AUSTRALIAN SHIP REGISTRATION: ON85291

A genuine High Latitude Sailing ship.

This is a one of a kind sailing boat. Built for adventure.

If your plans include sailing the higher latitudes, the Bearing Straits, the North West passage, or you seek a safe and stable boat for Remote passage making....then MEROPS is the boat for you! Custom built for Antarctica and the Southern Oceans, but equally comfortable in the Tropics.
Read the survey and SPECS if in doubt.
​And take some time to read about her here.

MEROPS

UPDATE:
Merops has recently undergone
Hull Inspection, Antifoul, new Anodes and
Routine Maintenance
at Noakes, SYDNEY 
November 2021
See photos in blog

A Custom Built, Ocean Going, Go Anywhere Sailboat. Built for fast AND comfortable passage making.

Unlike the Fibreglass production Freyas built in California, Merops was conceived and built in Australia with the assistance of the legendary Horst Diegnamm, thus having a direct connection to the Halvorsen family lineage.

The rare few Halvorsen Freyas existing are most often
made of Timber or GRP.

Ours is a special Corten Steel build.

The Original Freya 39

The ONLY Sailing Vessel to have won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 3 times consecutively.

Our Freya 42 features two Stainless Steel Deckhouses: with a Main Aft cockpit, with an Internal Dodger and Steering station below, and a Central cockpit - all designed to handle all weather and all seas.

A Brief explanation about the 3 Rudders

In the extreme weather of the Southern Ocean, the Main Rudder, attached to the Keel is locked to the Central position, using a mechanism on the steering pedestal/main Helm. The Wind Vane rudder or 3rd Rudder, is adjusted as per usual, with the Aerofoil pointed into the wind. And the middle Rudder can then be controlled from Below Deck with a Handle which can be operated from the safety of a Lounge. For course alterations around breaking waves, ice and other nasties, one can carry on steering without having to open the companionway and go out into the cockpit. There are several other steering systems below deck that will require a video or photographs at the very least to illustrate. But, in short, the vessel has a multitude of ways to be steered and operated from Below Deck whilst still keeping a Visual Lookout, and of course, using Electronic Navigation and Radar, which goes from 200 metres up to 72 Nautical Miles, (great for avoiding storm cells) .

Headroom over 6 feet throughout

See SPECS Sheet and 2017 Survey on SURVEY Page

Picture
The main lounge seat. Next to the sea berth just inside the companionway. 12V and 24V battery systems are secured under this seat/berth.
Picture
Blackwattle Bay

​Corten Steel
Stainless Steel
Bronze
Aluminium Alloy

Teak
Beech
Huon Pine
Silky Oak
Cherrywood

Armoured Glass
Heavy Perspex

Internal Steering for Rough Seas

Picture
Porthole in the sea berth.

Launch Year: 1985

Draft: 7 ft 3 inches (2.3m)

Beam: 11 ft 6 inches (3.6m)

LOA: 42 feet (12.8m)

Displacement: 17 tonne

Picture
Side windows on port and starboard for side vision at both internal steering stations.

This boat is not merely a copy of the legendary (multiple) Sydney to Hobart winner. It is a natural progression in the design’s evolution from the 39 foot double ender.

Ours was extended to 42 feet to enhance it’s performance, with other unique features built in to turn it into the ultimate Blue Water passage maker. It even features an aft and a central cockpit to help manage shorthanded sailing in rough conditions, as safely as possible.

Originally, the Halvorsens wanted a sailing boat that would perform equally well in light and heavy weather. They also wanted to prove that a Canoe stern could not only be safe in a following sea, but could be FAST and take on any conditions.

Freyas are designed to perform equally well in the High latitudes of the Southern Ocean, and in light air, and to be capable of keeping a full sail plan in up to 30 knots, safely. Their legendary design allows them to reliably achieve a regular 8 to 9 knots and up to 200 nautical miles per day, in comfort.

