Beauty and The Beast

Three-year-old Kael Rodie is enchanted by The Beast, Michael Hill’s new catamaran.

Michael Hill’s beast of a boat has attracted an unlikely biggest fan.

Three-year-old Kael Rodie, from Foxton, is fascinated with Michael Hill’s new boat and is desperate to walk the decks of the enormous vessel, known as The Beast, before it sets sail.

His mother Veronique Read said the fascination started when The Beast arrived at Foxton Beach in January. Read takes Kael to Manawatu¯ Marine Boating Club almost every day to see his beloved boat before daycare.

Profab Engineering in Palmerston North has been constructing the 40-metre-long, 12m-wide catamaran, which is one of the biggest boats built in New Zealand

in recent years. After two years of work, it launched last Thursday.

Getting a tour of the boat before it leaves in a week’s time would be a dream come true for Kael. The sheer size of the boat is what Kael finds most impressive, but he also likes the paint job.

Stuff approached Profab owner Carl Ferguson about letting

Kael look around, but he said it was highly unlikely, citing health and safety. Ferguson said he would check with the boat’s skipper later in the week.

He said the crew were under ‘‘strict instructions’’ not to let people see the interior, as it is still incomplete. After work is finished in Foxton, the boat will go to Wellington and then Auckland.