It turned out that a country that is covered by snow half of the year may not have been the ideal base.

Life took some interesting turns and two years later Dennis found himself in New Zealand where he got a job as a boatbuilder with McMullen and Wing. One year later he was given a chance to start work in the drawing office, a position he held for six years.

Later he spent three years as in-house designer at Vaudrey Miller Yachts and a year with Roger Hill Yacht Design.

Years spent working at the junction between the drawings of some of the world's best designer's and the every-day issues of building the highest quality vessels afloat taught many valuable lessons in design.

After two years working as an independent designer and doing contract work for others Artnautica Yacht Design Ltd (NZ) was started, the name reflecting the link to the Dennis' earlier days of being a hands-on builder/designer.