Knysna 500

Knysna 500 Owner's Version

2013 Knysna 500 Owner's Version — "WIZ"
Lavranos-designed bluewater catamaran | 15 kWh lithium + 3.4 kW solar | Two owners | Lying Pittwater, Sydney

15.24m (50'), 1.22m draft (4'), 8m beam (26'), 15 kWh (1200AH @ 12v) of lithium, 600 L fuel capacity, 600 L water capacity and a Rainman watermaker: WIZ is a step-on, fill-the-tanks-and-go world cruiser — or the best coastal cruising apartment you could dream of.

Built by the Knysna Yacht Company in South Africa, the 500 model is a hand-laid foam-sandwich catamaran with every bulkhead glassed in — no screwed-in furniture doing structural work, less creaks underway, and hull and deck interiors faired and finished rather than hidden behind trim panels. The escape hatches sit high and inboard of the forward showers, well above the waterline, where they also serve as ventilation that can be left open in rain.

WIZ has only had two owners. The first was in partnership with the Knysna factory, and she served as the company's boat-show yacht. The current owners come from a family of boatbuilders and have been cruising the world for more than twenty years. That experience is visible in every system aboard.

What separates WIZ from the other Knysna 500s on the market is the custom helm cover and the integrated tender lift system. Care was taken to carry the lines of the boat through into the solar arch, the helm cover and the rigid side curtains. Nothing is simply bolted on. Lavranos's original lines are intact.

"The best prepared and presented boat of her category I have had the privilege to list." — Rod Waterhouse, DBY Boat Sales

All importation duty has been paid. 

Why WIZ stands out

Feature and Why it matters

• Custom bridgedeck & integrated davit system  -  Unique among Knysna 500s on the market. Push-button tender launch and retrieval, with the boat's original lines carried through — not a bolt-on arch.
• 15 kWh lithium + 3.4 kW solar + 680 A of alternator capacity  -  Luxury off-grid living. Fridges, freezers, induction cooking, watermaker and air-conditioning without a generator.
• 1.21 m draft  -   Queensland sandbars, the Whitsundays, the Bahamas —  anchorages most 50-footers read about.
• Premium sails and standing rigging, 2020–2026  -  Calibre Sails (NZ) main, genoa and gennaker; standing rigging replaced 2023; Profurl electric furler (2023).
• Owners from a boatbuilding family, 20+ years cruising   -  Systems chosen for reliability and serviceability, maintained to a standard a survey will confirm.
• Coppercoat applied 2022  -  Three epoxy barrier coats plus five coats Coppercoat, extra at the waterline and leading edges.

Systems

Propulsion & Rig

• 2 × Yanmar 4JH5E diesels, 57 hp each, ≈ 3,600 hours, SD50 saildrives
• Flex-o-Fold folding propellers; spare fixed-blade propellers aboard
• Owner's observed range under power: ≈ 500 nm on two engines at 7.5 kn, or ≈ 1,000 nm on one engine at 5.5 kn
• Saildrive seals last serviced 10/2024
• Sparcraft aluminium mast and boom
• Standing rigging replaced 2023 (C-Spar: Dyform wire on primaries, new toggles, pins and turnbuckles)
• Sails,  mainsail 2023, genoa 2020, gennaker 2026 by Calibre Sails NZ, Spinnaker 2015 in a new ATN sock
• Profurl NDE2 electric forestay furler
• Profurl NXT gennaker furler with top-down conversion
• Running rigging: Primarily Dyneema-core, good condition with new spares aboard

Power

• 12 V DC and 240 V AC vessel. All outlets are 240 V multi-country receptacles.
• 1,200 Ah / ≈ 15 kWh lithium house bank — genuine Winston prismatic cells, separate charge and discharge busbars, REC ABMS battery management
• 2 × Victron Quattro 3000 W 240 V inverter/chargers — run high-load devices simultaneously (watermaker, induction cooktop, air-conditioning)
• 3.4 kW solar — 9 rigid panels, all custom mounted, 7 Victron MPPT controllers. Keeps up with normal liveaboard consumption.
• 4 × Balmar 170 A high-output alternators (two per engine) on Wakespeed 500 regulators, coordinated with the ABMS — ≈ 4000 W of constant charging in tropics without stressing any equipment.
• Separate engine start batteries maintained by Victron DC-DC chargers
• Isolation transformer — isolates the shore power connection and accepts either 240 V or 120 V shore service
• No generator fitted. None is needed: see solar, lithium and alternator capacity above.

