Dame of Waitemata sold

The Sirdar, the grand old boat regarded as New Zealand's first superyacht, is to set sail for a new home in the South Pacific.

The 23m motor launch, part of the scenery on the Waitemata Harbour for the past 36 years, has been sold by tender under instruction from the High Court.

The new owner wishes to stay anonymous, but he is understood to be an expatriate New Zealander.

The once luxurious motor yacht has sat empty in the Viaduct Basin - next door to Team New Zealand - since the death of its owner, Jonathon Powell, in March.

Powell, a former British Army officer, was found dead in his Parnell office with no suspicious circumstances, just hours before he was to appear in court on more than 100 fraud charges.

Powell used the Sirdar for charter trips, especially during the America's Cup. He paid $2.1 million for the boat in 1999, when he bought it from businessman Alex van Heeren.

But Geoff Fraser, the managing director of Laurie Collins Marine Brokers, said the boat was sold for considerably less this time.

"Jonathon Powell didn't maintain the boat very well. But the new owner has promised to put some love and care back into the Sirdar, and bring it back to the condition it deserves to be in," he said.