Best trip yet to come
TAURANGA APARTMENT DWELLER PHILIP GRIFFTH LOVES TO HIT THE WATER IN HIS QUADSKI
Tell us about your 2019 1300cc Gibbs Quadski. I have been following Alan Gibbs, his company Gibbs Sports Amphibians, and watching the development of the Quadski for 15 years. It seemed the ideal machine to use from our Pukehina Beach house, to take a longline or a net out or just rods for fishing. We waited for the Quadski to come out in 4WD two-seater version. Unfortunately when they were launched onto the market in about 2011, they were single-seater 2WD and probably wouldn’t have coped with the constantly changing beach conditions. You don’t see many Quadskis? There are about 10 Quadskis in NZ — not including Alan Gibbs’ personal fleet on his farm north of Auckland. About 900 were sold worldwide before production was stopped. Gibbs maintains a R&D unit as well as a parts department in Auckland. When we heard production had ceased in America, and the only ones left were in the various dealerships around the world, we found a yellow two-seater in Singapore. We now live in an apartment and have a boat ramp less than 50m away, so there is less need for a 4WD version. (Which was never produced.) On impulse we imported the two-seater. Have you made any changes? We got Gibbs in Auckland to put a road kit on so that it is now registered and warranted for the road as a motorbike. With its 1300cc BMW motorbike engine, (de-rated to 104kW) it can travel at 70km/h on the road and on the water. We have slowly been modifying it to be set up for fishing. This includes racks on front and back, chilly bin, fish finder, long line, and safety gear to go fishing. Why a Quadski? The huge advantage of the Quadski is that when we arrive at a ramp, either going out or coming back in, we don’t stop. We just put the wheels up or down as the case may be and keep driving. No trailer or car required. It’s unbelievable the looks and comments we get at the boat ramps or beaches we drive up on or at the supermarket. Do you have to wear a seat belt? Helmet? Lifejacket? We wear life jackets and often wetsuits on the water because it can get extremely wet with a windy choppy sea. On land we do wear crash helmets. No seat belts required for motorbikes but a motorbike or car licence is required to drive on the road. Do you go out on with others? We are teaming up with other jetskiers who fish or just want to have a picnic somewhere. Also joining the Sports Fishing Club. Friends and relatives are keen to have the experience of driving James Bond-style straight into the water and roaring around and then driving back onto the land again. Most are keen to drive it, as well. How much do Quadskis sell for? The price for the basic model is listed on websites at US$40 000 but as the availability drops, prices can vary considerably. This is less than a Sealegs but is getting up there. Sealegs is a similar concept, but its wheels are for getting into and out of the water, not so much for road use. It does about 10km/ h on the road. We are looking at the possibility of assessing the Chinese equivalent Quadski to see how they measure up against the Gibbs Quadski. They are less than half the price. If you had to describe it as a celebrity? The Quadski is a James Bond machine. This is synonymous with fun, action, innovation, white tuxedo and a martini, shaken, not stirred! Best trip in this vehicle? The best trip in our Quadski is coming up. One of our female unit owners in our apartment block works for the Port of Tauranga and she wants me to take the Quadski over to the building where she works, drive onto the beach beside her office with my white tuxedo on and pick her up and roar off into the sunset, hair streaming in the wind, watched by her admiring workmates and friends.