Navigation

• Raymarine Axiom MFD (2022)
• Raymarine Quantum radar (2022)
• Autopilot with a second, fully isolated hydraulic steering pump and circuit
• 3 × color navigation system gauges plus autopilot control gauge
• Raymarine AIS Class B transponder — installed and operating
• ZORA boat OS — NMEA network management, Victron Cerbo integration, onboard Wi-Fi and chart management. Connect a tablet or laptop to ZORA's Wi-Fi and run Navionics or your charting app of choice, fed with live AIS, heading and GPS.
• PredictWind DataHub — over-the-horizon AIS and real-world polars
• 2 × handheld VHF

Communications & Connectivity

• Starlink — Australian-registered, transferable to the new owner
• PredictWind Iridium Exec — satellite voice and data backup Peplink cellular router with backup SIM
• Onboard Wi-Fi network with Ethernet runs to multiple locations

Water & Plumbing

• 600 L moulded GRP freshwater tank — no bladder, no corrosion, inspection access
• Rainman watermaker, 100 L/hr — no electronics, low maintenance, easily serviced
• Filtered and re-mineralised drinking water, plus a chilled-filtered tap via a heat-exchanger block in the fridge — cold water without opening the fridge.
• Freshwater deckwash pump in forward deck locker
• Exterior tap at swim step.
• Grey water tanks. Main shower graywater tank converted to dedicated box style sump pump
• Grey water management: main shower drains to a dedicated sump pump. The starboard guest-cabin shower has been converted for the washing-machine with built-in water heater.
• Integrated black water tanks in the bows, doubling as crash compartments. Selectable between holding tank and direct discharge. 
• Starboard and port Marco 12v smart gear pressure pumps are both tied into a ring topology feeding faucets, showers, and fresh water macerator toilets.
• Starboard guest cabin shower converted to accommodate clothes washer. Wash full size loads. Has own heater for warm or hot cycles.
• Engine heated water tank removed and replaced with small electric hot water tank right on the back of the primary shower. Hot water for 2 showers in 10 minutes. No hot water delivery delay and water waste. No hot bunks after running the engines.

Ground Tackle

• 45 kg Ultra stainless steel anchor with 100 m of 10 mm Cromox stainless steel chain
• 35 kg Rocna with 15 m of 10 mm galvanised chain
• Fortress FX-45 as a third anchor
• Quick windlass with deck controls and a digital chain counter at the helm
• Tender carries its own stainless Bruce with 3m stainless chain

Safety

• Three new Spinlock offshore deck vests with Ocean Signal MOB1 personal locators
• Concealed Dyneema jacklines and Dyneema lifelines
• Inflatable Dan Buoy — quick-deploy MOB system
• 8-person liferaft with flares and ditch kit- expired
• 6 bilge pumps — 2 automatic primary, 2 secondary and 2 manual, with high-water alarms in both hulls
• Fire suppression — fixed engine-bay extinguishers, portable extinguishers, fire blanket
• Second isolated hydraulic steering pump and circuit for the autopilot
• SPOT satellite tracker in the tender
• Custom helm cover, windscreen and hatch keep the cockpit dry underway
• McMurdo SmartFind G8 EPIRB with AIS
• Starlink and Iridium Exec for offshore communications

