catamarans volcanos and MARK HAS ALREADY HAD

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1 volcanos and catamarans by ROSS B LAIR A recent article by John McIntosh in Multihull World regarding Mark Pescott designed catamarans being built in Indonesia has created some interest and prompted me to write a bit of a follow up on the story. MARK HAS ALREADY HAD a few visits to Wayne Furler s boatbuilding shed over recent years, but they were mainly to check on the Rinjani 13.8 powercat that Wayne was building for a local client. During the last Phuket King s Cup Regatta in Thailand, Wayne and three of his friends chartered Mark s 10m catamaran, Summersalt. I was skippering the Firefly 850 Sports Voodoo Child but my wife, Peta, was asked to be part of the Summersalt crew so we got to spend a fair bit of time with the expat Aussie s. During the course of the regatta, Wayne suggested I visit his Lombok workshop some time as he was aware of his limitations and he wanted to improve productivity. I had an overseas trip booked in July and decided a side trip to Lombok would be good timing. Wayne graciously organised the flights out of Singapore via Jakarta, and in the early morning of July 20 I found myself sitting in a Garuda Airlines flight high over the stunning volcano studded island of Java. We passed over four active volcanos, plus a number of areas with smoke and steam spewing from the ground. The ash covered, classic cone shaped volcanos were a sight in the early morning light. I was treated to a show over one volcano as it decided to have a minor eruption as we passed alongside. With the travel hardened Wayne asleep in the seat beside me I had no one to share my experience and my camera was safely stowed in my luggage bugger! Senggigi Sensation at Teluk Nare with more Whitehavens in the background. (above) Our arrival over Lombok also gave us a great view of the (hopefully) extinct volcano, Mt Rinjani. After a quick drop of my gear at Wayne s Lombok residence we headed straight out to his beachside workshop near the town of Sengigi on the western side of Lombok. Being a Sunday the workshop was empty and this gave me a good opportunity to have a close look at the boats without interfering with productivity. As I am a fussy and particular boatbuilder, I will have to admit to having reservations about the kind of workmanship to expect I was pleasantly surprised. As John McIntosh M ULTIHULL W ORLD 129

2 Wayne standing on the Rinjani with the Lombok 11.5 in the background. (above) Margarita on the trailer at Teluk Nare. (below) has stated, the quality of finish is second to none. Mark s opinion is that the finish on the inside of lockers is over the top, which may well be, but it certainly is impressive. The Rinjani powercat, at the time of my visit, was not far off being ready for final painting so very little raw glass could be seen, but the new Mark Pescott designed Lombok 11.5 sailing catamaran had only recently been joined up and the bulkheads installed so I had a good look at the quality of the glass work. Again I was impressed, keeping in mind that none of the workers are qualified boatbuilders and neither is Wayne, so to have a quality lay-up equal to and better than a lot of what is produced in Australia except of course the excellent work that comes out of my workshop - makes it all the more impressive. The Lombok had only been started two and a half months earlier so the amount of work done in that time was also impressive. Wayne and I spent a couple of hours discussing the boat and how to improve his building systems and then jumped in his small truck (large ute?) and drove up to Teluk Nare the bay where John McIntosh first saw Sengigi Sensation. Apart from the fact that it is a beautiful little bay with a pleasant sandy beach and clear water, it is also where Wayne can haul his boats out to antifoul or do repairs. He has a gantry set up to facilitate the raising and lowering of masts as well. Wayne can launch his boats at his workshop in Sengigi but as the beach is quite steep it is impossible to retrieve from there, hence the set up at Teluk Nare. Wayne s brother s Whitehaven, Margarita, was on the trailer and so I had the opportunity to have a good look over it. As has been stated the finish is excellent but Mark s and my biggest criticism of the boats is that they are too heavy. This comes a little from Wayne s desire to keep his client (brother) happy and would put everything on the boat that was requested. He has built cupboards in every possible location and all have beautifully finished solid wooden doors and trim, all of which adds extra weight. Wayne has been aware of this (mainly due to Mark s comments) and this is partly why he has asked us to come on board with him basically to improve the breed, but more on this later. 130 M ULTIHULL W ORLD

