Boat International – September 2019

Previouspage,left:the
bridgehasawalkaround
mainhelmconsoleand
equipmentbyRHMarine.
Thispage,clockwisefrom
topleft:theHydra-Sportsis
housedbelowthehelideck;

theYamahaATVsinthe

below-deckgarage;the 388

Skater,SkiNautiqueand

MetalSharklandingcraft

onthemaindeck;the

AirbusH145helicopter;

oneofthecranesinaction

spaceisalreadyearmarkedforasoon-to-be-

deliveredSeamagineAurora-3submersible.

Thelarger items, however,are stowed

elsewhere.Restingoncradlesatopahydrauliclift

thatdropsbetweenthehullsforinstantlaunching

isthebiggestbeastofall,a17-metreNor-Tech

560 Sportcentreconsole.Itwasthesafehandling

of that particular boat that steered the

constructionteamtoIncatCrowther.“Welooked

ateveryotherpossibleoption,”saysproject

managerRobertSmith,ofYCTS,“butthebig

issuewasalwaystheNor-Tech–loadingitonand

offanotherboatisaveryseriousbusinessthat

needstobetreatedwithrespect.IncatCrowther’s

existingcatamarandesignmeantwedidn’thave

toreinventthewheel,becauseit’ssobigand

stablethatitallowssuchmanoeuvrestobe

carriedoutinsafety.”

IncatCrowtherwaswillingandabletoadapt

itsplatform.AsDanMace,itstechnicalmanager,

says:“Wehaveanumberofvesselswithfast

launchandrecoverysystems,whichwesimply

scaleduptoasuitablesizetoallowthechaseboat

tobelaunchedeasilyandquicklybetweenthe

“The owner just let us go ahead

and fill it with cool stuff”

I