Product of steely determination

By ROBIN BAILEY

Wellington couple Ian and Karen Newson are boat people. They plan to explore the stormy Fiordland coast, Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island before going offshore in their newly launched yacht, Ocean Whisper.

Unlike many who dream of a blue-water adventure, the Newsons know what's ahead of them and they have spent years planning their yacht and what they want to achieve.

First the boat. Ocean Whisper was one of the last commissions from the board of designer Denis Ganley before he and his wife died in a car crash in 1997. The steel yacht weighs 20 tonnes and was designed, built and fitted out to be sailed two-handed and without drama by the Newsons.

Ian Newson had previously owned two wooden launches he built himself, a 22ft Hartley and a Vindex 32. The switch to a big yacht is the opposite of the normal pattern. Lots of serious yachties move to power for the more sedate end of their seagoing recreation.

Newson: "We wanted to go further and looked at all the options before deciding on steel. And we went to Denis because he quickly proved to be the sort of designer who was prepared to listen to the owners' requirements. He had also firmly and publicly stated that no one should go offshore in anything but a steel boat. We agree.

"From the first contact with him until we had the lines for what was to become the first Ganley Palliser, we spent years exchanging ideas and drawings. In fact, early in the piece he asked me to please stop indicating changes on his drawings in red biro. Pencil was okay because it could be rubbed out."

The result of the Ganley-Newson relationship is Ocean Whisper, 15m long with a beam of 4.4m. Three other Ganley Pallisers have been built, all the others getting into the water before the Newson yacht because of the time the Wellington pair put into seeking perfection.

The steel hull was built in Whangarei by Ross Anderson, who was recommended to the owners by Ganley. Once the hull was finished and the 88hp Yanmar diesel fitted, the hull was trucked to Wellington by the Auckland boat-moving experts Boat Haulage. That proved an interesting exercise for the owners, who drove the pilot car on the trip.

"At 4.5m wide, plus the cradle, the boat had to negotiate some tricky bits on the way south," Newson recalls. "We made it to South Auckland on the first day and were on the hard at Evans Bay by 4.45pm the next day which was just as well because we had to be off the road by 5pm."

Having proven his woodworking skills on his early launches, Newson did most of the interior work on Ocean Whisper. But he called on Mitchell Products in Auckland for the tricky bits of joinery, and had the leatherwork done by the specialist interior-fitting section at Salthouse Marine.

The Newsons call their yacht a "Darby and Joan" boat because they plan to run it themselves and want it to be beautiful and user-friendly. To this end, they have a pair of leather armchairs in the saloon for TV and video watching.

The leather chairs were bought in Auckland, with the proviso that the company that imported them supply an extra five hides in the same leather. This enabled the Salthouse craftspeople to match the rest of the saloon coverings.

Newson again: "If you are spending serious money and putting years of effort into something you plan to use for a long time, it's best to do it right."

He estimates the yacht cost $600,000-plus with around $300,000 worth of his own time as an add-on.

The owners have also made sure the communications are state-of-the-art. As well as a weather fax, the yacht has the same satellite weather system as Volvo Ocean Race yachts which will help them with weather forecasts.

Being mindful that some yachts have been run down by freighters, they also have a radar detection system for times when visibility is bad or there's no one on deck.

Since launching in January, the Newsons have spent weekends and evenings getting to know the yacht - both inside Wellington harbour and across to the Sounds when conditions are right.

They plan to continue upgrading their sailing qualifications as they prepare for the stormy South Island and then their South Pacific odyssey.