41 June 24, 1998

Revolutionary New Aluminum Boat Chooses Cummins Power

Sylvio Thibeault has spent 30 years in the commercial marine business. For several of those he was developing one of the world's largest whale watch businesses that took up to 130,000 people per year into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. "I was always trying to get a strong light craft for may company," he recalls, "So when I sold it I decided to design the perfect boat."

That was three years ago and today the resulting vessel is working in applications from lobster fishing to passenger ferries. Thibeault and his company Recherches et Travaux Maritimes (RTM) have taken ridged hull inflatable (RIB) concept and built it aluminum. Thibeault explains, "Over about 27 feet, they have difficulty keeping the inflatable part attached to the hull in heavy seas. With the all aluminum construction that is no longer an issue."

Such boats have been tried in the past but the complexities of fabrication have made their cost prohibitive. By using an extruded metal process, RTM have reduced the number of welds and kept all welding to a longitudinal orientation. Called the "Fabrilite I" process it was developed, patented and is used exclusively by RTM. The method provides superior uniformity and plating contour from bow to stern, while at the same time increasing the rigidity and sturdiness of the hull The company has built boats up to 65 feet and is presently equipped to built to 130 feet. Typically the hulls are built with a 22 degree deadrise for a draft of 24 inches on the 50X16-foot commercial fishing boats. Hull bottoms are 5/32nd plate with frames on 5.5-inch centers.

Power on the 50-footers is a pair of Cummins 430-hp six-cylinder C-Series driving a 14- inch (356 m/m) jet drive made by Alpha Power Jet (same owner). At 2600 RPM the lobster boat makes 35- knots running light or 27 loaded. "Running between 22 and 2300 RPM he can maintain a planning speed of 21 to 23 knots with 7,000 pounds of crabs," says Thibeault, "And at that speed he makes the trip from Sept Iles to the east end of Anticosti Island, a distance of about 150 miles, in under six hours. In the round trip he burns only as much fuel as he did with his previous boat, a nine- knot displacement hulled 45-footer.

The cost and weight benefits of the aluminum really come into play in the larger boats, Thibeault maintains, as the weight of fiberglass, about 20% more than extruded aluminum, becomes prohibitive in the larger boats. At the same time the ability to build one-off designs in the larger vessels is an advantage. His firm can, for operation in shallow water, make the dead rise as little as six degrees.

For more information on the Cummins engines contact:

Laurent Leskiewiecz
Cummins Eastern Canada
Ste-Foy, Que. G1P 3T3
Phone: 418 651-2911 Fax: 418 651-0965

For a listing of Cummins engines and power ratings check the Cummins page at: http://www.cummins.com/marine/marinehm.html

For more information and photos of the boat contact:

Sylvio Thibeault
Recherches et Travaux Maritimes President
47 rue Dalhousie Québec (Québec) G1K 8S3
Phone: 418-694-0909 or 888-EXPLORA Fax: 418-694-0761
E-mail: General Information: rtm@R-T-M.com
Web page: http://R-T-M.com/

500-476, 475-451, 450-426, 425-401, 400-376
375-351, 375-351, 350-326, 325-301, 300-276, 275-251, 250-226, 225-201
200-176, 175-151, 150-126, 125-101, 100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-0