Posted on 02/20/2018 10:43:53 AM PST by Red Badger
The Thunder Child is a high speed, wave-piercing boat that's built to be uncapsizable. The boat was designed by Safehaven Marine for use by Navy, law enforcement, and other groups who sail in high-pressure situations. The boat can fit 10 crew members on board and has a sleeping cabin. It's built to absorb shocks from rough seas.
But by far the most impressive thing about the Thunder Child is its ability to right itself even if it is completely capsized. The video below explains how.
There are a few factors that allow this boat to sail through any conditions without permanently capsizing. First, it has a very low center of gravity. Second, the cabin itself is watertight, so if the boat does flip over, water won't rush in. And lastly, the cabin is built to be extremely buoyant, so if the boat does end up upside down, it will naturally right itself. In the video, a crane pulls the boat 180 degrees and allows it to self-right. This is pretty exciting to watch along with the people inside the boat--you can't help but hold your breath and hope it really does what it's supposed to do. It does right itself, easily.
“pretty cool, but in todays navy, does it have self repairing engines?”
...and collision avoidance redundancies?
No but they come with tissues to wipe their tears
Agreed. As somebody who spent much of a career proving convincingly on the ground to customers that things will work in space the way they are supposed to work, I’m very sensitive to test design and documentation being crucial parts of the exercise.
The narration implies that if the cabin seal breaks this boat would flood and sink like any other if it capsizes. The video from inside, with passengers strapped to their seats, did look like a thrilling ride.
I was wondering the same thing. It sure looks like some out-of-shot device (aka a crane) is giving a little “yank” on that cable at the start of the video.
Another word or three ... cabin door seals!
I’ll bet old Quint, Brody and Hooper wished they’d had one of these babies.
Correct.
“If you’re outside when the storm starts, you’re STAYING outside!”
Gonna need a BIGGER SHARK!................
They rolled the boat in a nice calm harbor, try that in 20 ft sustained seas for 12 hours, or like I did, a full week on a USCG 95' patrol boat in 12-15' seas. I can appreciate their effort but overconfidence in your boat will make you take chances that you shouldn't.
Technically that capsized, it just also uncapsized. Small comfort if you were on the boat at the start, because you probably won’t be at the end. Also I question naming a boat after the one in War of the Worlds.
If it capsizes I'm sure they'll fall on a lot of things, but landing directly on a penis would be a bit of a crap shoot.
meh.... Capsizing is a pretty low risk.. I’ll keep what I have for the comfortable space and ride.. Albemarle 32EX
It was not. The ship did not have watertight bulkheads up to the main deck. The design flaw was corrected in the two sister ships. I believe the evidence suggests that the Titanic still would have sunk with water tight bulkheads but it would have taken many more hours.
can the self-righting mechanism be applied to people too? wouldnt that be useful.
Thanks but it was a tongue-in-cheek comment on my part. I thought it was kind of obvious the cabin wasn’t watertight.
Late ‘80’s or early 90’s, right? I remember the tests in New Orleans East. The boat yard had trouble getting the Coast Guard to certify test completion because they could never keep it inverted long enough to officially declare the test had started.
Something about an unsinkable ship and an iceberg comes to mind.
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