Boat Show general manager Dave Gibbs on the bow of the Maeve, which has shag-pile carpet throughout and sleeps seven comfortably. Photo / Dean Purcell
Boat Show general manager Dave Gibbs on the bow of the Maeve, which has shag-pile carpet throughout and sleeps seven comfortably. Photo / Dean Purcell
It won't matter if you spill red wine on the shag-pile carpet and white sofas in this $2.65 million luxury launch — it just slides right off the specially made fabric.
The 16-metre Maeve will be displayed from today at the Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show as part of theevent's new feature, the Big Boat Marina.
The show, which has been running at the ASB Showgrounds for 58 years, has for the first time in years been able to display some of the country's biggest boats because of an 18m trailer — the only one of its kind in New Zealand — able to transport them to the venue. Maeve was built in 2012 by Lloyd and Tracey Stevenson's East Tamaki-based company, Lloyd Stevenson Boatbuilders, as a showboat and has been used for family holidays with the couple's sons Ashton, 17, and Logan, 15.
They travelled to the Bay of Islands over Christmas and to Waiheke, the Mercury Islands, the Coromandel and Great Barrier Island at Easter.
The launch sleeps seven people comfortably with its three cabins — two double and the third with bunk beds — and a fold-out couch.
The interior includes dark-stained oak cabinetry imported from the US and imported white upholstery and beige shag-pile carpet throughout, which are both made so that they don't stain.
"You won't believe what I've spilt on there and it all comes straight out," Mrs Stevenson said.
"I lost a whole cup of coffee on the carpet when we were away last time, and I just got some water out and it just all came out."
