Teknicraft Design

Teknicraft Design is a New Zealand naval architecture and boat design firm based in Auckland, specialising in innovative, functional and high-performance commercial and recreational power catamarans. The company operates as a design house rather than a production boatyard: it offers a complete design service covering passenger vessels, survey vessels, patrol craft and other vessel types, and its designs are built by third-party shipyards for clients around the world. According to its own materials, Teknicraft has been designing power catamarans for more than 30 years and services a global market with clients in Africa, the Middle East, America, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Europe. The firm's origins are closely tied to its managing director, Nic de Waal, who began designing boats in the mid-1980s shortly after graduating in engineering. Working in South Africa at a time when the country was under a worldwide sanctions lock-out, de Waal and his colleagues had to develop engineering designs from a clean sheet of paper. A requirement for a patrol craft capable of operating at high speed in open-ocean conditions drove them to create innovative catamaran hull shapes, many features of which can still be seen in Teknicraft's hull forms today. The company subsequently relocated its base to Auckland, New Zealand, from where it now serves its international clientele. A defining technical characteristic of Teknicraft's work is the use of hydrofoils on high-speed hulls. The company states that it has been fitting hydrofoils to its high-speed hulls for around 25 years and that more than 130 of its vessel designs operate successfully with hydrofoils in commercial service in many parts of the world. Teknicraft's design philosophy is to use the hydrofoil to reduce hull drag without compromising seakeeping, stability and safety, while keeping systems as simple and reliable as possible. Its hydrofoil arrangement only partly lifts the hull out of the water, a deliberate choice intended to preserve the seakeeping and stability advantages of the catamaran platform. Teknicraft prides itself on creating designs tailored to each individual client's specific requirements, which has led it to develop experience across many different vessel types and speed requirements ranging from about 5 knots to 50 knots. Its portfolio spans commercial passenger ferries, survey vessels, patrol craft and other specialised vessels. The company is a private New Zealand business, trading as Teknicraft Design Limited, and its website copyright notice covers the period from 2002 to 2023.

Teknicraft Design traces its origins to the mid-1980s, when Nic de Waal began designing boats shortly after graduating in engineering. At that time de Waal was working in South Africa, which was then subject to a worldwide sanctions lock-out. This isolation meant that engineering design had to be created from a clean sheet of paper, without access to many outside technologies or components. A specific requirement arose for a patrol craft capable of operating at high speed in open-ocean conditions, and de Waal and his colleagues set out to create innovative catamaran hull shapes to meet it. Many of the features developed during that period can still be seen in Teknicraft's hull forms today. Over the following decades the company continued to refine its designs, keeping pace with the commercial marine sector's evolving requirements and expectations while seeking to stay at the forefront of vessel performance and seakeeping. A central thread of this development was the adoption of hydrofoils on high-speed hulls. Teknicraft states that it has been fitting hydrofoils to its high-speed hulls for around 25 years, and that more than 130 of its vessel designs now operate successfully with hydrofoils in commercial operations in many parts of the world. The company's approach is to use the hydrofoil to reduce hull drag without sacrificing seakeeping, stability and safety, and to keep the overall arrangement as simple and reliable as possible; its hydrofoil design only partly lifts the hull out of the water. Teknicraft is now based in Auckland, New Zealand, from where it services a global market. Its client base spans Africa, the Middle East, America, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Europe. The firm offers a complete design service covering passenger vessels, survey vessels, patrol craft and other vessel types, and it prides itself on creating designs that meet each individual client's specific requirements. This client-driven approach has led Teknicraft to build experience across many different vessel types and across speed requirements ranging from about 5 knots to 50 knots. The company trades as Teknicraft Design Limited, and its website copyright notice covers the period from 2002 to 2023.

• Nic de Waal begins designing boats in the mid-1980s after graduating in engineering, working in South Africa under sanctions.

• Development of innovative catamaran hull shapes for a high-speed open-ocean patrol craft requirement.

• Teknicraft begins fitting hydrofoils to its high-speed hulls, a practice it says has continued for around 25 years.

• Company establishes its base in Auckland, New Zealand, serving a global market.

• More than 130 Teknicraft vessel designs operate with hydrofoils in commercial service worldwide.

Innovative, functional and high-performance catamaran design, tailored to individual client requirements and backed by decades of hydrofoil experience.

• Passenger vessels

  Commercial passenger catamarans designed for ferry and transit operations.

• Survey vessels

  Catamarans configured for hydrographic and survey work.

• Patrol craft

  High-speed patrol craft, the vessel type that drove the firm's early catamaran hull development.

• Hydrofoil-assisted high-speed hulls

  Hull designs fitted with hydrofoils that partly lift the hull to reduce drag while preserving seakeeping and stability.

1. 1Teknicraft - Innovative Catamaran Design Solutions | Auckland, NZteknicraft.com
2. 2About Us | Teknicraft Designteknicraft.com
3. 3Teknicraft Designwikidata.org