Meteor III

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METEOR III

Last week we ran a story on the very fast Meteor II, the 33’ Collings & Bell built ex Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, tourism launch. Link below https://waitematawoodys.com/2022/03/15/meteor-ii-comet-ii/

I was subsequently contacted by John Bullivant who supplied the above photos of Meteor III. John advised that his research uncovered that all of the Metero’s (1 / II / III) were owned by Frank Haworth, who ran a very successful tourism business in Queenstown in the 1950’s>1960’s.

It is believed that Meteor III was NZ’s first hydrofoil , but built in the UK. Meteor III cruised at 55 kph and topped out at over 70kph.

I understand that she operated on the lake until the mid 1990’s, but these days is run by a charitable trust and occasionally comes out of retirement.

When she first hit the lake in the 1950’s, based on the photos it must have been an impressive sight.

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6 thoughts on “Meteor III”

  1. The article indicates “It is believed that Meteor III was NZ’s first hydrofoil”, however that isn’t the case. “Meteor III” was undergoing builders trials in the UK in January 1966 with delivery reported at the time to be at the end of that month. But shipment to New Zealand must have taken much longer than that, followed by transportation to Lake Wakatipu. Another article I have indicates “Meteor III” was put into service in October 1966.
    By that stage, the larger Supramar designed and Rodriquez built PT20 “Manu Wai” had already been delivered to Kerridge Odeon Shipping in Auckland (22 June 1964).
    But there is an interesting twist: Captain Frank Haworth had already been experimenting with a home-built light plywood 2 person boat fitted with a set of foils of his own design. This was towed by a launch with experiments during April-June 1962. He wrote about this in an article in Hovering Craft & Hydrofoil journal titled “An Aeronautical Look at Hydrofoils”. At the time, he believed that this craft was the first experimental hydrofoil to operate in New Zealand. Unfortunately he wrote no photos were taken of the craft underway. I wonder if there are any photos of it at all, aside from the photos of the foils that are included in the article.

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  2. Ken, According to a 1965 article about “Meteor III” in Hovering Craft & Hydrofoil journal, the hydrofoil was originally fitted with an “eight-cylinder Chrysler gasoline engine type M-413-D”. This was reported to have a maximum output of about 300 hp at 4400 RPM. Not sure what has been fitted in later life.

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  4. Thank you so much for that Michael. — Must have been a huge capacity engine to get her on top of the water loaded with passengers. — The accident sounds ominous?? — KEN R

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  5. Hi Ken,
    Meteor 111 was powered by a large Chrysler petrol v8, and was an impressive sight on Wakatipu. One fault, though, was obscured vision forward at speed, and I understand her tourism business faltered soon after a serious accident.

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