Irish company Safehaven Marine builds search and rescue boats, patrol boats and pilot boats designed to operate in “all weather” – up to force 10 storms with waves up to 7m high. The company backs this up with some spectacular tests.
The company views rough sea testing as a critical pre-delivery step and often takes its customers along for the ride. “It’s better,” writes CEO Frank Kowalski, “if crews don’t have to face such conditions alone the first time” – and throwing these huge machines into truly dangerous waves is the only real way to provoke the kind of failures and leaks they test for in the pre-delivery phase.
So they make their way to the treacherous entrance to Cork Harbour – the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney and, incidentally, the last stop before the big one-for-one event. RMS Titanic in 1912. The entrance, writes Kowalski, “can produce quite extreme sea conditions during the winter storm months,” but is nevertheless conveniently located near Safehaven headquarters.
“Over the past 20 years,” writes Kowalski, “I’ve probably been out in wind conditions of force 9 and above and waves of over 5 m (16 feet) 100 times. So I have a pretty good understanding of the sea state and conditions that can exist at the harbor entrance and I respect them. Of course, I also know the limitations of my designs.”
Safehaven often uses a second all-weather boat for these tests, which acts as both a safety boat and a camera boat. In recent years, drones have been used to document the tests from above. “Good equipment is critical,” Kowalski writes, “although the failure rate can be high and we lose at least one camera per year.”
The red twin-hull catamaran in the pictures and video above is Safehaven’s new T-2000 Voyager, a 20 m (66 ft) long-range, high-performance, half-wave-piercing exploration boat capable of speeds in excess of 50 knots (58 mph, 93 km/h).
Safehaven Marine
An optional hydrofoil is available that raises much of the hull out of the water, reducing fuel consumption by about 25%, increasing the range to 1,000 nautical miles (1,151 miles, 1,852 km) and “significantly” increasing the top speed.
It may look like a child’s bath toy during storm testing, but it’s no small ship. Fully loaded, it weighs about 40 tonnes – and all of that goes back into the water after hitting a big wave. Perhaps this shot with some people on board will help put things in context.
Safehaven Marine
Either way, this kind of work produces absolutely spectacular images. Check out this “greatest hits” style video of Safehaven’s decades of storm testing work:
It certainly looks like an absolutely epic experience, although I personally wouldn’t put my hand up for it – and I’m sure the owners are delighted to get some of these pictures with the boats. Jump into the gallery or click on the image below to check out some of our favorites!
Safehaven Marine
Source: Safehaven Marine
