Michael Hill's colossal boat The Beast launches at Foxton Beach

Thursday, 7 March 2019

With a splash and a bang, Michael Hill's massive new boat launched in front of a captivated crowd.

Michael Hill's new boat, The Beast, is launched into the water at Foxton Beach.

A crowd of about 1000 people gathered around the Manawatū Marine Boating Club in Foxton Beach on Thursday to watch the The Beast take to the water.

Built by Palmerston North company Profab Engineering, the 40-metre-long and 12m-wide catamaran is one of the largest boats constructed in New Zealand.

On Wednesday, the boat was manouevred on to the boat ramp and put on to airbags to wait for high tide. The boat launched about midday on Thursday to cheers from onlookers.

The Beast went to sea on Thursday, in front of 1000 onlookers.

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Profab owner Carl Ferguson said the launch wasn't without its challenges.

The Foxton Beach wharf was full of people watching The Beast set sail.

'At the last minute we moved some of the airbags on the boat… We should have left them where they were. We made a lot of work for ourselves.'

After two years of working on the catamaran, he was relieved the boat was finally at sea.

'It's a big milestone. We will spend a bit of time at the boat club tonight and have a few shandies.'

Alrich Hoffmann, 10, and his brother Neil, 8, from Manakau, waited for two hours to see the moment the boat made it into the water. Neil said the boat looked 'quite amazing' when it was finally in the water.

Profab managing director Carl Ferguson, in front of the boat the firm built.

The loud bang made by the boat hitting the water made Alrich think something had gone wrong. 'I thought it was going to sink. I thought it had hit a rock.'

Foxton resident Cynthia Wells missed previous boat launches in Foxton Beach, but was determined to see The Beast finally go to sea. She thought the launch was 'great for the community', especially given Michael Hill's profile.

'It's an owner that most people know and he has a background that people understand.'

In two weeks, the boat will travel to Wellington for some finishing touches, and then the crew will take it to Auckland.