Michael Hill jewel to catch the tide
Crowds are flocking to a small seaside Manawatu¯ town to see a massive 40-metre-long boat owned by Kiwi businessman Michael Hill, which is due to launch this week.
As visitors turn in to Hartley St in Foxton Beach they catch their first glimpse of the giant catamaran, sitting in the Manawatu¯ Marine Boating Club car park. It’s almost the same size as the clubhouse itself.
Palmerston North’s Profab Engineering built the boat for Hill, known for his eponymous jewellery business, with the boat builders dubbing it The Beast.
The club’s commodore, Roger Cook, said having Profab regularly launch boats from its ramp was great for Foxton Beach.
The Beast was by far the biggest launched there yet and, with its celebrity connection, the extra attention was great for local businesses. ‘‘It’s a big thing for a little place like [Foxton Beach].’’
The Beast was moved in two parts from Profab’s Palmerston North base in January and reassembled outside the boating club, where the final painting, wiring and interior joining were completed.
On Wednesday, a busload of international tourists joined the more than 100 people watching preparations for the launch.
Cook said the catamaran was being positioned on the boat ramp, resting on top of huge airbags, to wait for high tide, when the bags would be deflated and The Beast would slip into the water, about midday yesterday.
Profab owner Carl Ferguson said it was the company’s most ambitious boat to date.
‘‘It’s the biggest boat manufactured in New Zealand for years.’’
The Beast took 22 months to build. It weighs 480 tonnes when carrying its full load of 76,000 litres of fuel, 14,000 litres of water and 14,000 litres of sewage.
James Drewett, 12, and his friends had the day off school and took the chance to get a good look at The Beast.
‘‘It’s cool. It’s pretty huge – way bigger than the last one we saw about two years ago.’’
His mate Danny Thomas, 12, reckoned they should come back for the launch, since the last one was so impressive.
‘‘It made this huge splash and all the water washed up over [the river banks].’’
‘‘It’s the biggest boat manufactured in New Zealand for years.’’ Boat builder Carl Ferguson