Van Munster Boats builds first Aussie designed, made carbon-fibre military boat

The 8.5-metre Whisky Alpha 85, the first of two lines of “next-generation tactical watercraft” being built in collaboration with a group called the Whiskey Project, is the first of a line of specialist carbon-fibre boats aimed at military operations.

It was built by Macquarie Lake-based Van Munster Boats for the Whiskey Project, a design and build team which included the lead architect from Farr Yacht Design; marine composites engineer and America’s Cup winner Brett Ellis, and computational fluid dynamics system and hull specialists from Navatek Hawaii, a research institute funded by the US Government to build military craft.

This first boat, launched globally at October’s Pacific International Maritime Expo 2019, features a new “Sea Blade” tri-hull design that its designers say has a much softer ride – with up to 40 per cent less “bash” – than the three running surfaces are conventionally known for.

The high-performance modular hull is made from what Van Munster Boats says is advanced carbon fibre composite materials’ “which provide a greater strength to weight than traditional aluminium or FRP [fibreglass-reinforced plastic] hulls”.

“The revolutionary Sea Blade hull form is the product of a decade of research and development to design the ultimate foundation for mixed sea states and offshore applications providing greater stability and seakeeping whilst achieves a higher average speed than a comparable deep-V hull,” it said.

““The co-founders of the Whiskey Project commissioned the design based on their 20 years’ defence experience as tactical maritime operators, and they intimately understood what the capability gaps were in the existing craft being used globally,” Brett Van Munster, the second-generation owner of the boat-maker, said.

“They knew the current boats were simply not fit for purpose. Whether they are from military or police or other state agencies or even support boats or tenders, operators need watercraft that offered a higher level of seakeeping and safety but also high-speed offshore capability in all sea states as well as low-speed manoeuvring for the boarding, recovery or disembarking of ships.

“These vessels needed to offer an unprecedented level of stability and high-end performance.”

This first boat is built from Divinycell foam core to deliver the high strength structure required in such extreme operating conditions, and fast speeds, and custom DuFLEX panels for deck, cockpit and internal framing. These parts were supplied by Queensland-based ATL Composites.

The Whiskey Alpha 85 is one of two different classes of vessels that the Whisky Project plans to build and sell to defence forces worldwide. It has already teased another vessel, the 11.0-metre Whiskey Bravo 11 that it hints will be capable of operating autonomously without any crew.

The “whiskey” in The Project Whiskey’s name refers to the NATO phonetic call sign for the letter “w”, which in defence circles is used to denote on-water operations.

Specifications
Model: Whiskey Alpha 85
Length overall: 9.38m
Length waterline: 8.50m
Beam: 2.90m
Draft: 0.60m
Displacement: 3180–5140kg
Engines: Outboard/inboard stern drive/inboard waterjet
Fuel: 650L
Passengers: 12