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Moonray

Vessel numberHV000268

Designer Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd (1924 -)

Builder Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd (1924 -)

Previous owner Cruisecraft

Date1939

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 10.97 m x 3.66 m x 1.07 m, 16.73 tonnes (36 ft x 12 ft x 3.5 ft, 17 tons)

DescriptionMOONRAY had Job Number 234 and was built at Lars Halvorsen Son's Neutral Bay yard in 1939. Carvel planked in New Zealand kauri and Oregon pine over spotted gum frames MOONRAY was built for HL Carter, a well known sailor and yachtsman on Sydney Harbour. He was also the owner of Sydney's Rosehill race course near Parramatta. To accompany MOONRAY Carter also ordered a 3.0m (10 ft) dinghy from Halvorsen's, Job Number 236.

During World War II, like many other Halvorsen motor launches, it served with the Volunteer Coastal Patrol and is understood to have attended a rescue involving a Sunderland flying boat accident.

After the war it had at least three owners including Keith Nicholson who was the owner in the early 1960s. He sold the craft and it become a hire boat with Cruisecraft at Berowra Waters NSW. They renamed it NATALIE after a family member. Bruce Woodward bought the boat from Cruiscraft in 1980 and renamed it MOONRAY.

In 2008 MOONRAY is powered by a Fargo Ford tractor engine. The flying bridge, an unusual feature on this size craft was added in 1985 by Halvorsens at their Bobbin Head facility for the owner at that time, Richard Kerslake who had bought it from Woodward. The craft remained in excellent condition and is a fine example of a Halvorsen launch.

SignificanceMOONRAY is a private cruiser from the prolific Halvorsen boat-building family and an example of a late 1930s design which became popular in the 1950s as a standard Halvorsen 36 ft (10.97 m) length motor cruiser. MOONRAY was one of the last private vessels built by the yard before World War II.