TRADITION
and thrills deliver history
Les and Olive Hutchins were
passionate about ecotourism long before
the word entered the commonavocabulary.
Based in one of the country's tourism
jewels, the South Island's southern sounds,
the business they started in 1954 was a
resounding success and in 1978 they passed
on the reins to their son Bryan.
B
ryan Hutchins is a passionate sailor, and when
he sat down with the company's engineer Jim
Young in 1989 to design a vessel they could
take to the lucrative backpacking tourism
market, Bryan's passion took on a concrete, or should
that be steel, form.They already had the setting, but what
design of vessel would be best suited for this market?
They chose one of New Zealand's most traditional,
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NZ WORKBOAT REVIEW 2013
The main saloon
The main saloon
and tried and tested designs; the scow. Although more
often found in northern waters in the days when fuel
was expensive, these boats had already been plying the
country's coast for about a century. Up until World War
Two they were often the only means of getting goods
from remoter areas to central markets. Their design was
a compromise of cargo space, the capacity to berth and
load without a wharf, and sailing ability.
