Cutter, Boat, Gig, Launch.

by John Curnow on 6 Nov 2010 No matter which name you choose for a Pilot vessel, the official launch and christening of Akuna IV on Friday was a sensational affair. Her indigenous name means flowing water and as you can see from the images, that certainly was proven to be very apt on the day.

Built for the Port Phillip Sea Pilots, she is self-righting, ultra-smooth, unbelievably quiet and with her beak bow, more than just a little stealth like. She was penned by Pantocarene Naval Architects in France and was selected after a global search conducted by Captain Charles Griffiths and Port Phillip Sea Pilots Managing Director, Captain Robert Buck. ‘The unique French design was selected after an extensive evaluation of Pilot vessels that had successfully coped with very rough conditions, like we experience outside Port Phillip Heads’, said Robert.

Hart Marine in Mornington, Victoria, built Akuna IV. They are no strangers to all manner of high performance and custom vessels, having built a former Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race winner, the hundred-foot Wild Thing, as well as the reigning Melbourne to Osaka victor. Ranger is Akuna IV’s smaller sister. She was also built by Hart’s and is destined for service in Western Port.

The Port Phillip Sea Pilots began operations in 1839 and their area of operations includes the aforementioned, Western Port, The Heads and the busy commercial Ports of Geelong and Melbourne. Such a prestigious organisation certainly deserves such an advanced vessel. Her Vac-bagged, E-glass composite construction not only helps to reduce her on-going maintenance requirements, but also assist with both thermal and acoustic transfer. However, it is her suspended wheelhouse that really ensures both her crew and the pilots enjoy a very high level of comfort in their most challenging of workplaces.

Local elements added to her include her transom mounted rescue system, wheelhouse glass installation, position of air vents, remote mounted ZF gearboxes to reduce power output requirements, five bladed Teignbridge propellers along with new skeg and rudder forms that ensured drag and cavitation were as low as possible.

At around 27tonnes, the 18m Pilot vessel has been designed to safely deliver her passengers to the waiting vessels as quickly as possible. Akuna IV will do 27knots all day, every day and into 6m seas at that. She has a beam of 6.14m, draws 2.3m and is very stable, which is of critical importance when your main mission is the transfer of personnel to and from much larger vessels, whilst at sea. The slower a ship has to go to perform this transfer, the more likely it is to roll as the weather conditions worsen. Whilst making a lee for the smaller vessel, the slow speed can present significant manoeuvring issues for the pilot vessel. Overseas, these types of vessels normally transfer at 10 to 12knots and if the weather permits, up to 15knots, which means the ship may not have to slow significantly, or at all, during the pilot transfer.

As for speed, well Akuna IV was able to exceed 32knots during her maker’s trials and now does around 27knots at 1900RPM, burning something like 100litres an hour, a side. So when Coxswain, Jim Grinter, fired the twin Cummins QSK19-M IMD Tier II Diesels, I was quick to secure my place aboard her. Incidentally, these engines are the only ones of their kind in service, outside of the USA, which means she not only gets up and hammers, but she does so waving a green flag.

Her lack of noise is just sensational, something like 68dBA. One is truly able to hold a conversation at normal speaking volumes. What is most impressive is the way she gets on the plane. There is none of the traditional digging out of the hole whilst pointing skyward. It is far more linear and seamless, to the point where I wondered if we were ever going to give it the beans, you might say. In that sense, it feels very much like a multihull.

Akuna IV is ultra stable and able to turn in very easily, without ever getting upset or out of kilter as she hit wake whilst changing course. Quite simply, she is marvellous and the Officers from the Royal Australian Navy standing next to me, were just as impressed.

I would like to thank the Port Phillip Sea Pilots and most specifically, Captain Robert Buck, for their invitation to join them for, and definitely on, their very special launch.