KEY POINTS:
A Kiwi-designed Naiad rigid inflatable boat (RIB) has become the first vessel in Australasia to be powered by a quadruple set of the world's most powerful outboards.
The 14m Naiad, Sun Xpress, which was built by Woody Marine in Brisbane, has four of Yamaha's new F350 V8 outboards strapped to its transom.
With each outboard generating 350hp at the prop, an incredible 1400hp powers the specialist tourist vessel to what one imagines must be a exhilarating 53 knots.
According to Woody's David Green, getting the project to completion was by no means a matter of simply bolting the four V8s across the transom.
"Even though we had built triple-rigged Naiads before, this project presented special challenges."
He says the team at Woody Marine worked closely with Yamaha engineers and carefully modified the hull structure and the transom before fitting the four V8 outboards. The result, not surprisingly, is the most powerful RIB that they have yet built.
The new tourist boat has an overall length of 14m and a beam of 4.1m. Sun Xpress tips the scales at 9.5 tonnes and has fixed seating for 40 passengers plus a crew of two. It can also carry up to 4 tonnes in extra weight.
Green says the partnership of the Naiad design and the four Yamaha F350s has exceeded all of the company's expectations.
He says the engines are very quiet.
"However, the real bonus has been the fuel consumption. This has fallen well inside what we budgeted for and what we expected."
Green says that, on a test run shortly after launching, in 20-plus knots of breeze, the boat was running at a "comfortable" cruising speed of 23 knots at just 2800rpm. He says fuel flow at this speed was consistent: 23.5 litres per engine and 94.2 litres per hour for the whole boat.
Woody Marine has already secured an order for an almost identical second rig. It will again be used for tourist work, this time in far north Queensland.
