Pathfinder Power Cats are setting up to commence a world first project.
Brisbane based boatbuilder and designer Peter Brady and Pathfinder Power Cats are setting up to commence a world first project as part of their more environmentally sustainable boating 3R’s philosophy of Recycle, Refurbish and Reinvent.
This exciting new venture will take an ex IACC Americas Cup yacht that had been operated as a charter boat on Sydney Harbour and reinvent it as a 57ft power trimaran capable of long-range cruising. As if this was not enough of a challenge, the boat for New Zealand clients Brendan and Sara Sheehan is to be fully operable from a wheelchair as Brendan has been in a wheelchair since he was 19 from a motor vehicle accident.
Peter has been working on the idea of turning ex racing yachts into power trimarans for 11 years now, so when Covid 19 closed down the tourist industry and the opportunity came along to obtain the ex-Americas Cup hull he took it, knowing its easily driven hull shape, narrow waterline and wide deck wouldbe the perfect base to work from.
Early in 2022 Peter was contacted by Brendan to see if any of his existing power catamarans on the market could be converted to being operated from a wheelchair and after a fruitless search Peter realised that the answer was literally staring him in the face in the form of the AC hull. What then followed was a phone call to Brendan and Sara to explain his ideas for the power tri concept and when they “got it” straight away, he moved forward with developing a style and layout around the existing hull shortened by 15ft.
Being a “state of the art” for the day, carbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb constructed day racer the interior had minimal framing except for the bulkheads that had been added to meet survey requirements for charter and Peter was able to work with these to design an interior that meet all of Brendan and Sara’s requirements including a lift from the wheelhouse down to the accommodation and the engine room.
Using the principle of an aircraft carrier, Peter will extend the deck out wider with support by flared panels from the hull to provide wheelchair access to all the deck gear for Brendan and he has even included a Hiab type crane to lift Brendan in his wheelchair onto wharves or pontoons and the tender into the water. This deck design has in turn allowed Peter to mount the small stability floats inside the deck line for ease of docking and he will make them height adjustable whilst underway to allow for load variations and to optimise the relationship between stability and drag.
Australia and New Zealand have always fought well above their weight when it comes to boating innovations and this project is another example of this forward thinking and potentially a new branch of boat design with green credentials.
