Even with a huge truck, 16 men and perfect conditions, Spirit of Queenstown did not quite make it from Bluff to Kingston yesterday.
The catamaran, destined for the Lake Wakatipu tourist trade, spent last night parked near Athol, about 20km short of journey's end.
Power lines needed to be disconnected along the way, and it was a slow and steady journey - but a race nonetheless - to reach the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu yesterday.
Southern Discoveries' purpose-built multimillion-dollar catamaran was now expected to be launched on to the lake tomorrow, after its voyage from Eden, New South Wales, across the Tasman Sea to Bluff and then to Kingston.
Earlier yesterday, Southern Discoveries general manager John Robson had hoped the boat would reach Kingston that day.
But it was not to be; about 130km to Athol was its limit.
Scobies Transport was charged with hauling the partially dismantled catamaran from Bluff and company owner Graham Scobie planned to be on the road at 9am today, hoping to reach Kingston by 10.30am.
He said with ''no wind and no rain'' yesterday, transport conditions were perfect.
His crew comprised eight people, with a similar number involved in switching off power lines and ensuring the boat cleared them.
The company had transported a similar-sized boat a couple of years ago and Mr Scobie said this was ''exactly the same scenario'', and it was a ''similar exercise to what we do with houses''.
Before Spirit of Queenstown was lowered on to Lake Wakatipu tomorrow it would be reassembled by engineers from the Australian company that built it.
