Production is booming at Hall Spars NZ

Hall Spars New Zealand has battened down the hatches as August 2015 brought further news of heightened production at their cutting edge Auckland facility in the shape of 4 new custom built Oceanfurl booms for the Oyster 825-05 and 825-06, a Hill 20-metre and Dubois 37-metre.

Sophisticated and functional, demand for Oceanfurl booms from the premiere builder of high-performance spars and rigging is continuing to grow with more construction set to begin later in the year. With a carbon fibre prepreg nomex cored design and streamlined carbon-fiber body and furling mandrel, these stalwart booms are extremely lightweight without compromising on safety or convenience. Drive options include hydraulic, manual or electric (for smaller booms) and the Oceanfurl can be reefed or furled when sailing at deep angles, improving comfort in all conditions.

Andy Sheltrum, Captain of Dubois 37m S/Y Bliss, says "We have used our Oceanfurl boom for over 5 years; racing in regattas and ultimately completing over 80,000 miles. The boom works as well today as it did when it was new. The large furling angles and electronic luff adjuster makes single person operation a breeze."

Hall's innovative 2015 range of Oceanfurl tooling utilises a precision single cook process in which the shell of the boom, flush ring frames, stiffening, patching and the shelf are co-cured in their custom aerospace grade autoclave; removing the requirement for secondary bonding and dramatically increasing the structural integrity of the boom whilst saving overall weight and driving performance. 

A new 2015 slim-line shape sees a greater taper and smaller aft end creating the sleekest profile possible. The front end has been re-modeled and is capable of open-front or traditional closed-front boom options.

This same level of attention to detail is reflected in the finishing with the fitting of dimmable recessed white or warm LED lights over consoles and guest seating areas as well as an integral boom cover with the option for hidden awning tracks.

Oceanfurl booms have a large size range with the very economical 50ft range to the very elegant 50m range used on boats like the Wally 50m Better Place. They can be retrofitted to any mast and operation is a breeze with manual or automated controls.

Our new design can be seen here on this beautiful Oyster 825 Maegan:

Get a behind the scenes look at how our Oceanfurl booms are made here:

Busy superyacht season for Hall Spars NZ

As the 2015 summer season in New Zealand comes to a close, Hall Spars & Rigging New Zealand is pleased to have been busy with work on several visiting superyachts undergoing refit and maintenance work.

These projects have included work for existing Hall Spars customers, including 37m Dubois-designed Bliss and Escapade, 30.8m Oyster 100 Sarafin and 30m CNB Chrisco, which all chose to use the services of Hall Spars NZ for their planned refit and survey work.

Bliss, built by local Kiwi builder Yachting Developments in 2009, underwent a five-year service on her five-spreader carbon Hall Spars mast and Oceanfurl boom. “Hall Spars NZ has continued to look after Bliss from the time that the mast was stepped at launch over five years ago to the major rig refit during five year survey period recently,” said Guy Waddilove of 8 Yachts, management company for Bliss. “We have been very happy with the team’s technical abilities, their attention to detail and their fast action.”

Bliss and Escapade in Auckland's Silo Marina

Escapade, built by Fitzroy Yachts in 2014 and also managed by 8 Yachts, returned to New Zealand for her one-year service, with overall work including the servicing of her Hall Spars High Modulus seamless carbon mast, Oceanfurl boom and SCR carbon aerofoil continuous rigging. She is the first yacht of her size to feature solid carbon continuous aerofoil rigging, which equates to reduced wind resistance. This innovative rigging technology has been applied by Hall Spars across a wide range of smaller projects, but to date Escapade is still setting a precedent for this technology in the superyacht sector.

“Hall Spars’ global network provides support for all our superyacht clients, both new and current, but we always particularly enjoy working with superyacht customers at home here in New Zealand,” said Dave Ridley, Operations Manager at Hall Spars NZ. “It was a pleasure working with these long-term customers, and gratifying that they chose to work with us once again.”

Hall Spars NZ welcomes all superyacht enquiries, whether for new build, refit and service work, and offers uncompromising service and quality from their Auckland base. The company is taking bookings for works periods for 2016 and beyond, with several yachts already confirmed for the coming season.  

Hall NZ supplies masts and rigging to new Dubois50s in China

An exciting contract for Hall Spars NZ has been the supply of masts and rigging to a new fleet of Dubois50s based in Hainan, China. The 15m performance design was developed by naval architect Ed Dubois specifically to suit the Round Hainan Regatta, with models being built by Chinese shipyard Farnova Yachts based in Shenzen. 

Having delivered masts and rigging to three new yachts that were completed in time to compete in the sixth edition of this increasingly popular race, we have further orders placed for later this year. We look forward to continuing our work with Farnova Yachts as they build more of these fast performance yachts. 

Gear on its way to China