Hard Rock Marine Services, Jean Lafitte, La., delivered the steel-hulled 130'x31'x5' dinner vessel Craft to Yacht Starship Dining Cruises, Tampa, Fla. The boat was delivered in March and since then, has been taking up to 150 passengers on culinary and cocktail river journeys along the Hillsborough River through the heart of downtown Tampa, Fla.
"Craft was a challenging marine design project, as there were limits on the air draft to get under the bridges and limits on the hull draft to meet USCG stability requirements,” said company President Andy Lebet. “Additional design and regulatory challenges included lengthening an existing hull, adding large overhangs to create added exterior deck space, gas cooking, creating separate propulsion engine and generator spaces, as well as ballasting to limit the air draft and keeping the gross tonnage below 100 to remain a Subchapter T vessel.”
Propulsion comes from twin Volvo Penta D-4 175I main engines connected to two Michigan Wheel 20"x23", 4-bladed bronze propellers through Twin Disc MG-5050SC marine gears with 3:1 reduction ratios, giving the boat a running speed of 10 knots.
Ship’s service power is the responsibility of two John Deere 4045 gensets, sparking 99 kW of electrical power each. The steering system is a Kobalt 2-7065B1237T-2 and the controls are Volvo Penta EVC 2.0.
The electronics suite includes two Standard Horizon GX1400B VHF, Garmin AIS800 and 743xsv GPS.
Additional features include capacities for 50 crew, 750 gals. of fuel, 1,500 gals. water, and a Seahorse M-1500 MSD.
“Craft has exceeded all expectations,” said Lebet.
