Haunui, Hinemoana and Te Matau a Māui are 72 foot, double masted Vaka Moanas, designed and built by the Okeanos Foundation for the Sea in 2009/2010 at Salthouse Boatyard in New Zealand.
The vessels were part of the fleet of seven traditional Polynesian sailing canoes of the Te Mana o Te Moana (Spirit of the Ocean) voyage that sailed in 2011/2012 visiting fifteen Pacific nations. The Te Mana o Te Moana voyage was sponsored entirely by Okeanos Foundation with the mission of cultural revival and ocean advocacy.
The Vaka Moana fleet was crewed by Pacific islanders from eleven nations (Fiji, the Cook Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Tonga, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Easter Island), and collectively they traversed 210,000 miles of open ocean, training hundreds of first time sailors along the way.
All three vessels – Haunui, Hinemoana and Te Matau a Māui – were purchased by New Zealand voyaging societies and are operating full time for the purposes of education and cultural revival.
The vaka ‘Hinemoana’, the female deity of the ocean, was the flagship of the ‘Te Mana o Te Moana’ fleet of seven which voyaged the Pacific Ocean in 2011/2012.
During this epic two year voyage, Hinemoana was crewed mainly by indigenous people from all over the Pacific.
The vaka is now operated by the Hawaiki Rising Voyaging Trust.
Okeanos Foundation CEO Dieter Paulmann and Hoturoa Barclay-Kerr
at the New Zealand contract signing in 2012.