When the Coast Guard set sail, sometimes they need to go fast. There is equipment to accompany helicopters and tenders from on-board – features that come straight out of the dreams of private owners.
This is why Fassmer shipyard, working together with beiderbeck designs, has come up with a design that turns it’s tried and tested OPV80 patrol boat into a luxury motor yacht. This synergy project from the DEUTSCHE YACHTEN Superyachts Germany working group sees two of the member companies from the river Weser cooperating.
When the motor yacht “Disco Volante” was split in half in the 1965 James Bond film “Thunderball” and special agent 007 sped off in the front section like it was a 40 knot power boat, it wasn’t only boaters’ hearts that were beating faster. In his last Bond film, director Terence Young had a particularly free rein on fantasy having, amongst others, several small subs which could be boarded while underwater. However, three years before, Sean Connery was chasing Dr No who was using a patrol boat to get around. So why not today too?
Since 2008, the OPV80 (Offshore Patrol Vessel) from Fassmer has been working off the coasts of Chile and then Colombia. The ship is a good 80 metres long and 13 metres wide and was developed by in-house designers in Berne near Bremen as an economical patrol vehicle. The shape of the hull was optimised in towing tank tests carried out at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin HVSA to ensure that the clients’ highest speed, seaworthiness and manoeuvrability requirements would be exceeded.
Based on Fassmer’s tried and tested technical platform, which saves on R&D costs and time when it comes to new builds, beiderbeck designs has shown us a motor yacht that would be worthy of 007 himself. The mechanism used for launching tenders is a bit Disco Volante-esque as it can launch a dinghy into the water and can then pick it up again both even while cruising. The landing pad for large helicopters (up to 7.5 tons and 18 metre rotor diameter), which can be refuelled even while on board, has a foldable handrail which gives way to an open party deck. During this time, the helicopter disappears into the tried and tested hangar midships.
Shelf depths of 2.5 metres give the windows a homely feel, almost like being in an on-board winter garden. Even the other structures speak more to the opulent lifestyle of the popular secret agent than to the spartan, practical constraints of commercial shipping. The forward-facing owner’s area at the front as well as the lounge are surrounded by one and a half decks’ worth of glass fronts making it hardy in all types of weather and, on request, protective against “Thunderballs” and even more. The wheelhouse is placed higher to give a clear view. Behind it is an outdoor deck area which is protected in every sense of the word.
The tried and tested OPV80 platform, with its long and free foredeck, is not only particularly seaworthy, but also aesthetically pleasing, and lends its drive and control (amongst others 330 tons diesel, 48 tons freshwater), equipment rooms and more to this design. In the moderate version, two Wärtsilä engines with a total output of around 4,000 kW on the propellers ensure a top speed of 18 knots. With twice the power, “Captain Bond” can reach speeds of 22 knots, meaning Dr No has no chance.
