Fiction turns to reality

Tauranga boatbuilder Don Mattson on Monday met up with owner Bill Dalbeith and they sailed a sparkling new Elliott 1350 Tourer cruising yacht to Auckland.
The 13.5m yacht, called Fiction and costing nearly $1 million, was launched at Hutcheson Boat Builders alongside the harbour bridge late last week after 14 months of construction.
The boatbuilder and the experienced sailor were happy with the result.
Speaking during the trip off the coast of Coromandel, Mr Dalbeith said "Don and his team have done a beautiful job. It's a great reflection of what they can do.
"They put all my ideas together and we can cruise in a bit of comfort. The finish is extraordinary - it's very cool," said Mr Dalbeith, chief executive of Howick Eastern Business and a director of Fullers Ferries.
In Auckland, the yacht will be fitted with a 18.5m carbon fibre mast and will be berthed at the Westhaven Marina.
Mr Mattson, sole owner of Hutcheson Boat Builders since 2000, had a team of four building the Fiction - the fifth Elliott performance cruising yacht to come out of the 1350 mould over the past five years.
"We are pretty chuffed to get that number under our belt and I'm confident of getting more orders," said Mr Mattson, who employs 18 boatbuilders at Hutcheson, after first becoming involved with the business in 1993.
The sleek-looking Fiction, capable of cruising at 20 knots downwind, has a manually-operated lifting keel and can operate in a draught of 1.8-3.1m.
The yacht can sleep seven people with three cabins and a large bathroom - the enamel basin was imported from Germany.
It has all the mod cons - fridge, freezer, leather upholstery and tawa floor.
The tourer design allows the sailors to stand up inside and see out the windows.
Auckland designer Greg Elliott watched the Fiction being launched. "It's really fantastic. It's top-class," he said.
Mr Dalbeith will use the Fiction mainly for family cruising, but he is looking at entering the Short-handed Sailing Association's around North Island race in late February - a journey that will take seven sailing days.
"There are 40 entries and we will just have to get ourselves organised," said Mr Dalbeith. Early in September New Zealander Graeme Kendall became the first solo sailor to cross the Northwest Passage in the Arctic, taking 12 days aboard his Elliott 1250, called Astral Express.
His passage is part of a circumnavigation of the world and he is now heading home to Auckland.
Hutcheson Boat Builders has already started a sixth Elliott 1350 for another Auckland owner, and it will be finished in 12 months. "It's going through the yard at the owner's pace," said Mr Mattson.
He said the boatbuilding industry at present was difficult. "I don't think the New Zealand production boatbuilding industry has a great future unless the NZ dollar changes. We can't compete with China, that's for sure.
"We will be doing mostly one-off special boats," Mr Mattson said.
Hutcheson's main work is involved with refits and general maintenance, including the local fishing fleet and boats in the marinas.
Mr Mattson is hoping to develop his site in Den Place by improving his slipway and attracting bigger refit jobs.
"It's important to secure the site on a long-term basis," he said.