~

in

~

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of days at a time.

..."..~.

and. L .L-

Geraldton, Western

and a

~~~~

giving a speed of 10 knots loaded. It hassailed regularly at 15 knots across the

sound.

It was for both the financial savings

and simplicity, that I convinced Greg toconsider 4 stroke outboard enginesinstead of the more traditional inboarddiesels. A calculated full load speed of

12-14 knots at 20 tonnes displacementwas enough to convince Greg to give me

the okay to proceed with outboards.

On the morning that Greg came backto my office after the Albany sea trial, hewas still not loo percent convinced that

I could design this new vessel, even aftershowing him my track record with other

charter sailing monohulls and

commercial passenger ferries.

He agreed to spend a few hourswith me and we started with a

large blank sheet of paper and thenI started to' get inside his head' .

After five hours we had a largescale drawing in plan and profile ofthe styling and layout of the newvessel. It was certainly one of

those 'designer days' where everythingcame together in functionality and style.Greg was sufficiently happy at the endof this day to place the order for the

design.

Over the next four months, and one

big blurr, the design was completed andthe vessel launched, the first week in

August. By necessity for operational

deadlines, we had a situation of

~~~

this boat showing almost twice the speedof his previous Aristocat, the

opportunities for the days sail widened

(as did his eyes!)

This catamaran is designed for

dolphin watching in the Shark Bayregion of Western Australia and by somecosmic quirk after only five minutes ofhaving hoisted the sails and cut the

outboards, a pod of four dolphins camein to greet us and check out the bow

wave.

About those outboards... Aristocat 2

has two Ronda 90 outboards, giving a

speed without rig of 16 knots at full revs,8.5 knots at 3000rpm, and a speed of 12-

14 knots fully rigged and loaded

depending on sea state.

The hull shape I have optimised forboth the 14 metre vessel and the new

Aristocat is that of fully rounded

parabolic hull section, moderate rocker

in the keel and minimal transom

immersion. The hulls are very easilydriven, have high volume and goodreserve buoyancy to minimise bow

pitching.Both boats incorporate full length

keels, much to the horror of most true

blue yachties, but these keels allow themto sail right onto the beach or reef,without damage to the rudders. Whilst

tacking is not as fast as on a racing cat,by dumping the mainsail at stall pointthere was no hesitation at all for the

bows to swing around onto the new tack.

---

rNRy8O~60ft -monohull twin keel

cray/charter WAPRIOr 'N' PASSION60ft monohull single keel cray / shark

SA

AORrNALIN55ft catamaran twin jet cray/charter

WATOp CAT40ft catamaran twin jet charter WA

ARISTOCAT 255ft -sailing catamaran twin

?-~~rter WA.

ine Entry Marine Pty Ltd is an aluminium boat buildingcompany developed by the demands of the west coast rock

-lobster fishing industry. With an experienced team of eight fulltime employees plus professional contractors we are committedto quality, strength and reliability. Along with innovative design weare able to bring out the best in a commercial vessel.

With more than 16 years boat building experience on the WestAustralian coast, Fine Entry's principal and owner Tim Browne setsin place high standards. Construction contracts which Tim and histeam have completed in the past include Australian Navy divevessels Shark, Porpoise and Seal, SAS vessel Coral Snake,Tasmania Marine Police vessel Van Dieman, Fisheries Department Ivessel PV McLaughlan and numerous commercial fishing vessels.

With the professional combination of Gavin Mair Marine designand Fine Entry Marine construction and engineering, our productrange is endless, and is well proven with our vessels to date:

Our emphasis is on user friendly vessels that perform thei(duty, customised to the exact and individual requirements of each client.

R.O

The internal volume is

immense allowing 14 for

overnight charters, a huge

double settee and comfortablegalley with double sink, fourburner stove, microwave and

domestic fridge and separate

freezer.

As for THAT RIG with the21 metres of mast and threemetre bottom spreaders ...

wow!

There will undoubtedly bea shakedown period while the

new owners Greg and JeanineRidgely get used to their newslick beast. .:.

