There is something in a Kauri hull that fibreglass will never replicate. The timber has weight, warmth, and a quality that speaks of deep time, of forests and craftsmen and voyages already completed. New Zealand's native timbers produced some of the finest small-ship hulls anywhere in the Pacific, and the tradition built around them remains alive and worth honouring.
Few names are more central to that tradition than Lidgard. The family's ties to the sea run across generations, and in 1932 those ties found formal expression when Lidgard Bros opened on the Western Reclamation in Saint Mary's Bay, Auckland. Brothers Roy, Fred and Mike built across a wide range of vessel types, from mullet boats and classic launches to commercial fishing craft. The Second World War brought them work of a different kind, and alongside other local yards they constructed a 112-foot Fairmile naval escort vessel. When the war ended and the yards returned to peacetime work, the next generation stepped onto the shop floor. Roy's son Jim and Fred's son John both served their apprenticeships at Lidgard Bros, learning the craft from the timber up.
John carried the family reputation through the latter half of the twentieth century, working as a sailor, navigator, designer, and builder. Over the course of his career he completed more than 220 designs. Those vessels won races, made ocean passages, and wove themselves into the fabric of New Zealand yachting. His son Duthie has since followed him into the marine industry, which, as the family might put it, is simply how it goes.
Six Lidgard vessels currently on the market span both generations of the family across sail and power, offering something rare: a chance to enter that story directly.
See the Lidgard boats listed on Boating New Zealand which are currently for sale
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The 1947 Lidgard Sedan, Maharatia, designed by Roy Lidgard
The oldest of the six connects the present directly to the founding brothers. Maharatia is a 1947 Sedan designed and built by Roy Lidgard himself, stretching to 15.85 metres and driven by twin Gardner 6LX diesels. A fuel range of around 1,350 nautical miles, seven berths, and 2,000 litres of fresh water capacity make her equally well suited to liveaboard life or extended coastal passage-making. She is the largest and most historically significant vessel of the group, and she can currently be viewed at Opua Marina.
Kauri construction at its best
The power vessels that follow trace John Lidgard's development as a designer across four decades. A 13-metre Bridge Deck Motor Launch, currently berthed in Mangonui, shares Maharatia's classic Kauri construction and the broad-beamed coastal presence that characterised the era.
Leander, a 1994 Enclosed Flybridge, is the most refined of the motor yacht group. Fourteen metres long, fitted with warm timber interiors throughout, and capable of accommodating eight, she carries 1,450 litres of fuel and is built for those who want genuine cruising comfort without surrendering character in the process.
Lidgard sailing designs
Three sailing yachts complete the collection. Bluegrass, a 1977 Lidgard 38, is an 11.68-metre cruiser-racer laid up in triple-skin Kauri and glassed over, a construction method that defined New Zealand boatbuilding during its golden period. Her current owner has carried out an extensive refit, fitting a new Beta 50 engine, new standing rigging, and a Hydrovane self-steering system. She is ready to sail.
The most compact of the six is the 1997 Lidgard Demon, built in kaihikatea and measuring 10 metres overall. A family cruiser with six berths, she is maintained by an owner who works as a marine engineer, and she is light, airy, and straightforward to handle solo.
Mischief Maker, the 1989 vessel also known as Regardless, is a 12.6-metre Kauri passage maker dressed in beautiful teak decks that have recently been through survey repairs. She arrives ready for whatever comes next.
All six boats share the same foundation: native New Zealand timber construction, monohull form, and a design sensibility purposeful enough to have kept Lidgard vessels on the water across multiple decades. Where they differ is in scale and intention. The offshore capability of Mischief Maker sits at one end of the range, the generous entertaining space of Leander at the other, with the competitive pedigree of Bluegrass and the approachable simplicity of the Lidgard Demon filling in the ground between.
Whoever takes on one of these boats is acquiring more than a vessel. They are taking responsibility for a piece of New Zealand maritime history, and for keeping it where it belongs.
