The 'under-100 VCU' lobster boat by Phil Lockley
A Vigilante 33 "snugly fits under 100VCUs and may cost less than £100,000 (without a licence)", says Brian Pogson, part-owner of family business Lyme Boats.
Based in Somerset, the firm recently handed over a lobster boat named Jamie K to Skipper Jeremy Arnold of Milford Haven.
As the first full-time commercial fishing version of the Vigilante 33, Lyme Boats may have set a trend by offering a high quality vessel (with an overall length of 9.95m, a beam of 3.73m and a draft of 0.80m) at, Skipper Arnold says, a "very reasonable price".
With less than a dozen staff, Lyme Boats has sold an impressive four Vigilante 33 boats over the past year, with three more under construction, two of them destined for full-time fishermen.
An impressive top speed of 21 knots was clocked during recent sea trials of Jamie K, a triple chine mono hull boat driven by a relatively low horsepower Iveco NEF 280 Series engine. The motor is coupled to a down-angle Twin Disc 5061A gearbox, and a propulsion package that came from Clements Marine included the firm's latest high-tech four-bladed propeller with a diameter of 25in and a pitch of 23.5in.
Designer of the Vigilante 33, Bruce Sexton-Barrow, a marine architect who specialises in fast vessels and is now part of the staff at Lyme Boats, tells FN: "I have designed many other fast boats, mainly workboats and ones for the charter market, but Brian and myself felt there was a need for a better fishing boat than those already out there, so we made a 'wish list' of sorts and both believe we have now reached the parameters we chose.
"We needed speed, a comfortable ride, plenty of working platform and a boat able to carry a load (like 12 people) yet not lose any performance.
"I am pleased with the result. We wanted a very stable hull shape that would respond to high horsepower (up to 600hp or so and get 40 knots) or down as low as around 200hp and still make a reasonable top speed of 20 knots and a cruising speed of 16 knots.
"The Vigilante 33 should weigh around 7t or just over; there has never been any attempt to build a light vessel because structurally it must be a very strong boat. Frankly it's a workboat and not aimed at the cheaper end of the pleasure market, it's built for hard work.
"It is a three-chine hull and a very dry boat. We wouldn't be tempted to make it any lighter and are very pleased with the performance of both Jeremy's boat and the high power version before that, Smoothhound, which will be used for charter work and will often work a considerable distance from land seeking tuna."
The Vigilante 33's propulsion is tailored to get the best from a fast design hull having no keel, but having its propeller partly shrouded in a tunnel for maximum thrust and a robust stainless steel skeg fitted below - presenting only minor drag - but being "excellent for protecting the propeller when grounding", Bruce Sexton-Barrow says. "Having a keel fitted to a fast boat is a contradiction. In theory a fast hull design shouldn't have a keel at all and designers and boat builders who try to meet the demand of some customers who want a keel fitted, end up with huge problems and are normally left with a boat that chine-rides, flops over to one side when turning and stays there - often a very dangerous boat when in the wrong hands or bad conditions.
"Evidence is clear that such boats are quickly modified and cannot get the best of either world and can never achieve the factor that its hull was meant to give it - a realistic speed/power ratio.
"The Vigilante 33 is an easily driven hull and with its tunnel arrangement has a relatively low draft. The tunnel provides better thrust-perhorsepower and the waterflow through that tunnel (in which about one half of the propeller lays) has been carefully calculated; there is quite a distance between the propeller tips and the tunnel surface and there is no turbulence."
Jamie K's deck layout is standard for most modern-day potters; however, the guiding boards to the stern shooting door are a fold-back integral part of the fit-out and not the traditional wooden boards that slide into fixed metal posts.
Also, rubber D section fendering is provided along the boards to prevent damage from the pots and also reduce any damage to the pots.
When opened inward, a deck-mounted block secures the two halves of the guiding board, and where the two boards meet, they are fixed together by strong stainless steel bolts. All hinges and other fixings aboard the Jamie K are made from highgrade stainless steel. To the port side a small stainless steel cat catcher is fitted to carry light gear.
Skipper Arnold has chosen a traditional davit arm and block arrangement with its arm plus a pulley to provide more rope biting into the sheaves as a well located and fitted arrangement. Secondary controls are close by and the working area is well sheltered as the forward section of cut-away forward wheelhouse remains.
The davit arm has a stainless steel top bar secured to the wheelhouse roof for further rigidity.
The slave hauler (having a 3/4t pull) came from the Dorset firm Seawinch. A loadsensing pump and valve are fitted, although the pump is connected directly to the gearbox and is therefore continually running; it does not pump any oil around the system until the control valve is operated.
Seawinch says this has many advantages over a traditional system. These include no manual clutch to be engaged and disengaged, full speed control without bypassing unwanted flow back to tank, thus reducing heat and increasing efficiency, and maintaining line speed under full load.
This system is by no means new and has been used commercially in many other areas for years, so is very well proven and reliable, the company says. It was not previously commonplace in fishing because of cost, but Seawinch says it is now able to supply these systems at prices that make them a viable alternative to the more traditional system of manual dog clutch and fixed displacement gear pumps.
The 'dryness' of the Jamie K, mentioned by Skipper Arnold, was noted by Brian Pogson and Bruce Sexton-Barrow.
Brian Pogson said: "That was one of the major factors to this design, there is nothing worse than a wet boat."
Skipper Arnold's input into the boat's layout was significant. The Jamie K will work mainly for lobster in areas of strong tide, "sometimes we face six knots of tide".
"We work where a balance between speed and fuel economy is essential. It is always difficult to find such a balance, but although I'm expecting to burn a little more fuel than my previous boat (a Lochin 33), we will get to the gear much quicker and I reckon about 30 gallons per day is a fair calculation of the cost, " Skipper Arnold said.
"I carried out a fair bit of research on the Iveco NEF Series of engines before making my choice; it's built specially for marine use and expected to have a long life they say. It is a lean burning, clean engine. I spoke to a fisherman in the United States via email and he is very pleased."
Skipper Arnold's decision to choose a Vigilante 33 was clinched by a trip aboard the firm's demonstration boat, Outlaw, he told FN.
"What impressed me when having a try on Outlaw is how she sat to the wind, even though that boat has a big wheelhouse. If we were potting we believe that Outlaw would have laid to the gear just right.
"Of course, we needed a small offset wheelhouse, one that would have even less windage, so we are looking forward to that. The working performance of Outlaw was right for me and was impressive in many other respects too. I visited the factory and saw it was well up to and beyond standards necessary to build good GRP boats.
"The price was another important thing that swayed my choice. I looked around at other yards and to have that quality of build, none could compete with Lyme Boat. I guess that the final price on the first fishing boat won't be repeated, but I know that it is far less than expected by some. I am so impressed with everything about the boat.
"There are a few minor changes we will make, putting a bit more stainless steel protection in places that we forget about and we will really try to keep her looking like she is now. But at the end of the day she is a working boat, although we have promised Brian that she will look spickand-span for a very long time."
Jamie K is named after Skipper Arnold's son and daughter Katie and is now at work on the spring run of lobsters. More details of the boat in action are expected later this year.