Breakthrough in power catamaran design

by Bob Wonders on 28 Jan 2010
Australian Scott Ramsden is probably better-known as sailboat man than a powerboat man; after all, when you can win world championships in the exciting 18-foot skiff class it's fairly obvious that sailing is your go, however Ramsden has over the last decade delivered major advances in power catamarans.
The 18 footer circuit needed fast, stable powerboats as television camera platforms and since his retirement from the racing circuit Ramsden has been operating a series of special purpose Camera Cats.

Over time Ramsden has developed an ideal platform for television and print media and photographers covering major yachting events, as well as movie and commercial creation

His latest boat is the fourth in the Camera Cat series and each one has been extensively ‘tweaked' He has had plenty of input from his working clients, having skippered his purpose-built catamarans at events including the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week and Skanda Geelong Week and most recently Audi Victoria Week.

This high-speed power catamarans delivers a significant advance in the hull technology for improved stability and economy.

'it’s a semi-displacement design which give 20 per cent improvement in performance compared with my last Camera Cat,' Ramsden said.

In fact, while these are operated as dedicated Camera Cats, the latest hull design could provide the perfect platform for a whole range of uses, such as high speed water taxi, offshore scuba–dive boat, and deep-sea charter fishing vessel or a personal family cabin cruiser.

Ramsden said. 'the design leads the way in hull technology,which is an enormous credit to (designer) Stuart (Freizer) in creating a catamaran hull design, that provides minimum wake, a very dry ride while also providing incredible stability. It’s reaches peak speeds in the low 50-knot range and possesses excellent maneuverability at low speed.

'I'm a cat believer,' Ramsden says. 'With a cat it's possible to go wider with narrower volumes in the hulls to achieve a much more stable platform when the boat comes off waves.

'We've used a rather unique bow design to avoid broaching; previously broaching in a following sea was a common problem with cats, but we've solved it by utilising the latest technology, even to the extent of taking and studying videos of the hull underway to determine where we could improve things.

'The bow design has proven itself and it enables us to outperform others with ease. 'I could not be happier with the end result,' he added.

The 12.0-metre (3.5-metre beam) boat was built just north of the Queensland Gold Coast by Sea Prowler Boats, of Yatala.

Scott could not speak too highly of the build quality. 'These fellows really know their stuff,' he said, 'the boat has more than 2000-metres of welds in the alloy structure and these guys are absolute experts.'

The Camera Cat is powered by dual Yamaha 250hp, EFI four-stroke outboards with the latest technology in Drive by Wire controls that electronically control throttle and shift.

It ensures smooth throttle operation and responsive performance while also providing secure and reliable gear shifting.

Scott is delighted with the overall performance of the engines. 'They're smooth as silk, idle superbly and they're very quiet and environmentally friendly,' he added.

'The fuel economy has been excellent. We can sit on 30 knots and the hull and engines handle it with ease,' he said.

Scott takes exceptional pride on the fact that he develops each of his boats to meet any chosen application.

'This particular boat has a specialised layout but the layout is easily adaptable without interfering with the hull design of technology in design we've used,' he explained.

'We keep taking steps forward with each boat, every time answering more issues and I really think we've nailed it with this one,' he declared.

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For further information e-mail Scott Ramsden at, scott@cameracats.com
Or call him on 0418 243 960, visit www.seaprowlerboats.com.au, or call (07) 5546 2676.