Michael Hill's massive catamaran to launch from Foxton Beach

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Crowds are flocking to a small seaside Manawatū town to see a massive 40-metre-long boat owned by Kiwi businessman Michael Hill, due to launch this week.

As visitors turn on to Hartley St in Foxton Beach they catch their first glimpse of the giant catamaran, sitting in the Manawatū 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, who dubbed it The Beast.

The club's commodore Roger Cook said having Profab regularly launch a huge boat from its ramp was great for Foxton Beach.

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Looking down Hartley St gives a sense of the catamaran's massive scale, next to a row of houses.

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The Beast was by far the biggest launched there yet and, with its celebrity connection, the extra attention was great for local businesses, as well as boosting the club's reputation.

Manawatū Marine Boating Club members watch preparations for the Beast's launch from the clubhouse balcony.

'It's a big thing for a little place like [Foxton Beach]. It really puts us on the map.'

Cook said thousands of people had flocked to Foxton Beach over the past month to take a gander at the massive vessel.

The Beast was moved in two parts from Profab's Kelvin Grove, 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 on a sightseeing trip took a detour to join the more than 100 other people gathered to watch preparations for The Beast's 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 on Thursday.

Profab owner Carl Ferguson said it was the company's most ambitious boat to date. Previously, the largest boat Profab built was 34m long.

'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].'