Boat Designer – Sonny Levi
photos & details supplied by Ken Ricketts
Levi designed at least 3 launches for the NZ market (refer below)
Designer Bio (straight from his website)
Born in Karachi 85 years ago, Sonny Levi was at school in Cannes when the war broke out.
His father, an interior designer and manufacturer, and an enthusiastic motor yachtsman, moved into Government contract boatbuilding at a shipyard in Bombay. From this early age the young Renato (‘Sonny’ was bestowed by an ayah who could not manage the letter ‘r’) designed boats, inspired by the multitude of local craft in that seafront city.
He joined the RAF and trained in England, studied aircraft design and demobilisation and returned to Bombay, where by 1950 he was chief designer in his father’s busy drawing office. In 1960 he moved to Italy to work for Navaltecnica in Anzio. “I have been very fortunate to have clients who are prepared to take risks” he says today.
“I always tried to be as honest with them as I could when we discussed their projects. And occasionally something didn’t work. This is the problem with original design.”
But for every failure there were a great many ground-breaking successes, and it seems typical of the man to ascribe these to luck and pass on credit to his customers – even if they were signing the cheques.
But when you look at some of the projects he involved them in you begin to see what he means: so many of the designs were at the cutting edge of naval architecture, where success was by no means certain. Like an artist with wealthy patrons, whenever he had an idea for a new work he could usually find someone to pay for it.
Rich playboy powerboat racers would find themselves enthusiastically funding outlandish and dramatic experimental prototypes. Commercial boatyards would be talked into daring new engineering solution on the promise of more speed and efficiency. If Sonny Lei is a problem solver at heart, he is one who has never seemed inclined to solve the same problem twice.
The Levi Boats
#1 Resolute
Built in the mid/later 1950’s, originally 38 ft., she was lengthened somewhere along the way, probably in the 1990’s, to about 42 feet, originally with twin 4-53 GM Detroit Diesels, until a 2012, which were still going fine, but were replaced with 2 larger Yanmars. Resolute belonged to a friend of Ken Ricketts, Ray Bailey, for a period in the mid 70s & is now moored at Westpark Marina.
#2 Ikikai
Little is known about Ikikai, she was circa 40 feet & originally also had twin Detroits.
Both of these first 2 boats, were designs based on boats he designed & were built in numbers, for the Indian Police, as Police Boats, in their era.
#3 Bacardi
Launch date unknown but powered by twin 427 cubic inch ‘Interceptor’ GM V8 petrol engines, circa 400 hp each, these were replaced with 2 x GM Fuel Pincher 4 cycle V8 diesels circa 200 hp each. Barcardi was owned in the 1990’s by another of Ken Ricketts friends, Rick Brown.
All 3 boats were all built for Arthur Jenkinson, who was in the musical instrument business, in Auckland, by Percy Vos, & /or Shipbuilders.
Levi was very radical in his designs, for his day, virtually all his launches were designed as high speed, high performance boats, many of them having a reverse shear, & in the case of Ikikia & Resolute a slanting out tuck that v’ed to a central point in the middle.
Bacardi had a “cathedral” type bow, but she was very quick with those 2 “Interceptor” GM V8s.
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Hi to everyone ! I am new here but spotted a mention of our old family boat MV Matata ! We had it from 1979 oct to 1989 – ( which was also a fullers boat !) The Matata was 38 foot ( surveyed ) and to my knowledge had 2 semi-sister ships all built by Bob Wilde from Te Rapa ! the other 2 were a little smaller The Bacardi 36 foor and The Maru 34 foot !
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That would be great thanks
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Bill, I have some movie footage of her taken on the mid 1970s when she belonged to my friend Ray Bailey. The still shot of her above as original, by the Harbour Bridge, is cloned from those movies. Let me know if you would like to see it sometime. email; kenpat@ihug.co.nz
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I purchased Resolute in 2010. She is 43 ft and still had the original detroit 453’s and walters remote ‘v’ drives which I replaced with cummins 210hp 6bt engines and new zf remote ‘v’ drives giving her 17knots cruise /24knots peak.She was built by Tom McCarthy in shipbuilders yard in 1960, I have spoken to him , he is retired down the east coast
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Wondered about Bacardi too, I don’t see Levi in her, as you say much more like the MV Matata of Sandspit, with a hint of Bryan Jacksons Caracat (not sure of that spelling)
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The first 2 boats were discussed in Levi’s book Dhows to Deltas. I do not have my copy handy but my recollection is both Resolute and Ilikai were built for Chas Western (the book names the owner). Resolute was originally 38′ and a sister ship to Levi’s first pleasure boat built as a demonstrator for the familiy’s Bombay ship yard. Ilikai appeared to be a one-off as discussed in the book.
I doubt if Bacardi is a Levi design, she looks like one of the Dick Cole designs I think Bob Wild built in Hamilton in the late 60’s. A sister to the ferry/chárter launch that was based at Sandspit for a long time
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Resolute (I think as no name was on her) was lying unloved with no engine at Westpark Marine for some time in the nineties, she had something like the original Levi cabin then and was crying out for a large V8 and someone to throw all the rubbish out of her. Unfortunately instead a Levi surfacedrive was fitted without the horsepower to push it and even more weight piled on to her. Shipbuilders did build a number of these launches, good designs that needed owners that appreciated their dynamics, perhaps some one like Lincoln Laidlaw — but he was busy racing Clippers. She dates from the early 60’s no earlier. started out about 36′.
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,my email address is kenpat@ihug.co.nz
Edited – please also send to waitematawoodys@gmail.com thank you. AH
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Thank you David, that’s great news.
Is there any possibility that you could get, or have a photo of her? — There are several Ilikais, but if she as a fairly low profile, is quick sleek with a reverse sheer & sedan type top similar in a way to Resolute & has an unusual shaped tuck, it would be her. — Do you know what engines she has now?
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Ilikai is in Nelson, owned by the Findlay family – who are Wellington based but with considerable orchard interests in Appleby, near Nelson.
She is in excellent shape and a most successful fast cruiser. I did a Cook Strait crossing on her with the Late Peter Findlay in about 1974. A wonderful experience.
David Lackey.
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