Following up on its HSV chase boats, McConaghy is now working on a 13m version with a cabriolet roof and bimini
On top of that, the chase boat needs to
be capable of carrying six people including the driver plus 250kg of additional payload. And that’s just the headline specification. The reality of creating a hydrofoiling chase boat takes designers into challenging territory when it comes to getting cooling water back into the system. Naturally this is not a new problem, many hydrofoiling powerboats have had to deal with this over the years. But the difference with the HSV is that the foils and structures have to be slender to achieve the required levels of performance and efficiency. ‘The gearboxes, the propeller and the
shaft are all custom built in-house here in Zhuhai,’ Evans continues. ‘We're using bevel gears from different gearboxes and modifying those as well. The engineering is pretty complex as we have hydraulics
running down the carbon fibre front foil struts and then water going up the struts to service multiple functions. One is to lubricate the propeller shaft that's running down the vertical and keeping the bearings lubricated, another is for the heat exchangers in the boat for the motor, the batteries and other items like the air conditioning. There's a lot happening. ‘There are two water pick-ups because
you have port and starboard propulsion systems on board which are running from two fuel cells that are 80-kilowatt each.’ ‘We have orders from two of the teams
and also we're building some of the event boats,’ he continues. ‘So we have of a total of six hydrogen chase boats that
we're manufacturing at present.’ But even at this extreme end of the
‘We’re doing a 13m version that’s going to be a VIP style of boat’
scale there’s more that McConaghy is working on. ‘We're doing a 13m version of the HSV and that's going to be a VIP style of boat with a really nice interior. It’s called Chase Zero and we've made a couple of alterations to
improve the styling as well, such as having a cabriolet roof, a wraparound screen and a bimini. We’ve also extended the forward screen so that it is lower at the front and we have incorporated carbon compression tubes for the structure to help free up the visibility forwards. ‘The control system uses carbon fibre
steering wheel control at the main console, alongside the navigational equipment, VHF, AIS, and system monitoring displays. We are also looking at producing a 12-seater version of the Chase Zero that could be either a private boat or a commercial version aimed at high-speed ferries. ‘The commercial aspect of this is really
A total of six hydrogen- powered foiling chase boats were on the production line in McConaghy’s Zhuhai facility as this issue of Seahorse went to press
interesting. Everybody is looking at green alternatives, whether it's full electric, hydrogen or another means of propulsion. In my opinion, hydrogen is one of the best ways to go.’ All of which makes for a fascinating discussion around the detailed renderings that have been produced for the Chase Zero. But what makes this project and McConaghy’s plans all the more striking is that all of it is far from the kite flying exercise that it could so easily be. Instead, as the AC40 production line rolls into double figures, so the build of the HSVs and Chase Zero are already under way. In just five years since the Kiwis won
the Cup and changed the rules, no one was expecting this.
www.mcconaghyboats.com
❑ SEAHORSE 75
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