shark-bitten builder bounces back

WEST Australian boat-builder Austal Ships is close to breaking the hoodoo of its financially disastrous relationship with golfer Greg Norman that caused it to stop building luxury super-yachts for more than four years.

The company has almost completed building its first new super-yacht for the market since it lost millions of dollars on the palatial Aussie Rules yacht it built for Norman.

The 48m floating hideaway will be ready in weeks and is available for a tidy $32 million.

Although it is a third smaller and less lavish than Norman's opulent yacht, it has several luxury toys to stave off boredom for the rich and famous, including a top-deck jacuzzi and a theatre.

"We're just adding the artwork at the moment," Austal global sales director Andrew Bellamy said.

"Even at $32m, this is good value for a super-yacht."

Austal reportedly lost up to $18m after Norman demanded changes to his yacht during construction, causing a massive cost blowout.

Norman sold it later for a huge profit, rubbing salt into Austal's wounds.

Mr Bellamy said the company had learned its lesson and left plenty of leeway for the new owner of this yacht to have it customised after purchase.

"We lost a lot of money," he said.

"The one we're doing now is only semi-customised to stop that happening.

"The Norman boat would have to be one of the most expensive boats Austal has built. The lesson has been learned."

The company took a four-year break from building superyachts in the fallout from the affair, before deciding to relaunch its Oceanfast brand with the 48m vessel.

A smaller 36m super-yacht was built last year for a private order but Mr Bellamy said the 48m vessel was the first super-yacht to be built for the market. "It's a few weeks away from ready but there are a couple of interested buyers," he said. "This is a test run. We'll decide whether to build more after we sell this one."

Although the losses from Norman's boat were substantial, Mr Bellamy said the experience had one upside in that the extraordinary publicity had dramatically raised the company's profile on the international stage, providing unexpected benefits.

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