| USA. SWATH ferry on eBay; owner hopes for record price as megayacht conversion |
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; "Cloud X")
| Tuesday, 29 August 2006 | |
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Marian Martin Businessman John Martin, who developed the popular Black Widow's Golf game, and owns Arachnid Inc., manufacturer of electronic darts boards, is selling the SWATH Cloud X ferry on eBay and hopes it will attract a buyer for conversion to a megayacht.. The opening bid has been set at $5 million, but Martin expects it to fetch 3 times that amount. The Cloud X ship was in service for six months, from West Palm Beach, FL to Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, and marin believes that its good seakeeping and potential accommodation - over 4714 square feet of main deck and over 3370 square feet of upper deck – make the Cloud X ideal for refitting as a luxurious, sleek megayacht. SWATH is an acronym for Small Waterplane Area TwinHull and the designers say that a SWATH ship’s key advantages are ability to deliver big-ship platform steadiness and ride quality in a smaller vessel and to sustain a high proportion of normal cruising speed in rough head seas. SWATH ships typically have two submarine-like lower hulls completely submerged below the water surface. Above water, a SWATH resembles a catamaran. Its haunch areas are connected to each submerged hull by one or two relatively thin vertical members, or struts. The longitudinal cross-section of each strut is somewhat streamlined to decrease wave making resistance. The Cloud X is 123 feet long and has a beam of 60 feet. It has a top speed of 27 knots. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 August 2006 ) |
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