Owner unimpressed as $100,000 boat vanishes

How do you steal a two tonne catamaran?

This is the question Palmerston North police are trying to answer after a custom-built catamaran was stolen from Food Machinery Australasia, near the refuse transfer station on Malden St.

The 7.5 metre-long aluminium catamaran, which has two Mercury motors, was taken between 5.30pm Friday and 7.30am yesterday.

FMA director and boat owner Alan Jones said he spent three years designing and building the boat himself, and it would cost $100,000 to replace.

The first indication it was missing came when an employee rang him to ask whether he had taken the boat home over the weekend, he said.

He raced down to work, to find an empty space where his custom-built catamaran had been parked. "I was gutted ... I spent a lot of hard labour on that boat, it's one of a kind."

Mr Jones had kept the boat in his driveway for the past 10 years, but moved it to his business six months ago when the family moved to a new house, he said.

He hopes someone will come forward with information.

"It's huge, it towers over a vehicle and towers over everything, so someone would have seen it and thought `Geez, there's a big boat'."

Constable Andrea Tyson said the boat's large size meant the thieves would have needed a trailer and a large vehicle to move it.

"The padlock to the gate had been cut and the gate was wide open.

"The wheels on the trailer the catamaran was on were dead flat. It seems they've come prepared with some sort of trailer."

Mrs Tyson said she was waiting to view surveillance footage from a nearby business, but would like to hear from any witnesses. Anyone with information can call the police station on 351 3600 or the confidential crime line on 0800 80 85 85.

- © Fairfax NZ News