(SELBYVILLE, Del.) — The Hunt 80 motor yacht Queen Bee 2 is the first yacht in the United States to be fitted with a fully integrated combined stabilization system consisting of Humphree fins and interceptors.
The pilothouse motor yacht was built at the C. Raymond Hunt yard in Taiwan, and was originally equipped with Humphree Interceptors for trim control. After a season of boating, the owners and captain wanted to improve the seakeeping and course stability, especially in following seas at semi-planing and planing speeds.
So they turned to Humphree and asked about outfitting a set of fin stabilizers. The retrofit work was completed at the Hinckley yard in Stuart, Fla.
For the waterjet-propelled Queen Bee 2, Humphree specified a system consisting of two new 360-degree maneuverable fins with servo controls, plus a pair of fixed sub-cavitating course stability fins, combined with the existing interceptors, to enhance the tracking ability of the boat at all speeds.
Now that the retrofit has been completed, the owners and captain couldn’t be happier with the result. The system is delivering 65 percent roll reduction at zero speed and 75 percent underway.
The fins and interceptors are linked together in a fully integrated stabilization system running under computerized active ride control. At anchor and underway at speeds under 10 knots, the fins act alone, and at higher speeds the interceptors come into play, working in conjunction with the fins to stabilize the boat. The computerized controls operate the fins and interceptors to correct automatically for trim, list, rolling and pitching motions at all speeds.
“Before the fins were added we found ourselves having to cancel trips from south Florida to the Bahamas, or to extend our stay in the islands because of rough seas,” said the captain. “Now the boat feels rock solid with minimal rolling motion at all speeds, and we can take the boat out into bigger seas and not worry about having to wait for calmer weather for the return trip.”
“The combination of interceptors, active fins, and fixed fins provides a total all-in-one computerized stabilization solution, keeping the vessel steady whether the boat is at anchor, motoring at idle speeds or running at full speed,” said Sean Humphree, president of Humphree USA.
Queen Bee 2 is a Hunt-designed fiberglass pilothouse motoryacht powered by MTU 10V2000 M94 diesels with Hamilton waterjets, giving it a top speed of 26 knots and a cruising speed of 22 knots.
For more information, visit www.humphree.com.