3 After being driven back to Sengigi via the inland road through lush jungle and dodging monkeys, Wayne and I spent the rest of the day and night talking over our ideas and the opportunities that are before us. Monday arrived and we again went to the workshop to meet Wayne s workers and to get a plan laid out for them for the next two weeks. The core team of six Indonesian men are surprisingly organised and once shown how to do something right, are happy to do it the same way time and again. I was particularly impressed with Ojon, a very fit 54-year-old and Wayne s head worker. Ojon has worked for Wayne for 15 years and seems to have the respect of both Wayne and the rest of the crew. He also earned my respect after he had shown his ability to work out a process of building the decks (which was new to them) for the Lombok 11.5 without any guidance. He appears to be a quiet and efficient worker and would be a great asset to any boatbuilders shed. Wayne and I spent the morning solving a few of the minor hiccups involved in a new design and constantly talking about how to improve the build time and their building techniques. Later that afternoon we drove up to Teluk Nare to jump on board Sengigi Sensation and headed over to the Gillie Isles, a few short miles away, and spend the night on a mooring off the windward side of Gillie Trawangan or so we thought. We had a pleasant afternoon ashore and arrived back on board in the evening to a freshening south-easterly breeze. Wayne s prediction of the wind easing off by early evening didn t come Lombok true and at 1 am the anchorage became too uncomfortable, so we groggily dropped the mooring and headed back to Teluk Nare. Picking up an unlit mooring in the dark using a torch with a flat battery and the wind howling through the rigging was interesting to say the least but thankfully we finally settled in to catch a few hours sleep in much more comfortable conditions before driving back to Sengigi in the morning. M ULTIHULL W ORLD 131

4 Rinjani Wayne wanted to introduce me to some of his suppliers and show me how much is now available on Lombok. We went to paint stores and hardware shops and I was blown away with the range of gear on sale, although a lot of the brand names were not familiar to me. Our intention was to head back to the workshop to have a final look around, say my farewells to his crew and then head out to the airport for my flight, however at some stage Wayne received an SMS message which he commenced to read before a string of obscenities came pouring from his mouth. He had just been told my flight to Bali had been cancelled. This was bad news as I had a connecting flight to Singapore and then to London. The ride to the travel agent to find a flight was available in one hour was bad enough but the drive to Wayne s house to get my gear and then to the airport was terrifying. However, we made it in one piece and I was able to carry on with my journey. The purpose of the visit was to investigate the possibility of me becoming involved in some way with the boat building side. Wayne has an important job with a major construction company and boatbuilding has been a sideline for all these years. He was unable to be at his workshop more than a few days every couple of weeks, hence his desire to have an experienced multihull builder involved. We have discussed this at length and as I can see great potential in the business, I have decided to move to Lombok early in 2009 to take over supervising the building of the boats as well as in a promotional capacity. The plan is to increase production and improve on the building techniques while maintaining the already high quality of finish. Wayne has had a bit of a set back just recently with a water spout coming WANT INSURANCE on your trimaran or catamaran? Yes we can do it, all your multihull insurance needs! Multihull Yacht Sales Australia For too long the Marine Industry has been lacking real competition in the highly specialised area of pleasure craft insurance. Multihull Yacht Sales Australia is now a distributor for Nautilus Marine Insurance Agency and we can offer a Real Alternative for Boat Insurance. Obtain a quote today, renew your policy with us, and see what an insurance agency that really cares can do for you. Multihull Yacht Sales Australia shop 5/457 Royal Esplanade, Manly Q 4179 p : e : boats@multihulls.net.au w : M ULTIHULL W ORLD

5 ashore right on his shed and losing 60% of the roof and part of the walls but as luck would have it the walls fell outwards and the roof went upwards and away so the two boats inside were undamaged. A new roof is almost complete and little build time on the boats was lost. The hope is to have the Lombok 11.5 and Rinjani 13.8 launched in the first quarter of 2009 and it is likely we will have a 55 footer to start soon after. Mark Pescott has almost retired from boatbuilding to concentrate on designing and is coming up with new designs for clients as well as new stock plans, from powercats to larger cruising and racing cats. As Mark s friend and Aussie agent I have been building his boats exclusively for the past 15 years but we won t necessarily restrict ourselves to his designs, however with the range he now has available most potential catamaran buyers wanting an efficient cruiser or racer will find a design to suit them. I am looking forward to the change of lifestyle and the challenge ahead and maybe, just maybe I will improve my surfing as well! we are moving! BRISBANE CATAMARAN CENTRE is relocating to 920 Boundary Road Richlands. OUR NEW location will feature a more modern factory and a large air-conditioned retail showroom. This will allow us to provide a much improved retail service for all our customers. We will still be available on the same phone number We look forward to your continued custom and look forward to seeing you at our new premises. Our other contact details also remain the same: Ross Mobile: briscat@briscatamaran.com.au W : (recently updated) M ULTIHULL W ORLD 133