Vaudrey Miller built Tsunami, a unique yacht conceived and constructed to be the fastest bridge-deck tourist catamaran of its type in the world. It was commissioned by a New Zealand based marine tourism company for day-sail operations within their business in Queensland, Australia. The design brief called for captivating styling, thrilling sailing experiences, large passenger loads and safe operation with a minimum sailing crew.
As intended, Tsunami attracts interest and radiates the promise of great speed, even at rest. Greg Young's bold, contemporary design draws people in; towards the curvaceous central house, arcing fore-beam, lightly loaded bows and glistening black prod. It is not just Tsunami's unusual colour and 25.9m (85ft) by 40ft size that takes the eye.
The prominent fore-beam, clean bows and high wing-deck are fundamental elements of Young's design philosophy; keep the structure stiff and strong to retain rig tension and superior sail shape, and minimise weight and drag so that boat speed builds quickly and is maintained even when the bows are buried in a seaway.
Tsunami gives life to these basic catamaran tenets when the wind fills in. It accelerates quickly and all aboard feel inertia's embrace as the numbers on the log mimic an express lift display…moving quickly through 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 knots, then holding steady. Even in light winds Tsunami seldom sails at less than ten knots and, in optimum trade wind conditions with a moderate number of passengers aboard, guests can expect an exciting ride to 25 knots and beyond. Thirty knots is not out of the question.
Itay Simhony, Vaudrey Miller's project manager, says the company worked closely with Greg Young and High Modulus to keep the project moving smoothly.
High Modulus engineer, Nina Heatley, says Tsunami posed unique challenges in terms of weight, the length of spans and the level of performance sought. "We drew on established cruising catamaran data, computer modelling and elements of Playstation (Cheyenne) to develop the composite structure. There was some cross-over from Playstation to Tsunami."
The exterior composite skin includes a layer of Kevlar to increase impact resistance when sailing at speed and abrasion resistance when Tsunami is beached daily at spectacular Whitehaven beach for guest to have lunch, snorkel and swim. With the stern anchor deployed and the bows kissing the beach, guests can disembark and embark via a carbon fibre ramp that is raised and lowered using a line to the forward anchor windlass. When stowed for sailing, the passenger ramp aligns with the prod and locks in under the front beam.
In addition to hospitality services, the fit-out included specifying and engineering the failsafe hydraulic systems that allow Tsunami to be sailed with up to 100 passengers and only two sailing crew. The mainsheet and staysail are hydraulically operated from each helm station using toggle switches that interface with a microprocessor and a hydraulic power-pack. The boom-vang, mainsail outhaul, dagger boards and primary winches are also operated by hydraulics.
Tsunami was sailed from Auckland to its base at Airley Beach on the Australian coast.
Vaudrey Miller built Tsunami, a unique yacht conceived and constructed to be the fastest bridge-deck tourist catamaran of its type in the world. It was commissioned by a New Zealand based marine tourism company for day-sail operations within their business in Queensland, Australia. The design brief called for captivating styling, thrilling sailing experiences, large passenger loads and safe operation with a minimum sailing crew.
As intended, Tsunami attracts interest and radiates the promise of great speed, even at rest. Greg Young's bold, contemporary design draws people in; towards the curvaceous central house, arcing fore-beam, lightly loaded bows and glistening black prod. It is not just Tsunami's unusual colour and 25.9m (85ft) by 40ft size that takes the eye.
The prominent fore-beam, clean bows and high wing-deck are fundamental elements of Young's design philosophy; keep the structure stiff and strong to retain rig tension and superior sail shape, and minimise weight and drag so that boat speed builds quickly and is maintained even when the bows are buried in a seaway.
Tsunami gives life to these basic catamaran tenets when the wind fills in. It accelerates quickly and all aboard feel inertia's embrace as the numbers on the log mimic an express lift display…moving quickly through 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 knots, then holding steady. Even in light winds Tsunami seldom sails at less than ten knots and, in optimum trade wind conditions with a moderate number of passengers aboard, guests can expect an exciting ride to 25 knots and beyond. Thirty knots is not out of the question.
Itay Simhony, Vaudrey Miller's project manager, says the company worked closely with Greg Young and High Modulus to keep the project moving smoothly.
High Modulus engineer, Nina Heatley, says Tsunami posed unique challenges in terms of weight, the length of spans and the level of performance sought. "We drew on established cruising catamaran data, computer modelling and elements of Playstation (Cheyenne) to develop the composite structure. There was some cross-over from Playstation to Tsunami."
The exterior composite skin includes a layer of Kevlar to increase impact resistance when sailing at speed and abrasion resistance when Tsunami is beached daily at spectacular Whitehaven beach for guest to have lunch, snorkel and swim. With the stern anchor deployed and the bows kissing the beach, guests can disembark and embark via a carbon fibre ramp that is raised and lowered using a line to the forward anchor windlass. When stowed for sailing, the passenger ramp aligns with the prod and locks in under the front beam.
In addition to hospitality services, the fit-out included specifying and engineering the failsafe hydraulic systems that allow Tsunami to be sailed with up to 100 passengers and only two sailing crew. The mainsheet and staysail are hydraulically operated from each helm station using toggle switches that interface with a microprocessor and a hydraulic power-pack. The boom-vang, mainsail outhaul, dagger boards and primary winches are also operated by hydraulics.
Tsunami was sailed from Auckland to its base at Airley Beach on the Australian coast.
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