Download or Preview the SPECS sheet on the Survey Page

Accommodation

The ETHOS of the Brief to build “MEROPS”


The owner/builder Michael Foley dedicated years of research, a great many years of his life, and spared no expense in realising his ideal vessel. Every element of this boat is hand made, custom built, and incorporates the very best designs to meet the highest standards. It also reflects the owner’s passion for Aviation and Maritime history, so that the ship has a somewhat eccentric character reflecting a mix of Jules Verne’s Nautilus, a WWII bomber and perhaps a touch of the Millenium Falcon.

SPEED, SAFETY, STABILITY, and COMFORT
were paramount for him, his wife and young family
when this vessel was launched in 1984.

This boat was designed to be sailed on long passages, in remote places, and under the harshest conditions, requiring failsafe systems, with as little maintenance required as possible. Although they circumnavigated Australia and parts of South East Asia, the ultimate destination, for which it was purpose built, was Antarctica.

Despite having a Commercial Grade Hydraulic TMQ Autopilot,
it also has the largest of the Aries Windvane self-steering systems
that can be acquired. This mechanism means,
that despite 3 Electrical back up systems, it can still be
sailed single handedly with no Electricity.
And there are 2 other manual steering systems in place.

The Hull and Superstructures are built from
CORTEN STEEL and STAINLESS STEEL which are rust resistant,
require virtually no maintenance and Corten steel
is 40% stronger than rolled mild steel.

The bow is reinforced in 16mm steel, meaning submerged containers, reefs or ice will at worst dent, not shatter/fracture/split
(as they would in wood, GRP, Aluminium or even Kevlar hulls).
Built for Antarctic conditions, it has an Ice-breaker hull.
That is, a Full cutaway Keel.

All stays are doubled (316 Stainless Steel 19mm) with 50% stronger shrouds and stays than would otherwise be used on most Offshore cruising yachts.

The Anchor winch is a custom built precision geared hand operated winch with which even a child could pull up the heaviest of anchors, including the 100 pound Admiralty storm anchor (also custom built for this vessel), guaranteeing that, without electricity, any anchor can always be retrieved, or the boat kedged off any grounding by hand.

You will find these kinds of exceptional features repeatedly in the Specs sheet. They are indicative of the nature of the vision realised by the very dedicated owner who commissioned and brought to fruition his vision and concept of what the ultimate, off grid, all weather offshore cruising boat should be.

Although there are countless details
we could include here,
some of her Unique Built In
features include:

Being steered by both internal and external steering stations (one of which features 2 x floating bench seats and a WWII bomber style dodger with a large foot operated tiller and a hand operated fine tuning rudder control);

Three (3) inline and balanced rudders,
providing multiple redundancies;

Keel Cooling (Dry Exhaust) meaning there is no need to check on water strainers and raw water intakes, or exhausts, with a guaranteed stable engine water temperature;

Original Lister Petter Diesel, simple and timeless reliability, geared through a Borg Warner 2.1.1 reduction gearbox to a perfectly matched propellor giving maximum “work” while expending the least horsepower and maximum torque,
and keeping fuel consumption down;

A gravity fed Day tank, guaranteeing a supply of clean,
uncontaminated fuel, for starting the engine
even in the roughest conditions (when you need it most);

Custom built power tower, housing Open Array Radar,
all aerials and antennas, fluxgate compass, navigation lights, weather station, Wind generator and receivers & transceivers for all on board instruments and communications which eliminates the risky business of going up the mast in rolling seas for repairs;

In hull, recessed steps with hand holds from under the waterline to the deck, on both sides, meaning anyone finding themselves in the water can easily climb on deck, without boarding ladders or life slings, and makes easy access from a tender to the boat, even in rough seas.

Deck and Structures

For a full view of the Hull out of water...see Survey page videos.

Contact us for a more comprehensive inventory,
​specs, survey, features and photos