Zodiac Hurricane Mach II Becomes First Rib To Complete The North West Passage

Sept. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- The team set out on August 31 to begin a 1,700 nautical mile westward journey from Pond Inlet on Canada’s north eastern arctic coast and fought ice and extreme sea conditions before arriving unscathed at Tuktoyaktuk on September 9.

The expedition has drawn attention to the effects of climate change upon ocean temperatures and demonstrated that a voyage previously considered impossible can now be accomplished in a high performance RIB. Although there were occasions when the boat had to be carefully navigated through labyrinths of ice bergs and frozen water, there were many expanses of open sea where the RIB could be driven by its three Mercury 300 hp outboard engines to maintain speeds of over 40 knots.

During the ten-day voyage sea conditions ranged from mirror smooth to ferocious Arctic gales. The 11-metre Zodiac Hurricane MACH II RIB had been customised for the expedition by Shockwave Engineering and Zodiac Hurricane in Canada. This included installation of the first Shockwave ICE (Integrated Control Environment) which  provided shock mitigation seating within an integral console area. This enabled the crew and their instrumentation to withstand the continuous pounding that the RIB sustained while travelling at speed across ice-free water.

In addition to Bear Grylls, the team consisted of Tim Levy, whose company Future Capital Partners was a principal sponsor of the expedition. Dave Pearce was a helmsman and medical officer, Ben Jones was the RIB’s engineer, David Segel was lead navigator and David Smith, owner of the RIB and president of Shockwave, was the main driver of the RIB.

Writing in the expedition diary Bear Grylls recalled their passage through Barrow Strait; “Dave Segel helmed the boat with consummate skill, taking some seriously steep, narrow pitched waves and yet keeping the rest of us, and the boat, in one piece! The boat really came alive in his hands and we are all in awe of Dave Smith's work in producing what must be, by some distance, the world's most exceptional RIB.”  In the expedition’s web site he added; “It is without doubt the toughest, most capable RIB in production. Super smooth ride, big, fast, dry, sure-footed, and safe,” he said.

The boat has a unique aluminium Zodiac Military Air Channelled Hull (MACH) that directs air to the keel to reduce drag. Capable of speeds up to 62 knots it is the one of the world’s fastest production RIBs and its only modifications were the addition of long-range fuel tanks  to contain over 2,000 litres of fuel and canvas spray covers and heaters. In addition to the 1,700 mile passage, the RIB also had to be sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia and delivered to its starting point at Pond Inlet. It has now been collected from the expedition finish line at Tuktoyaktuk and is being driven around the coast of Alaska to Vancouver as the final stage of a journey that will cover a total of 5,700 nautical miles.

The Zodiac Hurricane RIB was supplied by the North American arm of Zodiac MILPRO (Military and Professional) which is based in Paris. This is part of the Zodiac Marine & Pool Group which operates in three sectors that provide a comprehensive service to their specialised markets. Zodiac MILPRO supplies inflatable and semi-rigid craft for professional users such as police, coast guard, special forces, anti-terrorism units, fire teams, the offshore industry and other military users. The boats manufactured by Zodiac MILPRO range from 4. 7m to 12m long and are available in configurations that include inflatable and rigid inflatable boats with aluminium or fibreglass hull designs, inflatable or foam tubes, diesel inboard or petrol outboard engines. The Zodiac SOLAS sector supplies life rafts for merchant ships, ferries, and cruise ships and complete rescue systems combining escape slides and rafts. The Zodiac Recreational part of the company manufactures inflatable and semi-rigid craft that are distributed under the Zodiac®, Bombard® and Avon® brands.

A full account of the expedition, its background and particpants can be found on http://www.fcpnorthwestpassage.com.

-ENDS-

Commercial enquiries contact:
Lucie Ruivo
Zodiac International
Military & Professional Marine Sector
1 Quai de Grenelle, 75015 Paris, France
Tel + 33 1 76 76 71 90
Email : info.milpro@zmp-zodiac.com
Web site  www.zodiacmilpro.com