Professional Skipper - Free Sample issue (July/Aug 2011)

WETA TO BE FINISHED AT AUCKLAND WORKSHOPS N ew Zealand's largest superyacht, owned by the country's richest man, Graeme Hart, crept into Auckland Harbour on June 2. Weta, otherwise known as U-77, is Hart's latest toy and his third enormous yacht. At 77m, with a 14m beam, this is his biggest yet. She dwarfs the $10 million, 21m "tender" he bought last year, a catamaran named U-21, and is one-third longer than his former yacht, the $58 million Ulysses. She can accommodate up to 30 crew, has 35 bathrooms and is one of the biggest vessels ever to be fitted out in New Zealand. Nick Saull, the managing director of Brin Wilson Boatbuilders at Gulf Harbour in Auckland, says Hart flew a team of Kiwis to Chile to complete theWeta, but the project fell over and she was towed to New Zealand instead. The only two dry docks big enough to accommodate the Weta are in Auckland and Whangarei. According to press reports, Ship Projects New Zealand, a consortium of maritime companies mainly based in Whangarei, was bitterly disappointed to miss out on the contract, said to be worth $50 million. The Northland Regional Council coordinated the pitch and halted the process "for a variety of reasons," said the chairman, Craig Brown. Unresolved issues over guaranteed provision of facilities may have got in the way of preparing a united proposal for the work within a tight timeframe, the report said. A maritime operator said it would be possible to paint the Weta without taking her out of the water, but only if she was shrink- wrapped. The hull was built by Marco Shipyard in Iquique, Chile and was finished incomplete without appurtenances, machinery or outfitting. Her windows had to be welded up to withstand the 10,000km tow from Iquique by the 36m tug Sea Trout, by a Colombian company, Intertug SA for Felham Enterprises Cayman, Ltd, one of Hart's companies. The 3281kW tug has a bollard pull of about 58 tonnes and averaged 6.5 knots for the journey, which took from April 21 to June 2. A large drogue of cemented truck tires and anchor chain was deployed off the port stern quarter to help keep the Weta from yawing during the tow, as her hull had no rudders or propellers. She was moored with the assistance of a large tug at Auckland's Wynyard Wharf for a couple of days. Hart is renowned for buying poorly performing businesses and turning them around. According to the NBR Rich List he is worth $5.5 billion. July/August 2011 Professional Skipper r 49 VIP.S68

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