Kiwis might not have really felt the brunt of Brexit yet, but Tauranga personal trainer and boxing coach Sean Hayden is in the ring fighting for the NZ$5000 he feels he's owed.

Sean moved to the Bay of Plenty from London last Christmas, and has been trying to sell his boat in England –a 46ft Bavaria for all you curious boaties – for about a year.

Having recently sold his boat in the UK, Sean Hayden is not happy that he is out of pocket by some thousands of dollars due the fall in the value of the English pound. Photo: Chris Callinan.

When in England, Sean lived on his boat, which he moored in the St Katharine's marina. From his deck, he could sit back with a pint and watch the sun set behind the Tower Bridge.

And when he moved, Sean hired a broker to organise the sale and transaction of his Bavaria for him. 'Time just ran out,” says Sean, and he ended up losing about NZ$5000 in the sale, primarily because of Brexit.

He received a conditional offer on the boat through his broker, but when an unconditional offer popped up, Sean jumped at the chance to sell it.

'I went back to my broker and said: ‘I'm gonna cancel this deal and go with the unconditional offer because it's about the same amount of money after commission'.”

'The broker went: ‘Don't let this guy down he's quit his job and he wants to work on the boat' and basically promised me that the deal would be concluded by Friday, June 17 at the latest' so I said: ‘Okay go with it'.”

But the deal got delayed, put off, postponed time and again.

'Then the [Brexit] referendum happened [on June 23, 2016] and the exchange rate went from one pound sterling buying NZ$2.09 to one pound sterling buying NZ$1.86, so I lost about NZ$5000-6000,” says Sean.

And he's fighting back. He's contacted the company's legal department for compensation, but Sean says they won't have any of it.

Suspecting he's fighting a losing battle, Sean has gone back to them explaining that their broker 'dropped the ball” on the sale which has cost Sean.

'They're not going to do it.

'I've basically said to them that I want to be reimbursed. I said: ‘I think it's fair, your broker screwed up, y'know, he dropped the ball on it basically and I think I need to be compensated for it'.”

And when all the dust had settled, Sean sold his boat for UK£30,000 – equating to about NZ$54,000 – minus the NZ$5000 lost because of Brexit. He's still throwing punches for his compensation, though.

'I'm pissed off because the deal should have been concluded; the guy dragged his heels on a UK£30,000 deal, [and I lost] NZ$5000. It's a lot of money.”

But, at the end of the day, among all this drama Sean is not deterred; the call of a snooze on the sea is still strong.

He's in the process of using the money that he did get from his Bavaria sale to buy a new yacht – and moor it right here in the Bay.