SIMPSON LIAHONA 45 THE ORIGINAL BUILT AND OWNED BY ROGER SIMPSON.  

Liahona 45 Roger Simpson Trimaran.

The original Liahona built by Rodger himself, this is a beautiful sailing vessel that is a pleasure to live aboard and sail. She is fully optioned and ready to circumnavigate or cruise the coasts of Australia, safe, strong and made well ahead of her time. She's built from epoxy soaked foam core with the only timber being on her plywood bullheads which are strong and tested. This ship has circumnavigated the pacific and made trips to the Solomons and PNG along with many seasons on the Whitsundays. Her most recent voyage was Whitsundays to Ballina, where she now resides, completed the 650nm trip in 5 days averaging 6.5knots.

Liahona has a nice sea motion, her sails are strong with a Genoa, jib and main, setup as a masthead sloop with cutter forestay, she sails to windward well, moving along at 6-8knots in 10-12knots on a beam reach and up to 12knots when the wind hits 15knots. One a broad reach with the spinnaker and main up she is a delight to sail and will sail at apparent wind speed, sailing at 8-12 knots in 10-15knots, not the fastest boat but comfortable and easy handle. With her 1 meter draft and mini keel under the main hull you can run her up to shore and literally sit her on the beach to board passengers.

Weighing in at 6.5tonne fully loaded with, food and tanks full, she has a great Sail Area to Displacement Ratio.

She is also a great Motorsailer with an economical 30hp Yanmar motor which is in fantastic condition, burns very little oil and has many 1000's of hours of life left. When the winds are under 6 knots, with main and Jib up and motor on 1500rpm she will motor-sail along at wind speed.

Below she has a great galley which has recently been refinished with fresh timber bench tops, brass sink, salt water foot pump and brass lighting, a galley fridge and seperate freezer/cold fridge for meats perishables.

Her double side berths, forward queen V-Birth, saloon table for 4, lounge for 2 makes comfortable space for 6 people. There's plenty of storage in the dry bilges with no smells of diesel or mildew. The engine is located under the cockpit so below decks are quiet, dry and comfortable. Mattresses are custom made covered in Sunbrella material, lightweight and comfortable.

The Cockpit seats 6 comfortably, is fully enclosed with zip screens and clears which is great extension of the internal living space. The head is located aft and provides great storage for wetsuits, lifejackets and is separate from the living area. All lines and sheets are run back to the cockpit so once the main is hoisted there is no need to leave the safety of the enclosed cockpit which makes for comfortable, safe and easy passaging. Night watches are enjoyable and comfortable.

Safety includes jack lines and lifejackets, there are two inflatable life jackets with integrated harnesses and MOB's which have just been serviced with new batteries, an Epirb, VHF Garmin Radio and the list goes on. There is also a HF radio installed, the antenna has been removed and we had planned to install a back stay antenna, so this needs to be done if circumnavigation is your plan.

There is an amazing amount of storage available in the outriggers, with forward lockers installed for organised line and fender storage. The Middle lockers in the outriggers are great for storing the 2nd Tender which is an inflatable 3.6m Truekit discovery, paddle boards, surfboards, deck wash hoses etc, there is also the possibility of fitting aft deck hatches for further storage.

There is an outboard hoist and stand on the transom which currently holds a new 20hp Tohatsu (2 hours) and e-Propulsion 1kw electric outboard.

The rear dinghy davits hold a 430w solar panel, built in lightweight aluminium and holds the 3.6m Truekit Discovery. There is also a hot and cold shower on the rear steps/sugar-scoop, the hot water is quickly heated by the diesel engine or by shore-power, we've never had to use shore power as there is sufficient solar, lithium and a high-powered alternator to look after the power usage. The 300AH lithium batteries, 800w of new solar, 400w wind turbine and 80amp alternator is more than enough to live off-grid or sail continuously with navigation, autopilot and general electrical loads running continuously. There is no need for a generator although another 300ah of Lithium on a seperate circuit would be nice if circumnavigating as a backup. There is a Victron 1200w inverter, 1 x 100/50 Victron solar charge, 1 x 100/30 Victron solar charter installed. There is room and provision for a water maker with seacocks installed and room for filters although there is water catchment on the coachroof and solar davits so we've never run out of water.

