Nauti-Craft 8M: First Drive

We put to sea in a revolutionary Australian-designed suspension catamaran

A small WA company is set to revolutionise the marine industry with a unique suspension system designed for boats. Based on the kinetic suspension system currently used by Toyota and half a dozen other car manufacturers, the technology reduces slamming and jarring when driving into the breeze, lessens pitch and roll in motion and at rest, and allows the boat to be driven at faster speeds than a conventional craft.

According to the developers, a Dunsborough-based company called Nauti-Craft, the technology can be applied to any size boat and a wide range of applications from commercial to recreational. Initially, they are targeting commercial applications but believe there is no reason why the technology cannot also be applied to smaller recreational fishing boats.

In October, the latest prototype, 2play, was on display at the Mandurah Boat Show in WA, now the third biggest boat show in the country. Previously, 2play’s display took centre stage at the Seawork International (Europe’s biggest commercial maritime and workboat exhibition) in Southampton, UK.

Nauti-Craft was at Mandurah to demonstrate the technology to prospective buyers and boatsales.com.au was among the first to take this unique 8m catamaran for a test off the WA coast.

While the conditions were not exactly challenging, there was enough swell and chop to highlight just how much difference the technology makes to the performance and ride comfort.

MANDURAH WATER TEST

- Pleasure boating on a bed of air

After heading out of the Mandurah Harbour into the Indian Ocean we trained the bows southwest, directly into the wind and oncoming swell. As the cat gathered speed and we hit the first swell you instinctively braced yourself for the boat to lift off the small swell and crash back to earth. Nothing happened!

Instead of the crash and bang you come to expect, the ride is smooth and gentle — it was like the cockpit was sitting on a bed of air — as the pontoons below continuously adjusted to the changing sea conditions.

It was surreal.

After the first couple of waves you found yourself sitting back in the seat and enjoying the ride.

Within a few minutes the cat, powered by twin 300hp Yamaha four-stroke outboards, was travelling at 30 knots and, even though we were hitting the swells faster and harder, the superstructure hardly moved. It was akin to racing across a perfectly flat lake with no other boat on it to disturb the water.

EMERGENCY STOPS AND TURNS

- Forget everything you learned about boat motion

Then we did an emergency stop. Again there was barely any need to hold on as the boat came pulled up in a few short metres.

For the passengers, there was no sign of the nose digging in or the violent jerk that can often have unsuspecting passengers hurtling dangerously about the cockpit. As the hull settled back down again the boat barely moved.

It is not that these things did not happen but, as the nose of the pontoons dug into the water, the suspension system lifted up the front of the superstructure. As it settled back down the suspension compensated, lowering at the bow and lifting at the stern to ensure the superstructure remained flat.

The final component of the test was a series of sharp turns, while still travelling at 25 knots.

Again, instinct had you bracing, ready for the boat to lean out as the inside pontoon dug into the water, and again there was virtually no movement. The deck remained flat and stable.

ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION

- Change the ride and response for the conditions

The best way to get a good indication of just how hard the suspension was working was to watch the two outboard engines as they bobbed up and down as we went over each wave.

The other thing that was hard not to notice was the lack of spray coming off the hull and lack of noise under the hull — a trait that is often evident in cats of this size.

The lack of spray and quiet ride can be attributed to the relatively flat bottom of the pontoons and the gap between them and the superstructure that enables the water to escape over the top of them rather than being pushed through the tunnel.

Driving downwind the boat did feel a little skittish, though it was hard to tell if it was the platform that we were sitting on or the pontoons in the water that were moving around.

When I mentioned the boat felt skittish to the Nauti-Craft chief technician John Catoni, who was demonstrating the boat, he made an adjustment to the suspension system, much like changing the suspension setting on a car from comfort to sport, and you immediately noticed the difference.

Mr Catoni said that he had simply stiffened the suspension setting a little to reduce the amount of recoil, which left the superstructure sitting much flatter. It also showed that it was the movement of the superstructure that made the boat feel skittish and not the pontoons.

HYDRAULICS AND SPLIT-SECOND BRAINS

- 40 millisecond computer-adjusted suspension

- Computer brains control the ‘active suspension’ system

The demonstrator 2play could be construed as a monohull sitting on top of two pontoons connected via a suspension system (two at the front and two at the rear). These enable the pontoons to react rapidly to the ocean surface without transmitting that movement to the deck above.

The only indication of how much work the suspension system was doing to keep the passenger cell so calm was the constant clicking of the hydraulic pump as it moved fluid around the system.

With the computer assessing the movement of the pontoons every 40 milliseconds, much like an active suspension system monitors tyre movement on your car, it continuously adjusts the suspension for the water conditions.

The system can also be adjusted at the helm. If you are driving side on to the swell you can reduce the amount of roll or if, like we were, you are running with the swell you can stiffen the suspension to reduce the amount of pitching.

This provides increased levels of ride comfort, control and stability in all conditions.

ADJUSTABLE DECKS TOO

- Adjust your height off the water for easy transfers

While this all happens automatically while the boat is in motion, when it is stationary it can be controlled remotely which means the deck height can be adjusted to make loading and unloading the vessel easy and safe.

The prototype suspension has 700mm of travel but according to Mr Catoni this could be adjusted to suit different applications and conditions.

Just how long it will be before we see this technology introduced to the recreational boating market, and at what price, is still an unknown. But if and when it does arrive it will change the way we go boating, our feelings and perceptions, forever.

More on this ingenious Australian company at www.nauti-craft.com. See the video below.

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Nauti-Craft 8M: First Drive

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