The majority of rowing boats that currently compete in the Atlantic Rowing Race are based on a design by Phil Morrison from 1996. The boats were designed to be relatively cheap and easy to construct, with inherent self-righting capability; hydrodynamic efficiency and speed were rightly not the primary concerns. For us, our design criteria were a little different. We had to make the most of the fact that we’re not operating in a set class…so we could design a boat that suits us. Mark took on the challenge of designing the boat, and while he has an excellent degree in Mechatronics, that’s as useful to hydrodynamic analysis as a camel on rollerskates – which is why we cunningly recruited a team of experts in the fields of boat design, carbon fibre usage, ergonomics and hydrodynamics. Their input augmented Mark’s undoubted and proven design skills to ensure that he designed a boat that’s strong, fast, comfortable (relatively speaking!) and safe.
By designing the boat ourselves, we were able to focus on making the boat efficient and fast, whilst remaining stable and keeping the all-important ability to self-right in the event of capsize (which is unnervingly likely – 40 foot waves with 8 foot breakers tend to win over little boats). The boat has to not only be our method of transportation across 3000 miles of dangerous ocean; it also has to be our home for at least 6 weeks and carry everything that two people need to survive for that long. You can check out all of the equipment we need by clicking on the Kit List link above, and read more about the design process by clicking on Design Story.
The Torpedalo is a closed-cockpit, triple compartment self-righting pedal-driven monohull (sounds better than “pedalo”, right?). 8.3m long from bow to stern, with a single pedalling position and a sleeping cabin at the back, the boat has been carefully engineered to do everything that we need it to, and optimised for an ocean crossing. The hull and top deck are designed to be hydrodynamically and aerodynamically efficient, and the drivetrain finishes in a centrally-located propeller on the end of a short keel. The whole boat will be manufactured from carbon fibre, with the hull and top deck having a foam core. The internal volume is divided in to three watertight compartments – bow storage, cockpit and vestibule, and cabin, with each section sealed by a Lewmar Ocean hatch. The bow section holds the majority of our bulky equipment, while the cabin holds our liferaft and is where we’ll sleep. The cockpit features a single recumbent pedalling position surrounded by the navigation, instrumentation and communication equipment as well as the watermaker, cooking equipment and bilge pump, while the vestibule directly behind that is where we’ll stretch, get clean and medicate. The windscreen ahead of the pedalling position is top-hinged and so can be opened in good weather to ventilate the cockpit. The roof of the cabin and the open bow area have Sharp Solar 70W solar panels built in to them, while GPS and VHF antenna sit above the cockpit. The solar panels charge a pair of Mastervolt 85Ah batteries, which will run the watermaker and rest of the onboard electronics.
Specifications of the boat are as follows:
Boat Configuration
Closed-cockpit triple-comprartment self-righting monohull with open forward deck area and sleeping compartment to rear. Full self-righting capability without external intervention. Ability to self-right when fully loaded, empty or any intermediate state
Approximate Dimensions
Bow-to-stern: 8.3 metres
Beam: 1.5 metres
Height: 1.5 metres (excluding keel and propeller)
Construction
Two-skin Hexcel carbon fibre hull and top deck with SP Gurit CoreCell foam core
Carbon fibre bulkheads and floors
Sprayed CopperCoat copper-metallic coating beneath waterline
Powertrain
Carbon crankset, two-stage Gates PowerGrip belt drive, 14-speed Rohloff Speedhub 500/14, custom drive leg and bearing design, PYI Inc PSS shaft seal, Orkot Marine TXM marine bearing.
Custom twin-blade low speed propeller, designed by Bruntons
Electrical System
Two arrays of Sharp solar panels with 215W of installed capacity
Schenker Smart30 water desalination system from Mactra Marine, 30 litres/hours
2x Mastervolt AGM 85Ah Gel batteries
Raymarine A50D GPS navigation system and chartplotter
Icom M-505 fitted VHF radio with Icom M-71 handheld backup
Iridium 9555 satellite phone from MailASail
Raymarine AIS500 radar transceiver
Raymarine ST2000+ autopilot
Lopolight LED cabin and exterior lighting
Rear-view marine camera system from Concept Advanced Technology
iPod Touch built-in entertainment system
Target Performance
Comfortable average cruise: 3 knots
High speed cruise: 4 knots
Maximum self-propelled speed: 7 knots
Maximum design boat speed: 15 knots
Duration Capability
Food storage capacity: enough for 90 days
Water supply through onboard desalination, with 100 litre backup
Safety Equipment
Self-deploying Viking ocean life raft
Kannad emergency tracking, location and homing beacons
Manual Katadyn water desalinater
Full flares kit
Fire suppression equipment
