Three Great Barrier Express catamarans sharing a startline is always a moment of note.
When Malcolm Tennant sketched the Great Barrier Express in the late 1970s, the brief was not complicated. Get across the Hauraki Gulf quickly and do it without fuss. At 8.5 metres long and roughly five metres wide, the boat relied on narrow hulls, low wetted surface, and fine bows to get moving early and stay upright when pushed. A tweak or two followed, and before long the GBE gained a reputation. Sail it properly and it would reward you. But if you pushed too hard, she’d also let you know. The idea caught on. More than 300 were built worldwide, and the design worked so well that the Open 8.5 Multihull box rule later lifted its core dimensions to suit.
If you really want to spin the calendar back, Jenny Green was already putting the Great Barrier Express through its paces in 1979, filing a Sea Spray review when disco was still a thing and fibreglass multihulls were considered faintly suspicious. Her write up captured a boat that was quick, direct, and unapologetically focused on getting across the Gulf in a hurry.
By 1991, Boating New Zealand took another look with the GBE Mk III. In the dozen years since, the design hadn’t really changed. A little refinement here and there, small changes layered onto a shape that had already proved its worth. The Mk III was still recognisably a GBE, just sharpened around the edges for a new decade.
Freedom is the first of the Mk II boats. The Mk II lifted the main beam slightly, added some usable volume, and stretched the cabin without dulling performance. It remains the version many sailors picture when someone says GBE.
Sublime, skippered by Ben Howson, arrives with more scars. About two decades ago, before Howson owned her, she managed the unusual feat of capsizing twice in a single Two Handed Triple Series. She came back.
VOOM! is the quieter presence. According to a former owner, she started life as one of the early moulded ply GBEs. Over the years she has been worked on with intent. The bow was reshaped to something close to plumb, while the length taken off the front was reused aft as a stern step, keeping the overall length honest. Now racing as VOOM!, she previously answered to Jubilee and, before that, Lunatic Fringe. When that owner wrote about her in 2011, she was around 35 years old and, in his words, still looked the part. George Gautrey will be at the helm for Kawau Race Week.
For context, the fleet also includes Attitude, a JT 8.5 catamaran, and Hooters, a modern Open 8.5 built right up to the edge of the rule. With that mix, Kawau Race Week starts to look suspiciously like its own small class race.
Attitude comes from a different school altogether. Fine deep V hulls, minimal rocker, very little in the way of comfort. Everything is traded for acceleration and agility.
Hooters takes the modern Open 8.5 route. More beam, more rig, and a bowsprit that opens up a bigger sail plan. Downwind, she carries serious power compared with a stock GBE.
The 2025 SSANZ Lewmar Triple Series offers a useful reference point. In the one race where Freedom, Hooters, and Attitude all featured, Freedom finished second, Hooters third, and Attitude retired. As does the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic; on handicap, Hooters came in second, with Attitude fifth.
Kawau Race Week suits the GBE. Short legs, constant changes, and an emphasis on boat handling play to its strengths. Three on the line, lining up against newer Open 8.5s, should make for a quietly revealing few days on the water.