One Man's Boat -- Norman Wright 62ft cruiser

When it comes to classic Australian-built cruisers few vessels can match the beautiful Dolphin II, a 62 foot luxury cruiser built by renowned Queensland boatbuilder Norman R Wright in 1967.

Dolphin II was commissioned in 1966 by Sydney-based Clyde Industries, then one of the biggest companies in the country.

In 1950 Clyde Industries was awarded the first of many contracts for diesel locomotives by the Commonwealth Railways and later it was appointed the Australian licensees for Electro-Motive Diesel products. Apart from building locomotives and rolling stock, Clyde Engineering diversified into telephone and industrial electronic equipment, machine tools, domestic aluminium ware, road making and earth moving equipment, hydraulic pumps, product finishing equipment, filtration systems, boilers, power stations and firing equipment, car batteries, hoists and cranes, door and curtain tracks and motor vehicle distribution.

Clearly, the bosses of Clyde Industries had lots of VIP guests they had to entertain in a lavish manner and Norman Wright knew what had to be done.

They designed an aft-pilothouse vessel that provided enormous entertaining areas on the covered rear deck and in the pilot house. A flying bridge was never considered. The saloon was designed mainly to serve food by the full-time professional crew.

Because it was not designed for family outings, the accommodation was kept limited and the large galley was placed forward near the crew quarters.

Bill Wright recorded that Dolphin II was the first pleasure vessel built by the firm that had its hull tank tested before construction. It was also the first boat they built using the newly developed cold moulded construction method and the first to be air-conditioned.

Dolphin II was built on a flooded gum laminated keel and stem. Steam-bent yellow ash was used for the ribs and the cold moulded hull was made from diagonally-laid, epoxy bonded planks of Queensland maple and Philippines mahogany. Maple was used for the deck beams and the decks were Queensland and Indian teak.

The cold moulded construction saved an enormous amount of weight over traditional planking methods and also provided great strength. Dolphin II’s watertight bulkheads were two layers of two-inch thick marine plywood with internal oak stiffeners.

The superstructure was made from Burma teak over spruce five-ply deckhouse beams.

Twin General Motors 8V71N diesel engines, each producing 320hp, were fitted -- driving bronze, three bladed propellers -- which gave the vessel a top speed of 20 knots and a cruising speed of 16 knots.

Clyde Industries took Dolphin II to Pittwater and Sydney and entertained a who’s who of businessmen and politicians of the time.

The company kept the boat for more than 20 years before selling it in 1988 to Noel Gordon, who sailed it to Queensland’s Gold Coast to continue its career. In 1990 Gordon sold it to rural Queensland truck and farm machinery magnate Harvey Black.

Black and his family used the boat until last year when he updated to a new Alaska 59 sedan cruiser -- a boat that essentially a modern version of Dolphin II.

Dolphin II, which is still in excellent condition, is moored on the Gold Coast City Marina awaiting a new owner. Her asking price is $349,000.

With oversized single bunks and one large double, Dolphin II has accommodation for eight. There are two heads.

The huge galley is fitted with a fridge, a freezer and an electric stove and there is a large flat screen TV, a DVD player and a sound system in the saloon.

The big GM diesels have only 4000 hours on the dials and a bow thruster has been fitted to make docking a breeze.