80 Boating New Zealand
e joined the Salthouse Corsair Euro 44E
Liquid Paradise on an overcast morning
with a strengthening north-easterly piling
up a respectable sea at the entrance to the
Waitemata Harbour. And it was a revelation:
in the conditions the vessel inspired
conidence and delivered a remarkably comfortable, composed ride.PEDIGREE
Dean and Treena Salthouse from Salthouse Next Generation
Boats have enjoyed considerable success with the revamped
and totally updated Corsair sedan range, a development of the
original Salthouse Corsair designed over 50 years ago by Dean’s
father Bob and produced in Mark I and Mark II versions.
he Mark II hull was the starting point for current models.
Dean and Bob spent two years developing the new Corsair,
lengthening and widening the Mark II hull, adding a skeg keel
and modifying the underwater sections for better bow lift. he
irst new Corsair was released in 2005.
Dean and Treena have sold 20 of the revamped Corsairs so
far, 17 of them in New Zealand. Initially the boats were built
at Next Generation Boats in Silverdale using traditional Kiwi
boatbuilding methods, but in 2015 production shifted to the
Hylas factory in Taiwan where a new team was formed to build
boats for the international market in moulded GRP.
he Corsair comes in Euro and Cabriolet versions, both
sedan-style launches with social, one-level layouts, sheltered
cockpits and sleek styling. hey are available in 44-foot (13.5m)W
and 49-foot (15m) versions. In Europe the Corsair 44E is sold as
the Hylas 44.
Liquid Paradise is a Taiwan-built boat and she compares
favourably with earlier New Zealand built examples. Moulding
the boats in ibreglass, including the roof and cockpit overhang,
has simpliied the build process, reducing costs, and making
them easier to maintain.
Liquid Paradise also dispenses with the electric cavity
windows of earlier boats, along with a few other extras, to reinIn New Zealand and around the world, sedan styling
and one-level living are becoming increasingly popular.