The 20-metre sailing catamaran 'Alii Nui' – built at Schooner Creek Boat Works in Portland, Oregon for Maui Dive Shop – was launched into the Columbia River in July 2009, and christened in a traditional Hawaiian ceremony.
It was then sailed across the Pacific to Maui, Hawaii, by yard owner Steve Rander and a crew of local sailors. Maui Dive Shop, which owns a chain of eight water-sports stores, began chartering the 'Alii Nui' from its base in Maalaea harbour in September 2009 for daily snorkel, whale watching and sunset cruises.
Maui Dive Shop entered the sailing charter market in 2003 after many years experience running powerboat charters, when it acquired the original 'Alii Nui', a 49-passenger catamaran that was built in 1975.
By 2005, owners Bob and Sandra Chambers had begun planning to replace their 30-year old boat with a new craft that would have more space, more amenities and comfort, and utilize the latest construction methods, rig and deck gear.
Chambers and his general manager Jeff Strahn surveyed the Hawaiian charter fleet, inspected several boats designed by Seattle architect Kurt Hughes, and commissioned him to design the new 'Alii Nui'.
The vessel had to be engineered to withstand daily service off Maui's south coast and after touring all the potential builders on the US west coast, the owners selected Schooner Creek.
Chambers explained to Rander that in Hawaiian. "Alii Nui" means "the highest nobility" or "the best of the best," and that was the standard he wanted the boat built to.
Schooner Creek employed traditional craftsmanship to build a wooden hull mould, and modern materials like vinylester resin, uni and bi-directional fiberglass fabrics and a Divinycell foam core, which were vacuum-bagged to produce a lightweight, very strong fiberglass composite laminate.
The twin hulls were rolled upright and bulkheads and fore and aft cross beams were installed, giving the boat its final width of 11 metres. The structural under-surface of the bridge deck was assembled and laminated as a single piece in an adjacent bay, then jacked into place between the hulls and bonded to the sheer line and beams. The compound-curved deckhouse roof was laminated in place over a temporary form erected in the main cabin. During construction, the boat was regularly examined by U.S. Coast Guard safety inspectors, and is certified to carry 100 passengers and ten crew.
The 'Alii Nui' is rigged with a Ballenger mast, a fully-battened Doyle mainsail and Harken deck gear. If the wind dies, the boat will still return on time, thanks to its twin Caterpillar D9 engines, providing a top speed of 20 knots.
