Chris Farnley remembers clearly the first time he ever rode a jet-ski back in the late 1980s. He was aged 14 and it took place on the Avon/Heathcote Estuary in Christchurch.
It’s fair to say the experience transformed him – his life has been based on or around skis ever since. He’s the country’s longest-serving retailer, having opened his first shop in the Garden City back in 1998 and now also co-owning the Yamaha dealership in Auckland. He’s witnessed monumental changes in the industry, the PWCs themselves and the people using them, and he remains as passionate today as he was back when he first started riding.
Farnley is in a prime position to talk about long-term trends and the changes in a pastime that started as a fringe watersport for a young, largely male, demographic chasing a new dose of adrenaline, but has now become a mainstream maritime juggernaut that continues to capture a decent share of the boating market.
He recalls what he considers to be several key periods of change that helped turn jet-skiing into that mainstream,