Navigation consists of B&G Zeus suite including 9 inch chart plotter, 1 Triton Multi-Function Display, 4G Radar, Depth Sounder, mounts and charging for quad lock mounted iPad running Navionics as well. The Autopilot is Australian made with a new upgraded brain/computer and integrated to the chart plotter to navigate to waypoint or wind direction. There is a Nmea 2000 backbone installed so there's options for upgrading or running a seperate chart plotter using OPENCPN or OPENPLOTTER.

There is also a forward looking Sonar, Backup Garmin Chart-plotter, these have been unmounted but stored on the boat for backup purposes.

There are 7 as new Hutton self tailing winches controlling all sheets and lines, invoices included for these, they are as new with 4 winch handles.

The sails are by Ullman, they are 18 years old but still have good shape and plenty of life left. Mounted on new Pro-Furl Furlers and with new sheets. The Genoa is a high cut 120% sail, the jib is also high cut and great for 20+knot conditions and the main sail has 2 full batten reef points with new sheets and clutches. With a 13.5m mast Liahona is safely rigged and if we were to add anything we'd purchase a screecher sail and bowsprit, although not necessary. We have also purchased 2 new headsail Halyard sheets custom made from Dyneema, they are a thing of beauty and ready to be installed.

Anchoring is simple and easy with a 30kg double (2x) oversized SARCA anchor with 50m of fresh 8mm high test galvanised chain and 20m of Rode, there's a backup 30kg anchor along with a reef anchor, 2 x smaller sand anchors and a small folding reef dinghy anchor. There's 5 x nylon mooring lines, 5 x fancy black mooring lines, 2 x round stern fenders and 4 x side fenders with black covers. A DeckWash provides sea water to keep the bow and chain clean when anchoring in muddy areas and is also handy for cleaning fish.

We installed a new lightweight feathering Kiwi-prop with adjustable pitch, we dial up the pitch when on passage to keep the rpm down and speed up, works a treat. There is also a backup Gori prop that needs a service although I think some backup KiwiProp Blades is all that's needed, cheap and lightweight. An older used Volvo folding prop is also included.

When we purchased Liahona back in May she was hauled out, inspected and all preventative maintenance was completed, new zincs, anti-foal sprayed on, prop-speed on sail-drive, new propellor, polished hulls, rudder was removed and bearing replaced, forward outrigger lockers installed by professional shipwrights, all cleats and deck hardware were checked and backing plates, bolts and washers replaced with fresh stainless steel. We went over the whole boat ensuring it was watertight, strong and safe. There is also a current survey from this year, standing rigging replaced 2022, mast removed and painted 2022 with new navigation lights, main sheet, main halyard etc.

Completed July 2023 - list of new things :-)
- [ ] Antifouled
- [ ] New propellor - kiwiprop
- [ ] New front hatches in Amas/Outriggers
- [ ] Engine service, new belts and filters
- [ ] Replaced Anodes on sail drive
- [ ] Replaced rudder bearing
- [ ] Resealed all deck cleats, replaced backings with SS plates
- [ ] New solar panel 430w on Davits
- [ ] New kitchen bench top
- [ ] New kitchen sink and tap wear
- [ ] New Kitchen light
- [ ] New trampoline nets
- [ ] Replaced kitchen salt water seacock
- [ ] Rebuilt outboard stand and hoist
- [ ] Polished hulls
- [ ] Installed hatch into dodger roof
- [ ] Replaced jib sheets
- [ ] Installed new furling lines
- [ ] Installed new furling line blocks
- [ ] Lay flooring in cockpit and Head
- [ ] Installed hot water tempering valve
- [ ] Installed new 80amp alternator
- [ ] Installed quad lock mount and charging port to helm for 2nd IPad Plotter
- [ ] New 3.6m Truekit Discovery tender
- [ ] New epropulsion outboard with solar charger and 240v charger
- [ ] New 20HP Tohatsu 4 stroke outboard
- [ ] 4 x new diesel Jerry cans
- [ ] New diesel transfer pump for filling main tank
- [ ] Installed carbon block water filter to water tank.
- [ ] Flushed and cleaned water tank
- [ ] Stripped all timber work internally, sanded, filled and coasted with 4 coats Matt PU

I'm sure you have lots of questions so please feel free to call or email, happy to chat.