STABILISATION
HULL VANE BV The Hull Vane® is a patented hydrodynamic wing which is placed below the stern of a ship, saving energy and improving seakeeping. Because of its similarity with a car spoiler, it has been called ‘the underwater spoiler’. The energy of the stern wave and of the ship motions is converted by the wing into forward thrust, resulting in a more efficient, faster, quieter and more comfortable yacht. Since 2014 Hull Vane BV is operating in the worldwide maritime market, with a special focus on yachts, naval and patrol vessels and ferries. With over 20 units built and installed, it’s a proven solution. For more details Tel: +31 (0)317 425 818 or visit
www.hullvane.com
appears incredible value for money for the extra comfort they can bring. Seakeeper claim up to a max 95% roll reduction at zero speed but, at sea, when underway, it would be hard to place the same kind of certainty on this figure due to the potential variation in conditions.
Previous to my research, I had assumed that all gyros needed installation on the centreline of a boat, but oh how wrong I was. They can be installed virtually anywhere on board, above or below deck, with the smaller models powered by DC batteries, no additional generator power is required.
Another piece of trickery (the science of which will take far too long to explain here), is that vacuum encapsulation of the flywheel enables it to spin roughly three times faster and cuts weight down by roughly two-thirds. It halves the power requirement and ensures
Previous to my research, I had assumed that all gyros needed installation on the centreline of a boat, but oh how wrong I was
complete isolation from the harsh marine environment, safely protecting critical components such as the aforementioned flywheel, the motor and bearings.
You’re not always having to tweak or adjust these new systems either because an ‘all speeds / all conditions’ Active Control optimises torque and ensures the unit keeps working at its best, despite changeable wave patterns and different cruising speeds. With the new ‘baby’, the Seakeeper 1, the control panel is located on the unit itself, or you can choose to interface control within your already installed dashboard instruments.
Having installed something like 250 gyros to date, Nemo Marine Services, based in Port Rayon in the south of France, were Seakeeper’s first ‘Elite Dealer and Elite Service Centre’ outside of the US. They’ve installed and maintained gyros for the past two decades and for anyone interested in trying out the performance of a Seakeeper, the company’s ‘any-conditions’ sea-trial policy is available from the global dealer network.
Retrofitting stabiliser systems For some manufacturers, retrofit accounts for at least half, if not more than half of
annual turnover, for others it’s still very important, but less so financially.
On behalf of Nemo Marine Services, Charlie Mcvey, told us: “Retrofitting Seakeepers is our biggest market and our engineers will look at the available space on each boat on a case by case basis and work around that.
“The negative aspect is that, unfortunately, the value of some of the smaller boats we work on does not warrant a brand new Seakeeper. Our future goal is to reduce the price of the product and installation cost, so that it can be accessible to more people.”
Hull Vane Sales Director, Bruno Bouckaert, told us: “Of the 40 Hull Vanes built to date, about 50% have been for retrofits, while the other half were built for newbuilds. Retrofits are a great way to improve speed, range, noise output and seakeeping of an existing yacht or ship. When built from new, there are additional advantages, such as smaller main engines (and exhaust systems) to reach the required speed, and smaller fuel tanks (and less weight) to reach the required range. Improved hydrodynamics is a much smarter way to achieve the right speed and range than bigger engines and fuel tanks.”
ONBOARD | AUTUMN 2020 | 203
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