New anchor system casts chains aside

By ELLEN READ

A small business run from the pool room under a Stillwater house has the potential to take on the world and revolutionise the boat industry, say its owners.

Moor4u, with just one full-time worker - designer and managing director David McDermott - has applied for international patents for its new mooring system.

So how did this happen?

A few years ago, keen sailor Mr McDermott thought there had to be a better way to moor boats than with a length of steel chain.

The earliest moorings were probably stones attached to the boat by a line woven out of the nearest available fibre, starting with various flaxes and progressing to hemp.

Then came the metal age, and for nearly 1000 years steel chain has been the preferred mooring material.

However, steel has always had its drawbacks - rust and wear and tear on the shackles caused by the links moving as the moored boat swings.

Now Mr McDermott has come up with Moor4u, a system which has a minimum of moving parts and uses no materials which will corrode.

The four key components of the Moor4U system are the concrete bottom weight that sits on the seabed, the lead weights that keep the mooring rope on the bottom, the central core and the flotation device on the surface.

The solid concrete bottom weight comes in sizes from 800kg to 20,000kg. It has a concave scooped base to help it to bed into soft seabeds.

The core rope is attached to the base and weighted down by 14kg lead weights, which lock around the rope. The core runs through the weights, eliminating the need for any joins.

The rope itself is polypropylene, similar to those which have been used in mussel farming for many years. It has a breaking strain of 16 to 156 tonnes and is encased in PVC. The buoy on the surface is designed so the centre core can slide up through the middle of the float. This means the rope can be secured to the boat without having to bring the buoy on board.

Mr McDermott believes his system is a winner as it is environmentally friendly, will last longer than a steel chain so is cheaper to maintain, can be customised to each craft and 80 per cent of the product is reusable, making it a cost-effective option.

The system has passed all the official tests and has Maritime Safety Authority approval. It is certified for anything from a 5m boat to a 50m superyacht.

And all this stemmed from an idea, a flick through the Yellow Pages and plenty of help from a business mentoring scheme and a friendly bank manager.

After coming up with the idea three years ago, Mr McDermott went through the phonebook looking for engineers.

He found two who believed in his idea and were willing to help for free.

Input from the Enterprise North Shore business mentoring scheme helped with business plans and red tape and a grant from the Industry New Zealand enterprise award scheme paid for patent applications.

Mr McDermott credits the success of the venture to this help.

"You have to know your strengths and weaknesses. You can't be an expert at everything," he said.

The business, owned by Mr McDermott, his wife Sandy and business partner Mike Renwick, is not making money yet but this is set to change in the next 12 months as they prepare to make their mark on the boating scene.

Already two units have been sent to Tonga, where cyclones often play havoc with moored craft. A CD is also in production which will be sent to boating magazines internationally.

The company will also set up a display in the NZ Trade Centre in Auckland next month and plans to showcase the system at the NZ Boat Show.

Plans for international expansion centre on selling licences to people overseas.

This is seen as an easier way of developing the business than a franchising system where the owners would have to know each country and its market.

"It's easier for us just to go in and sell a licence to someone already there who knows the scene," Mr Renwick said.

The mooring units are put together in the back garden with components brought in from mainly from overseas.

"My wife lost her garden," he jokes. Hopefully she doesn't mind too much - as one of the Moor4u owners, Mrs McDermott's retirement pension is on the line.