Glosten and
Bieker Boats are collaborating on a 150-passenger hydrofoil ferry and taking advantage of modern composite technology.
Bieker Boats has years of experience designing fast foil-born boats, including the Oracle Team USA for America's Cup. Glosten has a long history, over 50 years, of designing passenger boats.
To achieve ultra-efficient transportation, Glosten and Bieker Boats combined the proven technologies of ultra-efficient hydrofoils, lightweight carbon fiber hull construction, and modern geared propulsion equipment. With a requirement of less than half the installed power of a typical passenger catamaran, fuel consumption results in a 50% reduction. And for shorter routes less than 12 nautical miles, battery-electric propulsion can be operated.
The vessel has low drag foils, so it has less impact on sensitive shorelines.
To date, all the design work and CFD have been within the Rhino/Orca3D environment—
Rhino as the primary drafting tool and
Orca/Simerics for the CFD tools.
