Safehaven Marine’s latest design concept is the XSV20, which has been undergoing scale model testing out of its Cork Harbour boatyard.
Combining a twin-stepped asymmetrical catamaran hull with a wave-piercing monohull, the hybrid XSV20 aims to set a new standard for high-speed patrol and interceptor vessels.
Safehaven says the 22m hull mould is now complete on the patent-pending design following six months of research and development, during which 12 scale model variants were extensively tank-tested to optimise performance and hydrodynamics.
The first full-scale XSV20 will be powered by four Caterpillar C8.7 650hp engines, ZF gearboxes and France Helises SDS surface drives. The boat will have a maximum speed of well over 50 knots, with a 40kt cruise speed and a range of 800 nautical miles.
The design incorporates all the features of Safehaven’s smaller 11-17m Barracuda range of naval craft, but with greater endurance, payload and crew capacity.
The design has been developed, as Safehaven’s designer and MD Frank Kowalski puts it, “in ones endless pursuit of travelling fast in rough seas” and should allow higher speeds to be maintained in rough sea conditions with greater crew comfort, safety and endurance than conventional designs.
Safehaven says its demonstrator vessel will be due for launch very early next year, when we should expect to see some of the company’s usual extreme testing.
