History

Some interesting bits about Marauders

The time eventually came to have a go at my 25year dream; that was to build and finance a boat, and sail in the New Plymouth to Mooloolaba, Trans Tasman Solo Race.  We (Anne & family) built "Wisecrack" (a Marauder 8.4) on the front lawn, over 3 years, launching her in time to race in the Club's 1989 season. With family (Anne, Debbie & Darryn) and Lisa Knapton as crew, we managed to win both the 'Gold Cup' and the Auckland Tauranga races first time up and I knew I had a good little boat to tackle the 1990 solo race, but first had to Qualify by doing a 600 mile solo trip. Because I was not sure I could handle the mental side of solo sailing, very few people were told of my intentions. Once I had qualified, and Category 1 passed; I set off to sail around to New Plymouth where a further 10 days of inspections and functions took place.

Start day arrived with a mean northwest wind and lumpy sea, right on the nose!

“Wisecrack” loved this on the wind work and led for the first 3 hours until the bigger boats gradually overhauled me. My joy soon turned sour when after 13 hours my autohelm suddenly failed. Already two boats had returned to New Plymouth for repairs, and the temptation to do the same was very strong, but I had borrowed another autohelm (untested), at the last minute before leaving, from Terry Smith 'Sneaky Heat'. Imagine my horror when I tried to install it and found it wouldn't fit!! Having come so far, I was not going to give in, so grabbed the tiller and hand steered for the next 13 days, the wind being on the nose the whole way, and quite rough at times. My time of 13 days was quite respectable, finishing 6th place on line, considering some larger boats took another 7 days to finish.

I only left the helm for short periods to cook, navigate, and radio my position. Most of the time I dozed at the helm using my ears and cheeks to judge the wind angle, together with the sound of the bow wave to tell if the boat was speeding up or slowing down. Catnapping at the helm, or short steeps with the tiller tied amidships allowed me to arrive tired but elated to have completed my dream, where I was met by my wife and family (Anne, Sharlene & Darryn), and after a short stay in Australia, we all sailed the return passage to Tauranga. Since returning, and breaking promises to complete renovating the house before further adventures, I took part in the 1995 Melbourne/Osaka 2 handed race, once again on the smallest competitor in the fleet ('Prospector', Owen Stewart) completing the 5500nm voyage in 45 days.

2003.04.10 NZ Herald 

Cruise Control By ROBIN BAILEY 

Boat design is all about compromise. Lots of different equations contribute to the challenges that need to be overcome no matter whether the finished craft is to be powered or wind-driven. With yachts, particularly smallish family yachts that can be both cruised and sailed, the problems compound. A degree of comfort and stability is a must, but the yacht also needs to perform well.

One designer who has built a solid reputation for successfully tackling this problem is Alan Wright. And the yacht that perhaps best qualifies as an excellent cruiser/racer is the Marauder, designed by Wright in 1976. Since then, around 200 have been built, many from plans bought from the designer, some professionally built in wood, with the majority being production yachts in GRP.

The yacht came after a series of Wright cruising/racing yachts like Variant, Nova, Tasman 20, Tracker, Lotus and Pacer. New clients wanted fractional rigs, lighter displacement and more room inside. The designer's answer was the Marauder 8.4. It has a seven-eighths fractional rig, wide stern, excellent interior space and a huge cockpit.

The seven-eighths rig has a substantial spar, while the mast can be tuned with the backstay for upwind work in stronger winds, it is not a lightweight bendy rig.

With a beam of 3.08m the boat is pretty stiff, while the relatively light displacement gives it a buoyant sailing motion. Performance in heavy weather is excellent, with the yacht able to carry its full mainsail into the upper wind limits before having to reef down.

Layout varies with the boat because so many were finished off at home, but most have the standard New Zealand cruiser/racer layout with heads forward and twin quarter berths. The Marauder became a victim of the 1987 double-whammy of the sharemarket crash and the Muldoon tax that caused almost all production yacht building to cease in New Zealand.

The yacht was designed with offshore capability, provided it was built to the design specs and complied with Category 1, which it does with only minor modifications. Bob Wise completed the single-handed Trans Tasman race twice in Wisecrack, in 1990 and 1998. Kerrin Muir and Ruth Whall completed a three-year circumnavigation in Kid Charlmain with no problems.

The class has survived thanks to an active owners' association, a regular magazine Marauder Mainsheet, and an active policy of recruiting new owners.