Gelo

Vessel numberHV000224

Vessel Registration NumberADB358N

Builder Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd (1924 -)

Designer Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd (1924 -)

Date1949

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 13.11 m x 4.37 m x 1.37 m, 15 tonnes (43 ft x 14.33 ft x 4.5 ft, 15.24 tons)

DescriptionGELO is 13.1 m (43 ft) long features a low forward cabin and raised cabin over the helm, saloon and cockpit. It has a single chine, vee-bottom hull form planked in oregon.

GELO was built at the Halvorsen's Ryde yard on the Parramatta River, NSW and completed on 29 September 1949. The job number was 938 and it was built on commission for joint owners George Bryant and Leo Tutt as a recreational cruiser.

Halvorsen records note that in December of that year a dinghy was built for GELO. The dinghy's job number was 962 suggesting the firm was enjoying a healthy order book in 1949.

GELO appears to have changed hands half a dozen times since it was launched, and between 1981 and 1994 it was named SIECHEL. It has travelled widely along the NSW and Queensland coast, going as far north as Yeppoon. For a number of years it is understood to have been based in Queensland. On one occasion in 1979 it had members of the Queensland Opera Association aboard, along with opera personalities Richard Bonynge and his wife Joan Sutherland.

In 2008 it remained in largely original condition including the original General Motors six cylinder engine, with only minor repairs having been made to the superstructure.
SignificanceGELO is a medium-sized wooden motor cruiser from Lars Halvorsen Sons Ltd in NSW and was completed in 1949. It is unusual in that the vessel's styling shows it is based on Halvorsen's smaller 11 m (36 ft) long standard cruisers, rather than the typical longer raised-deck flying-bridge designs.