About Wayfoong

Restoration 

Wayfoong’s recent refresh took place in the Aberdeen shipyards, once again under the keen supervision of Jepsen Designs. With an eye to maintaining her elegance and 1930s charm, the new works saw her aft-deck seating and forward dining areas expanded and her lower-deck saloon remodelled to include a sleeping cabin – ideal for those looking to spend the night on board or just take an afternoon snooze. Since August 2020, Wayfoong has offered charterers a rare opportunity to sail and dine on a unique piece of Hong Kong yachting history.

Wayfoong was built as a steam launch in Hong Kong in 1930 and as a slightly altered replica of her eponymous 1898 predecessor. Commissioned as a working launch by HSBC, she was famously used for “burning picnics” throughout the thirties, when the junior staff of the bank’s Note Cancellation Department would burn bag loads of old banknotes as fuel in the boiler room furnace.

After disappearing during the Second World War, she was recovered in Canton in 1945, stripped of much of her planking (which had been used as domestic fuel) in need of a complete refit. In 1948, her steam engine was replaced with a new diesel engine and she resumed her commission, carrying gold and silver bullion to and from ships anchored in Victoria Harbour, transporting currency to Hong Kong’s outer islands and transferring bank executives to ships moored in the harbour. In her later years, she was also used to provide recreation for junior bank officers.

Having given more than 70 years of faithful service to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Wayfoong is now owned by a Hong Kong-based family with a strong affection for classic vessels. As long-time admirers of Wayfoong, her new owners were keen to undertake a refreshing of the vessel, including an expansion the aft seating area to offer greater comfort to cruising guests. A perfect vessel upon which to explore all that the waters around Hong Kong have to offer, she’s regularly spotted in Sai Kung or on the south side of Hong Kong Island, often accompanied by the owners’ other classic launch, Java (formerly Marine One, commissioned by the British Government in 1935).