Tender offers smooth ride in rough seas

Nov 10, 2017 by Triton Staff

A globally patented hull and keel design developed by the Icelandic company Rafnar for the harsh waters of the North Atlantic was demonstrated on the tender Embla – a Leiftur 1100 series Rafnar boat – at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in early November.

“This boat is amazing,” Patrick Estebe, president of AffAirAction, said in a company statement. The Fort Lauderdale-based firm that specializes in luxury yachting products is Rafnar’s first U.S. distributor. “As Rafnar crafts do not behave like any other boats, convincing people of the benefits they deliver requires having them ride and drive the boat themselves.”

Estebe said, the boats “provide exceptional control over one’s perimeter and zone of responsibility – but by not slamming, they are able to deliver these benefits in absolute comfort and safety for operators, crew and passengers.”

The OK Hull was designed by prosthetics technology developer and Rafnar founder Össur Kristinsson to redefine the fundamentals of sea travel, allowing for a gentler motion of the vessel through even the most extreme conditions. In 2011, Rafnar started making crafts for the Icelandic coast guard and search-and-rescue associations.

In May 2016, to demonstrate the advantages of the OK Hull, three Rafnar employees and a senior commander of the Icelandic coast guard took Embla on a reverse Viking journey from Iceland to the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Norway and Sweden, covering some 1,356nm in 51 hours and 39 minutes at an average speed of 26.4 knots.  

This summer, Embla completed six weeks of sea trials and demonstrations in the Caribbean  before being shipped to Norfolk, Virginia, where it was introduced to U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, customs, law enforcement and harbor authorities.

For more information, visit www.rafnar.com.

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