Classic Fast Ferriesclassicfastferries.com/cff/pdf/cff_2005_1.pdfport from which Maria Celeste Lauro will operate to the island of Ponza located in the Thyrrenian Sea approximately

w w w . c l a s s i c f a s t f e r r i e s . c o m

O N E | J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 5 | V O L U M E S I X

FIRST BRAZILIANCITYCAT 29DELIVERED

CHINESERHS 2OO

HYDROFOIL

PHOTO REPORT:SCRAPPING OF

GREEK DOLPHINS

22 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 1 / 2005

1 n J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 5 n V O L U M E S I X E39200501

NEWS AND ARTICLES ABOUT CIVIL HYDROFOILS, HOVERCRAFT & CATAMARANS | EDITOR/PUBLISHER : TIM TIMOLEONALL ARTICLES, LAYOUT & ARTWORK PRODUCTION, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED : TIM TIMOLEON | PUBLISHED IN PDFFORMAT | WWW.CLASSICFASTFERRIES.COM | SUBMITTALS OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOS, OLD AND NEW, ANDRELEVANT NEWS ITEMS ARE ENCOURAGED! | EMAIL TO : CFF @ EMAIL.DK | COPYRIGHT 2000/2005 CLASSIC FAST FERRIES.COVER PHOTO : ONE OF THE FORMER SNAV RHS 160F HYDROFOILS, MORETTO PRIMO, IN USTICA LINES COLORS INMESSINA LAST MONTH. ALSO SEE BACK COVER / ENZO ANNUARIO photo

The first of three RodriquezCityCat 40 catamaransordered by Alilauro, MariaCeleste Lauro, wasdelivered by Rodriquez lastmonth/RODRIQUEZ CANTIERINAVALI photo

The report on the delivery to Alilauro of the firstRodriquez CityCat 40 in our October issue wassomewhat premature, as formally the vessel wasnot delivered until December 4. The keys to the catamaran, Maria Celeste Lauro,were officially handed over to Alilauro in aceremony at Fiumicino, some 25 kilometers south-west of Rome and close to Rome's Leonardo daVinci International Airport. Fiumicino is also theport from which Maria Celeste Lauro will operateto the island of Ponza located in the ThyrrenianSea approximately midway between Rome(Fiumicino) and Napoli. In addition to the details given in our Octoberedition, Marie Celeste Lauro (Yard No. 341) isequipped with a stabilization system comprisingtwo forward T-foils and two intruders fitted onthe transom. During trials the vessel achieved

speeds in excess of 35 knots, however it isexpected that the normal full load service speedwill be closer to 30 knots. The twin-deck catamaran is divided intoeconomy class in the main deck saloon andbusiness class in the upper cabin. On the maindeck there is a snack bar and three toilets aft andon the upper deck two toilets are situatedforward behind the wheelhouse. There aretelevision monitors and a complete sound systemthroughout. Passengers embark/disembark through eitherthe midships doors on either side or the tworamps aft, the latter of which is widely in use inports in the Bay of Naples. Alilauro will receive two more CityCat 40sbefore long and a fourth, ordered by BahamasFerries in Nassau, is also nearing completion. n

RODRIQUEZ DELIVERS FIRSTCITYCAT 4O CATAMARAN . . .

CLASSIC FAST FERRIES 1 / 2005 33

The first City Cat 29 catamaran built byRodriquez's yard in Niterói, Brazil, Zeus 1,was officially delivered to Barcas SA in Riode Janeiro on December 10. Two more high-speed CityCat 29s arenearing completion at the yard, and inaddition Barcas has ordered sevenmedium-speed double-end CityCat 52DEcatamarans, the first of which is also dueshortly. Zeus 1 has a length overall of 29.2m,

The first CityCat 29 catamaran under construction (top) and being launched at the Rodri-quez Cantieri Navali do Brasil works in Niterói /RODRIQUEZ CANTIERI NAVALI photo, both

. . . AND FIRST CITYCAT 29 FROM ITS BRAZILIAN YARD

beam of 9.6m and maximum draft of 2m.Power and propulsion is a pair of MTU16V 2000 M70 diesels and two fixedpitch propellers. The catamaran isequipped with a control and monitoringsystem supplied by Rodriquez MarineSystem. During trials the vessel reached amaximum speed of 27.4 knots, thenormal service speed will be 25 knots. The all-aluminum single deck designcarries up to 230 passengers and has

been introduced on a new route linkingRio de Janeiro and Charitas, which formspart of Niterói. Rodriquez Cantieri Navali do Brasil wasfounded in Rio in 2001 following thesigning of the contract for the tencatamarans between Rodriquez in Italyand Barcas SA. The contract required theconstruction of the vessels be in Brazil andthe Niterói yard was opened in August2003. n

