Lars Halvorsen and Sons

Early history

Halvorsen Boats traces its roots to 1887 when Halvor Andersen, a farmer, launched his first wooden craft near Arendal in the south of Norway. His son Lars followed in his father's footsteps and became a boat builder. After Lars lost his fortune in the post World War I recession, with the sinking of his uninsured sailing ship Nidelv, the first of her voyages not to be insured, Lars moved from Norway to Cape Town, South Africa in 1922 to start over. Lars built a successful boatbuilding and repair business but, with five sons, realised there would not be enough business there to create the family business he envisioned.

History

Lars and his eldest son Harold moved to Sydney, Australia, in late 1924, and the rest of the family arrived at the end of December. From 1925 through 1976 the family enterprise built 1,299 craft, the first, Sirius, from a slipway in Drummoyne and then from yards in Neutral Bay before moving to larger premises on the Parramatta River in Ryde.

During World War II, many Halvorsen built pleasure cruisers served in the Volunteer Coastal Patrol and later Naval Auxiliary Patrol. Eight of their larger luxury cruisers; Penelope, Miramar, Nereus, Sea Mist, Silver Cloud, Steady Hour, Toomeree and Winbah were commissioned into the RAN as Channel Patrol Boats (CPB) and formed part of the 'Hollywood Fleet' in Sydney. The Halvorsens built more than 250 boats for the American, Netherlands, and Australian armed forces, employing a staff of over 350 tradesmen. During World War II, 178 air-sea rescue Halvorsen craft were built Halvorsens also built 16 112-foot Fairmile B motor launches for the war effort. These saw active service in the north of Australia and in the New Guinea area.

When Lars died in 1936, his family (including his widow, Bergithe, and daughters) shared ownership, equally, of the business. Eldest son Harold took over as managing director of the newly formed company, Lars Halvorsen Sons Pty Ltd, and continued as designer for most of the wartime vessels as well as commercial and pleasure boats, while his four brothers took responsibility for other areas of the business. In recognition of his contribution to the war effort Harold was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2000, while previously Carl Halvorsen had been made a Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by King Harald in 1991. Others received the Australian Sports Medal.

After World War II, the company acquired a lease at Bobbin Head located north of Sydney in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The family built a fleet of hire boats. The hire boat operation was the southern hemisphere's largest privately owned fleet of its time. On 9 April 2000, ninety of their classic boats held a regatta on the Hawkesbury River to mark the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the family in Australia and Harold Halvorsen's 90th birthday. Harold died in November of that year.