A 1965 Alan Smith launch that captures the best of mid century kauri craftsmanship and coastal cruising design.
A designer thinking beyond the norms of his time
Claude Allen Smith, known locally as Alan Smith, worked during a period of major change in New Zealand boatbuilding. His yard in Whangarei produced a wide range of yachts and launches, all built with a clear eye for proportion and the honest strength of Northland kauri. While his Easterly and Planet yachts are the best known today, Muritai shows how Smith’s approach to powerboat design was also moving ahead of the curve.
When Smith drew Muritai in the mid sixties, most New Zealand launches still carried the shape and habits of the classic bridgedecker. Boats from builders like Sam Ford, Lane Motor Boat Co and Shipbuilders dominated local harbours with their tall wheelhouses, enclosed saloons and compact cockpits shaped for short coastal runs. These patterns had held firm since the thirties. Extended liveaboard layouts were only beginning to emerge, and even well regarded family cruisers of the time kept to conservative interior arrangements.
Flybridges, now a familiar sight, were still at the fringe of the design world. Salthouse made the first real statement with the fifty two foot Trinidad, launched in 1965 with a fully considered upper helm that drew plenty of attention. But this was a custom yacht at the top end of the market. On mid-sized launches, flybridges were rare and often added later as simple platforms rather than purposeful steering stations.
Placed in that context, Muritai reads as a forward thinking boat. Her shape and layout foreshadow the evolution of New Zealand cruisers through the seventies and eighties.
A cockpit concept ahead of its time
Muritai’s cockpit is the first clue. It is wide, usable and drawn for people who spend time outside rather than passing through. An outdoor shower and sink sit neatly to one side, and weather curtains can enclose the area without fuss. It feels like an extension of the saloon, offering the kind of flow that would become standard only years later.
Where many sixties launches kept their main social space indoors, Muritai gave the cockpit equal weight. That shift alone marks her as something different for the period.
A saloon that feels remarkably current
Step inside and the layout remains strikingly modern. The helm and galley share a single level with enough room to move about freely. Light falls through generous windows across the warm kauri joinery. Sightlines forward are clean. The arrangement suits extended life aboard, not just a weekend.
Accommodation follows the same practical logic. Two doubles sit midships where motion remains gentle. The forward vee holds four singles, creating flexible space for family, friends or visiting crew. It is the kind of layout many New Zealanders associate with much later fibreglass cruisers, yet here it is in a wooden launch from 1965.
A proper flybridge, years before they became common
Muritai’s flybridge seals her place as a design ahead of her time. Purpose drawn and usable, it offers excellent visibility into tight bays, past harbour entrances and through busy anchorages. A full second helm gives the skipper options for long coastal passages or close quarters manoeuvring.
Only a handful of mid sixties launches carried flybridges with this level of intent. Smith adopted the idea early and executed it well.
A vessel kept in the spirit she was built
Muritai has benefitted from steady, thoughtful care rather than dramatic rebuilds. Electrical systems have been kept current, with new house batteries and charger fitted in recent years. A tender and outboard sit ready for shore trips. An inverter and live bait tank reflect the way she is still used today.
This quiet, consistent attention is the reason she remains such a complete and honest example of mid century kauri boatbuilding. Nothing has been lost. Nothing has been hurried. She simply carries on.
Innovation does not always arrive with fanfare
Some boats endure because they were built well. Others endure because they were designed well. Muritai has both. She stands at a point in our boating story where tradition and new ideas were beginning to meet, and she captures that moment with clarity.
Her cockpit flow, her saloon arrangement, her accommodation logic and her flybridge all hint at the direction New Zealand cruising boats would take in the decades that followed. She is a living reminder that innovation does not always arrive with fanfare. Sometimes it comes quietly, built in kauri, from a thoughtful yard in Whangarei.
Muritai: specifications
Designer and builder
- Claude Allen Smith (Alan Smith), Smith’s Boat Yard, Whangarei
Year launched
- 1965
Construction
- Full length kauri, traditionally built
- Timber superstructure
- Carvel planked hull
- Timber joinery throughout
Length
- 14 metres (approx.)
Configuration
- Flybridge launch with enclosed main helm
- Large cockpit with outdoor shower and sink
- Single level saloon and galley
Accommodation
- Two double berths midships
- Four single berths forward
- Additional flybridge sleeping space in settled conditions
Helm stations
- Main helm in saloon
- Second helm on flybridge with clear coastal visibility
Machinery
- Single diesel inboard (period appropriate; model varies over ownership history)
- Cruising speed consistent with mid-century Northland launches
Systems and equipment
- House battery bank (recent replacement)
- New battery charger
- Inverter
- Electrical WOF
- Tender and outboard
- Live bait tank
- Weather curtains for cockpit enclosure
Home waters
- Tutukaka and the Northland coast
Original purpose
- Coastal cruising, extended family stays, and day-to-day practical use across Northland’s bays and harbours
Notable design notes
- Early adoption of a purpose drawn flybridge, unusual for a mid-sixties launch
- Larger cockpit than typical launches of the time
- Accommodation arranged for comfortable, extended trips
- Saloon layout that anticipates later indoor outdoor design trends
Currently for sale through The Vinings Marine Group.