LENGTH OVERALL 29.2mBEAM 9.6mDRAFT MAX 2mDEADWEIGHT 25,000 kgPOWER / PROPULSION 2 x MTU 16V 2000M70 / 2 x FIXED PITCH PROPELLERSSPEED, MAX / SERVICE 28 / 25PASSENGERS 230

LENGTH OVERALL 39.7mBEAM 10.5mDRAFT 1.7m

DEADWEIGHT 38,600 kgPOWER / PROPULSION 2 x CATERPILLAR

3516B / 2 x KAMEWA 71 SII WATERJETSSPEED, MAX / SERVICE 35 / 30

PASSENGERS 320


P H O T O SE X C E P TW H E R EN O T E D

H A R R I S


n recent months the number of activehydrofoils in Greece has diminsihed asquite a few have been either withdrawnor scrapped (or both). And more are tofollow as more catamarans are beingintroduced. The majority of retiredhydrofoils obviously are former Sovietbuilt Kometas. One exception is the sole RodriquezRHS 160 to enter service in the country,Santorini Dolphin II. Owned by SpeedLines, this was pictured in the July 2004CFF where we suggested it was beingprepared for the 2004 season.Instead it was getting preparedto face the ruthless flame ofthe blowtorch. It was brokenup during a couple of weeksin November at Perama,near Piraeus. Santorini Dolphin II wasdelivered to ChannelIslands operator Condorin 1976 and originallyentered service asCondor 5 between theIslands and St. Malo,France. It was importedto Greece by HermesHydrofoils in 1993and renamedIptamenosHermes III.

Another hydrofoil likewise belongingto Speed Lines and being scrapped nextto Santorini Dolphin II in November wasKometa Ios Dolphin, built by Sormovo in1975. Reportedly, the rate of which thehydrofoils are broken up at Perama isone full scrapping per two weeks, andso one or more vessels are presumablyvanishing as we speak. Among the withdrawn and for thepresent stored hydrofoils at Perama arethree less than twenty years oldRodriquez RHS 160Fs owned by HellasFlying Dolphins, Mega Dolphin 30, MegaDolphin 31 and Mega Dolphin 32. Built between 1986 and 1989 and acquired from Italian and Spanish operators in 1997, these had been in service in Greece for only six years when laid up late last year.

Shown in the photo report in the following pages are a handful of hydrofoils that were scrapped at Perama recently, including Kometas Ios Dolphinand Samos, Meteor Nattem X and RHS160 Santorini Dolphin II.

HARRIS ALEXANDRIS photo


T H I S P A G E : R H S 1 6 0 S A N T O R I N I D O L P H I N I I

A L L P H O T O S : H A R R I S A L E X A N D R I S


T H I S P A G E : K O M E T A S A M O S



T W O P H O T O S : K O M E T A I O S D O L P H I N

M E T E O R N A T T E M X



Laid up at Perama since the endof last year are the three only

Rodriquez RHS 160F hydrofoilsin Greece, belonging to HellasFlying Dolphins. The future forthese has not been detailed as

of yet/NIKOS THRYLOS photo

Also at Perama lastmonth but certainly

not there to bescrapped was

Flyingcat 5, one oftwo former GermanKværner Fjellstrand

Flying Cat 40mcatamarans

acquired by HFD inOctober. The vessel

is seen here beingrefurbished onDecember 18

/NIKOS THRYLOSphoto

One of thenumerous FlyingDolphin Kometasimported by formerCeres Hydrofoils/HARRIS ALEXANDRISphoto


. . . andit even has

a Finnishsauna

F I N N I S H R A K E T A R E V I T A L I Z E D

espite the numerous lakes and inland waterways, hydrofoils never made it inFinland. However, of the couple or so Raketas known to have been importedone reappeared in service with Royal Line last June – and although extensivelyrebuilt, still as a hydrofoil. The other still exists as well, but was ripped of its foilsetc. several years back. The owner of the vessel, Jorma Rautakorpi, reports that the hull and foils aswell as most of the superstructure on Rosetta are the original, whereas virtuallyeverything else was replaced during the two-year refit, including all pipes,pumps, electric wires, the hot water system, etc. A new MAN 2842 LYE diesel has also been installed. The noise level has beenreduced thanks to, in part, the engine's watercooled glassfibre sileners. Andrather successfully too it would appear, as a non-biased reader has reported hewatched, but hardly heard, the hydrofoil passing by his weekend cottage atspeed in August. Normally Rosetta is run at a service speed of 29–32 knots.

