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'Jo Dan IV' Is a Safe Haven at seawork
01 Mar 2004
Safehaven Marine are fast becoming Ireland's most successful commercial charter boat builders and return to seawork with Jo Dan IV , the second of a new generation of high-buoyancy hull 'Wildcat' catamarans built to provide operators with performance, stability and a huge deck area.
The vessel was custom built for Portsmouth based skipper Phil Hunt to combine dual roles of charter angling and survey work. The 'Island' wheelhouse configuration allows anglers to fish along the full length of the craft, right up to and including the bow area. An L-shaped seating area for six inside the wheelhouse folds out to form a long work top that enables computers and other survey equipment to be operated comfortably and close to AC sockets.
Jo Dan IV is fitted with twin Volvo Penta TAM63P engines rated at 370hp which take the 10,200kg displacement craft to 27 knots maximum and a 22 knot cruising speed. Main and auxiliary fuel tanks have a combined capacity of 2,000 litres, which gives a range of over 650 nautical miles at 15 knots. Halyard water traps/ silencers considerably reduce noise levels on board.
On the maiden voyage from Cork to Portsmouth, Phil Hunt was accompanied by two fellow charter skippers. Running out of Weymouth at a steady 17 knots into a Force 7, the three experienced skippers encountered what they all considered the roughest sea conditions they had ever faced approaching The Needles.
Having survived a "this is it" moment when the craft rode out a 20ft drop, Dave Faithfull later wrote in a letter to Wildcat designer Frank Kowalski, 'This cat is awesome. She won't fall off a wave, she won't slew round in a stern or quarter sea, she won't slam, she's pretty damn quick and I want one! She's the safest boat I have ever been on.'
MJ Information No: 19222
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