In a paper presented at the Marine Log Ferries 2003 conference held last month in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Air Ride Craft president Don Burg revealed that Austal USA is to build an Air Ride SeaCoaster 31m surface effect ship demonstrator that will initially be tested by the US Navy's Office of Naval Re-search and then be completed as a fast ferry. The ONR previously tested a Sea-Coaster 20m SES in 1999.
   Describing the characteristics of a SeaCoaster design, Don Burg said that the length/beam ratio of the air cushion beneath each hull ranges from 6 to 12, the aft end of each air cushion is rectangular, the bow resembles a high speed planing craft with spray rails, the sidehull beam to main hull beam ratio ranges from 0.3 to 0.4, the air cushions support about 80% of displacement, and the propulsive power requirement is about half that of a conventional catamaran at cruise speed.
   Don Burg reports, "The 31m SeaCoaster will be built with ONR funding and other commercial funding. The schedule calls for launch and first test in September/October 2004. The vessel was designed as a 149 passenger fast ferry first so that all of the ferry requirements to meet the US Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping were met.

Air Ride Craft has released outline details of a SeaCoaster 43m ferry that could carry 399 passengers at 50 knots