Norman R. Wright & Sons have been building CityCats for the Brisbane City Council for several years, including six second generation models and two third generation models. The CityCats are light-weight, power-efficient, low wash vessels designed for rapid boarding and discharging of 162 passengers.
LOA | 26m |
Beam | 7.77m |
Fuel | 2 x 1200L |
Water | 600L |
Engines | Cummins QSM11 2 x 305 kW |
Speed | 24 knots |
Grahame Parker Yacht Design | |
Norman R. Wright & Sons | www.wrightsons.com.au |
Designed by Grahame Parker Yacht Design, Sydney, the Brisbane City Council's CityCats have alloy hulls and composite super-structures. The Brisbane City Council chose composites for the super-structures to reduce weight and maintenance, and also to allow for the inclusion of compound shapes to improve the aesthetics of the vessels.
The composite super-structures are constructed with DuFLEX® Composite Component packs cored with structural foam and the bonnet, bulwarks, cabin tops and superstructure components are constructed using infusion moulding techniques and KINETIX® R118 epoxy.
ATL Technical staff worked with the Wrights team on the infusion strategy for the larger parts. Minimal weight was one of the driving factors for the project, so a custom surface profile was used on the foam core to control resin consumption, and still allow the core to conform to the part shape and enable resin flow.
A custom blended hardener was used with the R118 resin for infusion of the bonnet that incorporated a number of core types with different flow rates. As this was the first part of its type to be infused, a slower flow rate was desirable, and the custom hardener enabled an extended pot-life without the need for post-curing. Actual resin consumption was within 10% of the calculated requirement.
ATL Technical staff assisted with compiling imagery and flow rate data, which was used in the refinement of the process in subsequent parts, resulting in faster set-up and shoot times.
The successful introduction of infusion on the CityCat project has resulted in Wright's incorporating this process into their manufacturing on a broader scale, with notable, positive results on the shop floor.
AIRTECH Big Blue vacuum bagging film was used for the larger parts for the CityCat. Big Blue is a multi-layer film of 75 micron thickness, which has a greater degree of toughness over standard films, yet remains soft and supple even in hot and dry conditions. Big Blue is available in 6 metre and 12 metre wide films from ATL.
In addition to the Big Blue, ATL supplied Wrights with a complete range of AIRTECH infusion consumables for the project including infusion medium, flow lines, and connectors.
The CityCats styling and construction are testament to designer Grahame Parker Yacht Design, Sydney, and the skilled team at Norman R. Wright and Sons in Bulimba. CityCat Gootcha #16 bears an indigenous name, and features artwork by acclaimed local artist Judy Watson.
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