--Hull shape and finish, only to be admired

~

Mult:ihull World -8 1

the area. The concept of Aristocat 2 beganto take fonn. This meant designing a boatwhich suited the shallow waters in MonkeyMia, a boat with comfortable undercoverseating when the temperatures soared to 40degrees. A vessel stable enough for peopleto ride up the front and enjoy a viewingplatfonn with excellent visibility. I also sawthe need for a vessel that couldaccommodate wheelchairs, and allowaccess to viewing the wildlife allover the

pty Ltd boat from a wheelchair. Aristocat 2 allows

wheelchair access around the entire vessel,and to the front over the sea, and inside theboat. We also have a shower and toilet with

b"' GREG RIDGELY ",,:he~lchair acce.ss. There are underwaterJ vlewrng rooms In both hulls so that when

the sealife is close they can be watchedunder the water. There are full cateringfacilities aboard, and with the open plankitchen and living area, everyone isencouraged to socialise, including the cook.

I chose two Ronda 90 hp outboards tokeep the emissions at a low level in the bay,and.the engines are tilted when sailing toreduce drag.

The boat sails easily at 35 degrees intothe wind. There is not a lot of boat in thewater so it tacks well in very light windconditions. On her maiden voyage underengines, the unrigged boat achieved 16knots under engines. The rigged boat nowcruises comfortably at 350Orpm at 8.5knots. The maximum speed under sail sofar is 15 knots; we had 27 knots of breezeat the time.

Our Department of Transport surveyallows us to take 49 people under cover byday, 30 miles offshore and 14 people

overnight.On our first cruise from Denham to

Monkey Mia on August 17, 1998 we had awhale under the boat at Cape Rose. Our daycruise to Cape Peron ensures exquisiteviews of the coastline as well as manyencounters with the abundance of sealife.Aristocat 2 is versatile and available forcharter and overnight adventures.

We now have two children and the familylove the area. Our venture has began, and Ican't think of abetter way to spend a daythan sailing in a beautiful bay spottingsealife and briefly sharing their lives asthey surface beside the boat. The bestreward is at the end of a sailing cruise, ourguests come to me and say they've had awonderful experience. This beats handingover a bill for work done on an engine anyday. .:.

need within the sailing cruise market thatwas not being met.

I was presented with the opportunity tolease a vessel, a 19 metre Crowthercatamaran Aristocat. After operating thisvessel successfully for three months inMonkey Mia it was sold, and I sailed itwith crew to Bali. Over the next fourmonths I trained the Indonesian crew to sailand manage the vessel. Prior to sailing toBali we reapplied for a mammal interactionlicence from the Department ofConservation and Land Management WA.This licence was granted and in March,1998, we ordered a new vessel to be built.

After operating the leased Aristocat Idecided to purpose build the new vessel tosuit the area and the many people whocome t.o see and experience the sealife in

W hilSt on a 4-wheel drive trip in 1993around Australia from Queensland,my wife and I and our first child

stopped in Shark Bay, Western Australia.We marvelled at the beauty of this largelyunspoiled World Heritage area and decidedto stay in Monkey Mia.

My occupation at that stage wasmechanic/engineer working mainly onheavy machinery and I was ready for achange. Sailing Red Cliff Bay in MonkeyMia showing people the dolphins, dugongsand other sealife was just the sort of changeof employment I needed. So I beganlearning, sailing and enjoying being apartof the daily lives of the large amount ofsealife, predominantly dolphins anddugongs in the bay. After years of workingfor another cruise operator, I could see a

MONKEY MIA YACHT CHARTERS PrY LTD

Call Greg or Jeanine on phone/fax (08) 99481446 mobile 0417931758CONTACT THESE AGENTS ~D START YOUR ADVENTURE ON ARISTOCAT 2

Denham & Monkey Mia Booking Office (08) 9948 1445Shark Bay Tourist Bureau (08) 99948 1253Monkey Mia Visitor Centre (08) 9948 1366

~

~82 -Multihull W-orld