Climate & Ventilation

• 2 x 16,000 BTU reverse-cycle air conditioning., One in each hull, ducted to prioritize the berth areas.
• 8,000 BTU 12 V air conditioner in the saloon — roughly twice as efficient as a standard marine unit.
• Caframo 12 V fans at the galley, at every berth and at the saloon seating.
• Opaque white deck hatches reduce heat gain and UV
• Oceanair blinds and mosquito screens on all but three hatches
• Perforated vinyl on the saloon windows and cockpit — heat control and privacy
• Custom Lexan cockpit side windows allow the aft berth hatches to stay open in rain and at sea

Interior — 2022 refit

• Microfiber upholstery with new foam throughout
• New cockpit cushions
• Woven vinyl flooring; a single laser-cut woven vinyl mat covers the entire saloon
• Cork flooring, headboards and countertop overlays
• Memory-foam mattress in the master; "Purple" foam mattress in the starboard aft cabin
• USB outlets throughout, all LED lighting

Galley — all-electric, no gas inside boat

• Bosch 4-zone induction cooktop
• Miele combination microwave and convection oven
• Isotherm CR200 fridge 150 L / freezer 50 L,
• Isotherm freezer, 90 L
• Dometic CoolFreeze CFX50 — 50 L. of refrigeration or freezer capacity
• Clear-ice machine
• Chilled water bar tap
• Corian countertops with generous storage
• Weber grill on the aft pushpit
• Included: Nespresso machine, induction cookware, crockery, cutlery and utensils

Entertainment

• Large TV in the saloon, smart TV in the master, 2nd monitor at the desk
• Fusion stereo with speakers in the saloon and cockpit
• Onboard Wi-Fi and Ethernet to multiple locations

Tender & Launch System

• 3.6 m Highfield console RIB (2022) with 40 hp SUZUKI four-stroke fuel-injected outboard — turn-key start
• Hydrolic steering and power tilt
• Steering console, built-in fuel tank, water separator, navigation lights, automatic bilge pump, digital gauges, SPOT satellite tracker
• Electric marine winch integrated into the solar arch — push-button lift, with bow and stern strapping rigging and safety tethers for offshore passages

Hull & Antifouling

• Coppercoat applied 2022 — three coats of epoxy barrier plus five coats of
• Coppercoat, with additional build at the waterline and leading edges
• Very smooth finish with minimal ablation
• Last haul-out: 4/2026. Coppercoat in perfect condition.

Spares & Consumables

• A genuinely offshore-standard inventory, not a shelf of leftovers:
• Filters — engine oil, fuel, watermaker
• Fluids — engine oil, outboard oil, gear oil, hydraulic fluid
• Pumps & impellers — bilge, oil transfer, fuel, raw-water impellers
• Fittings — plumbing, electrical, fasteners, blocks
• Major spares — engine gasket set, spare windlass, spare tender-lift winch, fixed-blade propellers for the main engines, wire, fuses, relays, gas struts

Tools

• 20 V DeWalt cordless — drill, circular saw, jigsaw, heat gun, oscillating tool, wet/dry vacuum, hand vacuum, work fan, flashlights, multiple batteries and charger
• Full hand tool kit — sockets, spanners, screwdrivers, allen keys, clamps, cutters and more

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Full disclosure — known items

In the interest of a straightforward transaction, the owners note:

The Garmin Cortex VHF/AIS requires a tuner repair. The Raymarine AIS Class B
transponder is installed and operating, and two handheld VHFs are aboard.
The liferaft and ditch kit have expired.

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Inspection & Contact

WIZ is afloat, in commission and available for a full inspection at DBY Boat Sales, Newport, NSW 2106.
Interstate and international enquiries welcome — a detailed walkthrough video and full documentation pack can be provided before travel.
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All details are believed correct but are not guaranteed. Offered subject to prior sale, price change or withdrawal without notice. Prospective purchasers are advised to satisfy themselves by independent survey and sea trial.

For sale with DBY Boat Sales Pittwater Office in Newport. Please call +61 2 9999 3311 for an inspection. For additional high-resolution photos and detailed inventory, please email sales@dbyboatsales.com.au