CAPTAUR – A Peek Down Below

The 30’ launch – Captor previously made a brief appearance on WW back in January 2016,  at the time we learnt from her then owner that she was built in Taupo in 1967. Planked cedar with glass top sides. Link to that WW story here https://waitematawoodys.com/2016/01/09/captaur/

Now thanks to the eagle eye of Ian McDonald we get a look down below from her recent tme listing.

Captor is 30’ in length and has a beam of 10’ and draws 3’.  Forward motion is via a 110hp Nissan SD33T that sees her topping out at 8 knots.

As you can see from the photos she is well fitted out and with 450L fuel and water tanks able to do some serious cruising.

Can we ID her designer and uncover some of her past.

10-04-2023 INPUT ex PAUL DRAKE – “When at Taupo, CAPTAUR was on a mooring just outside SIR FRANCIS’s boat shed. She had no visible name so we called her THIRTY FOOTER. We must have been told that she was thirty feet long. I believe that we thought she had been amateur built by her doctor owner.

She appeared well before 1967 (the supposed build date) as evidenced by the boat sheds which were removed in 1963.

The first photo below, which I took, has appeared before on ww and is dated May 1963 or 64 (boat sheds recently gone).

The second photo shows her with a bit of bright work which enhances her in my view. The date on this photo is pre ’63 . SIR FRANCIS’s boat shed far left.

So CAPTAUR is 60 plus years old and has been well looked after.  As you would say – ‘we like that’.”