About

About FatCat

Is FatCat the safest small boat on the market?We think so.

The sea is a huge part of New Zealand culture, and we want to make sure people are able to enjoy boating whilst still being protected.   We’re dedicated to creating safe, stable boats, that are great value and suit the needs of kiwi boaties.

Stability
100%
Space
100%
Happy Customers
100%
Our Story

Years In Development

FatCat specialises in safe yet spacious boats that are perfect for all your on-water needs. Whether you know exactly what you’re looking for or need a little help choosing, we know our boats inside out and we’re here every step of the way. 

Value For Money

We set out to provide really stable, great-performing boats at a more affordable price to help make New Zealanders safer on the water.

Virtually Unsinkable

A minimum of 300L of foam added inside the hulls, high freeboard and a cockpit above the waterline means the floor drains all by itself.

Our Team

Meet The Team

Blair McLay

Co-Founder

Roger from FatCat with Grey FatCat 4000

Roger Tweddell

Co-Founder

Our history

Blair has been around the water all his life. Starting sailing at 7 years old, he quickly progressed through the various sailing classes and had a lot of racing success representing New Zealand on many occasions at both Youth and Olympic level events. He became the  World Youth Laser Radial Champion in 2005 and spent much time working towards gaining Olympic selection in the Laser class. Blair enjoyed helping others achieve their dreams and became a sought after coach during this time.

Alongside sailing and coaching, Blair became passionate about boat design and studied Marine Technology at Unitec graduating with a degree in 2010. The following year he joined Pure Design and Engineering, subcontractors to Emirates Team New Zealand to help in the AC72 design for the 2013 Americas Cup. What followed was 8 years with Pure working with many of the worlds greatest naval architects to engineer and produce the plans for all sorts of cutting edge carbon fibre and composite racing yachts, motor yachts and other top secret structures.

However the desire to build safe, stable boats for the general public was always strong. Blair designed and built the first protype FatCat in 2014/2015 in his spare time. Wanting to take it further, Blair put the boat on the market in 2018 to gauge interest and fund a second prototype. Roger Tweddell, himself a former sailing champion ended up buying the boat. He had sensed a similar need in the market and wanted to use the boat as a base to develop his own ideas further. With the similar goal in mind, several weeks later, the two decided to team up and founded FatCat in 2018.

These days, Blair leads the company but Roger is still very much involved. The team has grown to include a number of great staff to support the load as more and more people find out just how good the boats, the service and the team really are.  

Pre FatCat

2014-2015:  Design and construction of first prototype in Blair's garage.

2018 - FatCat Founded. 2nd Prototype Built

2018:  Prototype displayed at Auckland On Water Boat Show

2019:  First Production FatCat 4000 delivered

2020: First FatCat 4000 exported.

2021:  FatCat 5000 Prototype Launched. Built in Aluminium by Tekam Marine. The design we subsequently lengthened, developed and rebranded into the AirCat 625. Tekam Marine have subsequently bought the rights to the AirCat.

2022:  FatCat 4500 launched

2023:  FatCat 4500 Cabin launched

In The Media

We’re proud that the FatCat has been featured in all the leading Marine mags – read the reviews!