MILLIONS of dollars can be made fixing boats and West End Yachts have revealed that they are lapping up the business.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Martin Purser, said that two yachts in the Dockyard workshop at the moment were each undergoing repairs that would run into six figures.

The boom has come since May when the company installed a new 70-ton marine hoist. The new equipment greatly increased the number of craft which could be pulled out of the water allowing for complete repair.

"We can now haul boats up to 70 tons with a maximum beam of 19 feet,'' said Mr. Purser. "Length is not a problem at all as we have hauled boats in excess of 70 feet.'' But the real benefit of the new equipment and the feature which has been the real attraction for new business, is that boats with a draught of as much as 14 feet, can now be hauled.

The draught of a craft represents the amount of the vessel which must be underwater.

"The more modern yachts which are sailing today have deeper draughts which make them more stable,'' he said.

"Before we got the new hoist, only boats with a draught of up to eight feet could be brought out of the water in Bermuda. We used to have to dive to fix rudders,'' he added.

But now the modern yachts that visit the Island can be hauled for repairs and Mr. Purser said word was catching on in the yachting community.

"We have people who sail down and leave their yachts with us,'' he said, "once they realise the service is here.'' And the work has also proved to be a tourist attraction.

"We often get tourists coming over to watch us haul a boat up,'' he said.

"They are fascinated and can spend quite some time watching the process and asking questions.'' Mr. Purser has grown from a staff of two to eight and said the company got regular sub contracting work.

"We do total refitting of yachts. We do re-spraying, rigging and all mechanical work,'' he said.

Pleased with the Dockyard facility he took over three years ago, Mr. Purser noted that the large workshop space he had also played a large role in the success of the company.

"We have over 8,000 square feet of workshop space,'' he said.

Ship shape: The Danish training ship Jens Krogen was brought to West End Yachts for emergency repairs during the Tall Ships 2000 race this summer.

SHIPPING SHI