We love Ferro cement but beware !

Originally Posted by wardd

ferro cement derelicts last forever

So, then at least the longevity of that stuff seems to be good. A clear plus!

[TakuTori]

Originally Posted by Steve W

Bill,what you have there is a Laurie Davidson design,yep ,the same guy who led the Team NZ design team when they won the Americas cup in 1995 and successfully defended in 2000. He was the in house designer at Ferro cement ltd back then.The first two to that design were launched at the same time and were built for the same Australian client and sailed together to the Carribbian for the charter industry.If i remember correctly they had no sunken cockpit well.
Steve.

Steve, thanks for the info. Since this post we have sailed Taku Tori through 13 countries and over 17,000 miles and except for a run in with pirates off the Galapagos Is. and a heavy grounding north of Fiji - we broke the reef not the other way around - we had a fantastic trip. From Fiji to Noumea we had 3 days of 50 knots, boat handled it easy.

I wish I could find more information about the design.

[tunnels]

what you have there is a Laurie Davidson design,yep ,the same guy who led the Team NZ design team when they won the Americas cup in 1995

Yeah Laurie is still alive last i heard and living in retirement but boats are still in the forefront as always , a personal friend used to be Lauries side kick and helped with some of his drawing work for a while but stuck to being a boat builder/designer Instead .

Ferro is just another material to build boats from .
Now you can have fiberglass reinforced concrete sprayed with a specially adapted chopper gun . the glass is different to the ordinary so dont get to excited !!
Its used in the building industry and swimming pools ,making building panels and the like, cuts down on the amount of mesh needed and is very strong !!.

Food for thought !!

[TakuTori]

You are right, there was 2 of the same design sent to Horn Marine in the British Virgin Islands. Taku Tori and Valhala. I have a picture of the other boat Valhala in crewed charter mode. Both are as you say, flush decked - no cockpit. Allowing for an enormous aft cabin 15 x 12 feet, plus cupboards, shower and toilet and large hanging locker.

After bareboat chartering became poplular and crewed charter was on the way out, Horn Marine sold both boats. One went to somewhere in the Mediterranean and the other, Taku Tori, stayed in the Caribbean and was used to run drugs between South America and Florida Keys. Eventually the U.S. Coastguard intercepted Taku Tori and the boat was impounded and sent to Norfolk Virginia where it was held for a number of years.

The previous owner purchased Taku Tori at public auction after he found out the boat had a pedigree. Subsequently, the PO and his wife used the boat as a floating home for sometime until he died of cancer in 2005. We purchased the boat in early 2007.

After purchase we replaced all the electronics and added a ton of toys to make handling a boat of this size easy for the wife and I. The boat still has the original 6 Cyl Ford Bowman diesel. It uses around 2-3 liters per hour at 1400 rpm. Our endurance under power was tested between the Galapagos and Hiva Oa, French Polynesia. 3200 miles and we had to motor 1500 miles because of no wind. We arrived with vapour left in the tanks. Next time I'll take 20 jerry cans to save the worry. Reached Hiva Oa on the 26th day. Some Cats did it in 20 - 21 days. So despite 38 Tons (30 tons boat 8 tons of cheap Rum and provisions) we weren't far behind.

In the end your'e all sitting in the same anchorage watching the same sunset and sharing the same happy hour. Who cares if you spend a million or a 100,000 to get there, the view is still the same.

Regards,