T O P : Rosetta back on itsfoils on lake Vesijärvi last

August/JUKKA LAPPETELÄINEN photo

R I G H T : The formerpassenger saloon on the

Raketa now holds a diningarea among other things

/JORMA RAUTAKORPI photo


To the casual observer therestyled front and new spaciouswheelhouse positioned fore – andthus deletion of the original onefurther aft – are the most significantexterior changes in comparison tothe original Raketa design. A sundeck has been added behind thewheelhouse above the formerpassenger saloon. This has beencompletely rebuilt and now featuresa saloon with 20 comfortable seats,a Nordic-style furnished dinner areawith a large dinner table for 12persons, a well equipped kitchenand a small dance floor completewith a music and karaokee system.The hydrofoil even has an originalwooden-heated Finnish sauna for 6persons, plus shower and a toilet.

Based at Lahti in southern Finland,Royal Line operates Rosetta onchartered trips in the beautiful LakeDistrict of Vesijärvi and Päijännethat are connected by the Vääksycanal. In fact, the area is made up ofnumerous bigger and smaller lakesbetween some of which there arelocks, the largest being 9m high. Rosetta was built in the Ukraine in1963 and originally delivered to anEstonian company as Raketa 314. Itwas imported to Finland thirty yearslater and renamed Raketa. Between1995–2000 it operated seasonalexcursion trips in the Lake Districtas Suvijet. The Raketa got its presentname in 2001. n

B E L O W : The newlyrefurbished Rosetta on a

rainy day last summer.For those passengers not

familiar with this type ofvessel, it says Hydrofoil

Boat (in English andFinnish) beneath the

wheelhouse windows/JORMA RAUTAKORPI photo

R I G H T : Prior to beingacquired by Royal Line in

2002, the Raketa wasnamed Suvijet and

operated out of Lahti/ALEKSI LINDSTRÖM photo


wenty-three years after the first RHS 200 hydrofoil,Superjumbo, was completed by Rodriquez (the second, andlast, was delivered in 1984), our attention was drawn to ascale model of this vessel only last month. The stylish model was designed in China by Simon Tangwho is a mechanical engineer and as such used to work withthe National Railway Bureau for twenty years. Since the mid-70s alongside his duties there SimonTanghas had an interest in hydrofoils and now heads a companycalled ScaleSpeed which designs and producesup-market handicraft R/C model boats.

In addition to Superjumbo, Simon Tang has built hydrofoilmodels of the Italian Navy's Sparviero class, the SovietBabuchka and Norwegian Westamarin foil-assistedcatamaran Foilcat and others.

A Chinese Jumbo

s c a l e

A L L P H O T O S E X C E P T W H E R E N O T E D S I M O N T A N G


You don't build models like thesein a jiffy. For instance, Tang

spent 18 months to design andbuild the RHS 200, complete with

fixtures and fittings. Like theother hydrofoil models he has

completed so far, Superjumbo isfabricated mainly in fibreglass, itis built to accurate 1/50 scale – ithas a length overall of 716 mm –

and is operational by way of atwo-channel R/C device.

All models from ScaleSpeedcome complete except for the

R/C unit and rechargable batterypack. n

C E N T E R : Superjumboback in the Bay of Naples wherethe prototype has spent most ofits career. The model was built

by ScaleSpeed for a localcustomer, Giuseppe D'Amelio,

who lives near Napoli/GIUSEPPE D' AMELIO photo


SHOTOFTHEMONTH

A B O V E : RHS 160F Moretto Primo at full throttle in the Straits of Messina onDecember 8. The man in the boat at left had better hurry

/ ENZO ANNUARIO photo

B E L O W : ...and Alijumbo Zibibbo alongside in Messina late last month/ ENZO ANNUARIO photo

The five RHS 160F hydrofoils thatwere acquired by Ustica Lines from

Snav last June are now appearing inUstica Lines colors one by one. The

deal also included three catamarans,at least two of which were repainted

shortly after the take-over by UL ofSnav's Sicilian business.

Up till now not two vessels in theUstica Lines fleet have received theexact same paint scheme. While the

corporate colors of yellow, white anddifferent shades of blue have indeed

been used throughout, each vesselhas been personalized by getting a

different livery than the one before it.On the two repainted former Snav

RHS 160Fs observed so far, AlijumboZibibbo and Moretto Primo, a

standardization seems to have beenadopted however. Both vessels were

delivered by Rodriquez in 1991.

Documents

Classic Fast Ferriesclassicfastferries.com/cff/pdf/cff_2005_1.pdfport from which Maria Celeste Lauro will operate to the island of Ponza located in the Thyrrenian Sea approximately