honda motor vehicle dealerships spread throughout South Africa, the concept is to open a Honda Marine division at a number of these motor dealerships where it is believed a demand can be created for boating enthusiasts. Honda motor vehicles have firmly entrenched themselves in South Africa over the last few decades, to a point where they are now positioned as a premier brand of superior class vehicles. On the trip up to Sodwana I had the pleasure of driving the new Honda Accord supplied by a former colleague of mine in my Huletts days, Brian Collins of Honda Umhlanga. It was such a magnificent motor car, with beauty, power, comfort and speed as part of the package, that it made the normally dreary trip to Soddies very quick and easy, compared to trundling along in my old 4x4 "trokkie". Honda West Rand are already flying with their Honda Marine division, and with more such set-ups having started or starting soon, a new dimension of sourcing boating requirements is opening up to the boaters of South Africa. Read the full story in the July/August 2006 issue of SKI-BOAT 
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