Veecraft Marine

Hi! Hi!! & up shes rises!!!
Hydrographic/Geophysical Survey Launch Catamaran
A wonderful example of modern aluminium boat building technology.

Besides being all of the above, she is a HYDROFOIL ASSISTED CATAMARAN.
This makes her more fuel-efficient, needs smaller engines to achieve her design
speed and has much improved sea keeping. She has three fixed foils.
Her main lifting foil is the full width of the tunnel at mid ships. She has two shorter stubby foils for trim near the transome. This foil system was designed by Dr. Günter Hoppe of Stellenbosch University, Cape Town South Africa during 1981.

We just knew that our Irish Survey Cat
was very special all along.

A 15 m proven Teknicraft design customized to suit our customer's needs.


The upturned frames are being meticulously set up to insure accuracy.	The frames have been errected & the stringers are now being tacked to the frames.


The underside of the hull has been plated up to the gunwales. She had to set up to insure that she is perfectly true.	Now that she has been rolled over, various inturnals can be completed before the next stage begins.


The wheelhouse is being built seperatly while the hull is being worked on & readied for it. .	The computer laboratory is essentially the aft section of the wheelhouse structure.


She has a raised bridge deck, which is two steps up for the laboratory.	These deck extrusions create a neat yet rigid deck structure. This is part of the aft deck.


The starboard engine room with neat engine bed and clever use of extruded rider bar.	And this is looking aft. A great deal of desgn has gone into this area.


Notice the weld patterns in the design which will extend the vessels life.	Starboard forward cabin. More clever use of extusions in this area.

The Irish survey team enjoyed visiting us during the build and sharing the experience.	Andre discusses the electrical instillation so that we are all on the same page.

Now she is starting to look impressive.	The bow thruster and hull transition.

Steps down to the port cabin, which can be closed when not in use.	Cabinetmaker working on the galley which turned out to be a good practical space.


The ventilation ducts for the engine rooms pass through the computer laboratory. See it on the left.	One of the quiet running engine room ventilation fans. A special moisture reducing extrusion was used in the intake system.

This unique aft hull design working in conjuction with the foils assists her onto the plan with ease.	You can see who has been here? "The Man from Lloyds." Part of the testing proccess.

We are getting there. But there is still lots more to do.	No, it's not the bar. It's the wheel house console. See more as you page down.

This is where the gearbox meets the prop shaft.	The upper deck and flybridge.

This is the main foil looking towards the bow.	The deployable sonar pod.


SV Keary slowing down as she makes her way into the layup basin shortly after being launched.	She is floating well considering that she still has more equipment to be fitted on her aft deck.

Sliding doors are fitted on both sides of the wheelhouse with neat rails and flush windows.	There are two steps down to the aft deck. You can see the proximity of the crane and rib.

This skipper's seat and helm. The port seat for two has loads of storage space below.	Every skipper's dream is an uncluttered bridge and easy access to facilities.

A dinning area, which doubles as two work stations.	The galley. Twin electric hob and under counter oven. Twin sinks and a large fridge on the right.

Stern boarding area from the rib and shore. There is another on starboard transom.	Fire box, crane controls and crane on starboard aft deck.


Windlass and anchoring system on the foredeck. Behind the windlass is seating with storage below.	Hydraulic davit rams. The davit will be used to deploy scientific apparatus and sea bed sampling equipment.

Keary has two liferafts on the flybridge mounted on launches. The structure on the left is the top of the deployable pod system.	She sure give the passengers a smooth ride. It's the foils that do it. A second winch will be fitted on the reinforce pad to the left. The flybridge helm station is hiding under the cover.

Mission control. You can control the engines, thrusters and steering from up here.	The 4.5m Falcon will be used in shallow waters. The deck crane will be used for launching her.

Keary undertook a voyage from Cape Town to Hout Bay as part of the sea trials. Various tests were done with the retractable pod while in Charlie's sling.	Here I am back in Granger Bay, Cape Town. There were final checks before she was loaded onto the vessel that was to have taken her Ireland. Read on....

A little delay before boarding but it gave us a chance to get one more shot at a good photograph. She was secured on deck of a freighter bound for Dublin.	She was however diverted to Amsterdam. The Irish Survey chaps went to meet her in Amsterdam. More delays and so they added some diesel and set a coarse for Dublin. Here she is off the Irish coast.

And here she comes bounding over the Irish Sea to her new homeport of Dublin. She has mapped large areas off the Irish coast since. Areas, which have never been surveyed before.	The Irish lads full of smiles in their homeport. They were full of praise & told us of their great voyage through rain, howling wind and rough seas. "She is a great boat & that's for sure."
Breaking News	Breaking News
SV "Keary" Our Irish Survey Cat is awarded Best Power Craft in all sizes and classes	by the South African Boat Building Industry at an awards ceremony held in Cape Town during April 2010.

Theme by SLDesigns | Hosted by SLDesigns

All images and literary content contained on this website are copyright protected. No part of the images or literary content of this website may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the owner's permission. Any unauthorized reproduction of the images or literary content will constitute a copyright infringement and render the doer liable under both civil and criminal law.

Mambo is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.