REBUILD Words by Greg Walter
Rebuilding Owl
I suppose if I’m completely honest I didn’t want to buy my boat. In fact I used to
tell people that I had bought a mooring and it came with an old Wharram Hinemoa
attached. Before anyone gets uptight and starts tearing the page out I would add that
my original opinion was based on ignorance of the type and has changed with 18
months of use.
s an experienced mono-
A
hull sailer but multihull
neophyte, I envisioned
owning a cat around
7 metres or so, something
with performance potential but
still cruisey rather than a full-
on white knuckle race boat. I
should probably explain that in
New Zealand there are very few
small (say 8.5 metres loa or less)
multihulls.
There are no Strider’s, Seawind
24’s or anything of that ilk. The
European Micromultihull class was
never established here. Its probably
fair to say that the success of the
Great Barrier Express in NZ’s limited
market (as a production boat and
home-build) appears to have had Dismantling in progress on the beach
the downside of stifling development
of other smaller designs. Malcolm
Tennant and Ron Given designed 7
was documented over the years with
alloy spar. She was re-launched,
metre production trailer cats were
a couple of articles in Sea People
however didn’t get much use as the
both introduced in the early 80’s and
magazine so there are no mysteries
owner was becoming increasingly
while both types were reportedly
about what she’s built of or who did
involved in a successful business
roomy, good performing boats, they
what and why. She was built of Rimu
venture. She was offered to me 5 years
were unsuccessful in what, at the
(now a protected species) construction
later and I accepted, more to get the
time, was a difficult market for small
ply and Fijian Kauri, liberally doused
mooring and inflatable than anything
production yachts in NZ, and only
in WEST back in 1982 and came into
else. The owner arranged to have the
a couple of examples of each were
the ownership of a friend of mine in
mooring surveyed prior to transferring it
produced. There are a handful of
the 1990’s. He and his wife used her
into my name
one-offs, a few later Farriers, Given
extensively for a few years before rot
26 foot ply cats, Buccaneer 24’s,
was discovered in the decks and front
After 5 years on the mooring she
Trailertris and earlier types like Pivers,
crossbeams. The decks were repaired
was looking pretty sad. The rudders
Wharram classics etc. Many of these
and modified for new wider (4 metre)
were missing and appeared to have
are of ply construction and have ages
beams which were lashed Tiki style.
jumped off the top pintles and then
counted in the decades so are often
The rig was also updated, the original
torn off the bottom ones. The decks
ripe for a bit of work.
leg-o-mutton main being replaced
were encrusted with bird shit, windows

with a boomless, full battened, heavily
crazed, paint oxidized and faded, and
Fortunately the building and
roached type and a new masthead jib,
of course there was the inevitable
subsequent modification of my boat
totalling approx 21 m2, on the original
mussel farm hanging off her. Nice.
34  MULTIHULL REVIEW : JULY 2009
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