Supacat signs RNLI contract

Monday 10th August 2009

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has signed a £1 million+ contract with Supacat, the UK's high-mobility transport engineering specialist, to design and produce the pre-production standard Launch and Recovery System (L&RS) for the RNLI's new class of all-weather lifeboat (ALB), designated FCB2 (Fast Carriage Boat 2).
The L&RS is a highly mobile tractor and powered-carriage system, designed and developed by Supacat to launch and recover the FCB2 on demanding beaches where RNLI lifeboats cannot lie afloat or be slipway launched.
Under the new contract Supacat is required to modify and rebuild the prototype L&RS unit, incorporating design improvements identified during trials completed over three years. The main changes are to the driver's cab, which will be upgraded to improve visibility and reduce overall height and will entail a change from steel to composite construction. The electrical system will be upgraded and a new Scania engine will be used to provide drive and operational power. In addition the cradle will be modified to accommodate the new hull selected for the FCB2.
Once completed, the new pre-production standard L&RS is scheduled to undergo a series of ‘dry' and ‘wet' trials in 2010, and trials with the prototype FCB2 in 2011. Once the L&RS is in production, the RNLI is expected to require around two units a year, over a period of 10 years.
"This contract marks the successful progress the RNLI and Supacat have achieved in the development of an innovative solution to this challenging requirement. It is an important programme to Supacat as it demonstrates our world-class design and engineering capability in high mobility, all-terrain transport systems," says Nick Ames, Managing Director of Supacat.
Chris Eves, RNLI FCB2 Project Manager, says: "The RNLI strives to provide its volunteer crews with the very best equipment, so extensive trials have been conducted with Supacat's L&RS over the past three years. Some important improvements have been identified and we are confident Supacat's expertise in launch and recovery will result in a system totally fit for purpose - to help the RNLI's volunteers carry out their lifesaving role in potentially extreme and difficult environments."
The Supacat L&RS uses a permanent software-controlled Four Track Drive system, enabling it to negotiate beaches with steep gradients and gullies, or travel long distances over flat, saturated sand or shingle.
The FCB2 is launched and recovered bow first. Supacat has achieved this by introducing a unique feature of a turntable built into the boat carriage. This enables the boat to be rotated once recovered, reducing the time and space needed to prepare for re-launch. A hydraulic system powers the turntable and winch and also enables the L&RS to lower its height to fit inside many of the RNLI's existing boathouses without extensive building work.
In addition the Supacat L&RS automates many manual tasks of the existing system, speeding up launch and recovery and reducing manpower requirements to a minimum two-person crew. The turnaround time from recovery of the boat from the shoreline to readiness for launch again is typically less than 10 minutes.
Apart from being of potential interest to other lifeboat services worldwide, Supacat's L&RS could be configured for other load-carrying applications in remote or demanding terrain, such as for carrying oil or gas pipeline equipment across snowfields.