Cheetah Marine deliver 7.9m fast patrol Catamaran to Falmouth Harbour Commissioners

May 24th, 2012

Wednesday 23rd May 2012, Southampton – Cheetah Marine, leaders in the design and construction of under 10m catamarans hand over the latest 7.9m Cheetah design to Falmouth Harbour Commissioners at Seawork 2012 International.

The 7.9m Cheetah Catamaran named 'Killigrew' will be performing a variety of roles within Falmouth Harbour and it’s approaches. In addition to operating a number of leisure facilities in the harbour, Falmouth Harbour Commissioners offer a range of services to all sizes of merchant shipping. Amongst her daily roles Killigrew will be tasked with patrol and enforcement, offering an escort service to docking ships, providing back up and assistance for emergency response and general survey work by researchers and students. The 7.9m Cheetah is a versatile workboat reflected by the variety of systems and equipment which the catamaran accommodates.

Killigrew features Cheetah Marine's registered moonpool configuration. The moonpool enables between hull deployment of various transducers used by Falmouth Harbour Commissioners including Starfish Sidescan and Single Beam Echo Sounder.

Further deployment and maintenance can be carried out via the starboard side door with use of the swinging davit and electric winch powered by a compact Honda 2kva suitcase generator housed on the aft deck.

Inside the long survey style wheelhouse features seating for four with fold down worktop space and a comprehensive NSS 7 Simrad package with NMEA link to the engines providing real time fuel consumption figures and engine data. The Cheetah is powered by twin Honda 115hp outboards and achieved speeds of 30 knots on the delivery to Seawork, cruising at 20 knots with an average fuel consumption of 1.5 litres per nautical mile.

Cheetah Marine manufacture all stainless steel inhouse bespoke to each catamaran. Falmouth Harbour Commissioners specified pilot style bow rails with Hadrian’s rail to enable safe access forward. This has been fitted in addition to the full set of MCA guard rails required for coding of the vessel to Category 3, 20 miles from a safe haven with 8 persons.

Sean Strevens Cheetah Designer said: 'Whilst our catamarans often have highly specialist equipment, the configuration and stability allows use for a diverse range of applications. As cut backs increase, it is critical that we continue to provide the most flexible solutions and cost effective vessels with minimal running costs. We are delighted to work with the Falmouth Harbour Commission on this project.'

Falmouth Harbour Master Captain Mark Sansom said: 'We are delighted to welcome the new Killigrew into service. She is a fantastic asset for Falmouth and one of which we are very proud. Killigrew is a versatile workboat and much more economical and environmentally friendly than the old boat, so will be cleaner and quieter. We would like to extend a big thank you to all those who have worked so hard to get the work finished. We are very pleased with the results and looking forward to getting her up and running in time for peak season.'