KEY POINTS:
Hobson Wharf in the Viaduct Harbour is usually home to visiting superyachts, large luxury cruisers and charter boats.
Tomorrow, however, the wharf - in the northeastern corner of the Viaduct - will host a wide selection of multi-hulled vessels, as the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club celebrates its
open day.
Between 15 and 20 boats will be on display at the marina, ranging from racing catamarans and trimarans to cruising power and sail cats.
On shore, designers and builders from both New Zealand and Australia will be on hand to answer questions, give advice and talk about their latest offerings.
Based on their experience last year, organisers say they expect well over 1000 visitors to take advantage of tomorrow's free open day.
"This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in multihulls," says Anthony McBride of the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club. "This is a once-a-year chance to have a good look around all the boats and talk to the owners, designers, builders and suppliers. There is a sausage sizzle and a great atmosphere. It really is a fun-filled family day out."
McBride believes the presence of a number of catamarans and trimarans from the fast-growing 8.5 Class will be of special interest to many.
"This fantastic class is essentially a box rule that allows owners, builders and designers to come up with their own creation and then test their design, boat building and sailing skills against the fleet benchmark," he says.
"These boats are capable of reaching speeds of 20 knots [46kph] and are certainly some of the best value 'bang for your buck' sailing that New Zealand has to offer."
For those who prefer their sailing a little more on the sedate side, a number of the club's more beautiful cruising catamarans will also be out on show. One of these is the high performance cruising cat McMoggy, regarded by most in the Multihull Club as the fastest "cruising" boat in the country, capable of speeds in excess of 20 knots.
There will also be a number of cruising powercats on show.
These will include offerings from Voyager Catamarans and Silver Tiger Catamarans, as well as a custom powercat from the design board of Australian Jeff Shionning.
* Tomorrow's open day runs from 9am to 4pm, with the sausage sizzle beginning at 10am.
All boats on display on Hobson Marina will be open to the public, although most owners will request that shoes are removed before boarding.
The on-land displays will be located in the Viaduct car park alongside the marina and just behind KZ1.
