Unique WA fisheries patrol RIB

A unique RIB that will let officers patrol 30 nautical miles offshore and hit 37 knots has been delivered to Western Australia’s Department of Fisheries.

Designed and built by Jet Torque Marine in Fremantle, the new patrol craft is a 6.5 metre Gemini Elite powered by twin 115hp Mercury SeaPro FourStroke outboards.

"The vessel is fully surveyed to AMSA 2C, and to make that possible it’s been built with a foam collar instead of the normal inflatable tube," explained Dave Johnson, the man behind Jet Torque Marine.

"This gives the boat positive buoyancy even with six people and a host of work gear aboard," he said. We will add that it also makes it pretty shark proof.

"Under regulations many commercial vessels can go 30 miles from land but if they island hop they can be 100 miles from the mainland, so if you’re patrolling that far out you want all the safety you can get. 

"Using foam has also allowed us to get creative in the design of the tube. Because we’re not working with air, the collar doesn’t have to have a round cross-section so we’ve raised the gunwale height to comply with survey, shaved the inside flat to create more internal space and we’ve flattened the top as well to make it easier for staff to get in and out."

On-water testing showed the foam collar has certainly not impeded the boat’s performance. Johnson said everyone who’s ridden in it so far has been really impressed.

The twin 115 SeaPros, whciha re Mercury's commercial outboard engines, pushed the boat to 37 knots with power to spare, we're told.

"It certainly could go faster, but it’s been deliberately propped with 19in pitch Enertias to make sure it accelerates very quickly and responds really fast," Johnson says.

"That’s important because the boat’s going to be based at Esperance, so it’ll be beach launched regularly and be dealing with that area’s tough, changeable conditions.

"It actually takes less than a second to get on the plane, which just makes you go ‘wow’."

With a 300 litre fuel tank, the boat has an operating range of some 200 nautical miles travelling at 30 knots.

"The 115 SeaPro was lighter than the other engines. It had more power – 115 compared to 100. It offered a counter-rotating version, and it came with a two year commercial warranty versus a one year. How could you pass that up?" adds Johnson.

The high displacement and low-weight design of the Sea Pro range has been designed to deliver both the performance and toughness required by commercial operators.

The SeaPro’s upper mounts are said to be twice as stiff as those on recreational models; their gearcases let you drain the oil without having to remove the boat from the water; and their larger Command Thrust gearcase provides more leverage to control the boat particularly at lower speeds.
Winning combination

All SeaPro models feature Mercury’s 2 year/unlimited hours Government Warranty or 2 year/1000 hour Commercial Warranty and are backed by the national service network.