HOME          MODEL RANGE         CONTACT US            GALLERY        VIDEO DOWNLOAD          PRICE LIST

WHAT YOU THINK!  Yearly customer feedback report.

In order to constantly improve the performance of our vessels, I like to contact customers after they have owned and operated their boats for a season in order to see what they felt about their boats sea keeping and performance. Here are a collection of feedback letters from customers this year. Should anyone wish to contact them I can give you their contact numbers.

William O Callaghan has operated True Light for the past and this is his testimony as to the sea keeping of his Interceptor 42-

Hi Frank.

I promised you when I took delivery of the 42' Interceptor "True Light" last June that I would come back to you at seasons end and give you my impressions of the crafts performance and a direct comparison of my experiences with other craft that I operated down through the years. I started off with a 28' quarter decker built by Tyrells in 1914 followed by a converted 51' Scottish Ringer. a 30' Aquastar. a 31' Blythe Catamaran, a 33' Lochin and finally a 38' Lochin with 2 x 375 H.P. power units. In one word, the only way to describe working the "True Light" would be, "Revolutionary" or "New Generation".

 Its seakeeping qualities are a new experience. It does not broach even  when running before a very heavy and breaking sea and it really makes no difference whether the sea is broadside or on the quarter or head on the result is the same - an unwavering course. Under way or drifting there is very little roll and the same applies to pitching. The lack of pitching and pounding is very noticeable in comparison to my Lochin 38 and even the Blythe Catamaran which had been fitted with bulbous bows to counteract pounding and plunging and banging.

The Interceptor 42 even under full power gives a smooth ride. I suppose that is due to its unique hull design and flaring and the emphasis to transfer weight from the front to the rear of the vessel. The advantage of a good beam to length ratio and a deep keel all go to making the craft a delight and "childs play" to handle. Another plus that became apparent was the fact that whether we were steaming light or with a full load the speed was unaffected and its seakeeping qualities improved with the load. All in all I am very satisfied with all aspects of the Interceptor 42' "True Light".

Best regards.

William O Callaghan.

Tony Golop purchased Predator III this year, she was my own personal craft and our demonstrator. I already knew how good she was, but still it was nice to hear Tony confirm this with his testimony below-

Frank,
         After time with an offshore 105, I decided to change for a larger vessel that would give me more sea keeping and room for extended trips away, In February 03 a friend and I crossed to Ireland to meet Frank Kowalski who took us to a small quiet marina to show us the vessel. As we walked down the gangway it was a sight to behold, with first impressions being of an awesome looking boat. Frank took us out of the sound into a head sea with moderate swells and we were very impressed with the handling and sea keeping abilities, from that moment on my mind was set, I had to have her. In July myself and a few friends travelled to Ireland to sail her home. The voyage back was a comfortable 11hrs, with a moderate S.W. following sea, she was put on autopilot and we never once needed to manually steer the whole trip. How ever the true test for the vessel would be the Bristol Channel with a rise and fall of 14.0mts and short snappy seas which are a test for any boat. Since I purchased the vessel and have done several extended trips in various sea states, I must say she handles superbly in following as well as head seas, and gives me all the comfort and confidence I need on long extending trips.
       To sum it up her all round capabilities and performance far exceed my expectations, to me there is very little on the market that can equal her abilities and value for money for a vessel of her size.      Many thanks Frank.

Best wishes,  Tony Gollop.

Nick Longfield took delivery of Barinthus, an Interceptor 42 with twin 440hp Yanmars at the start of the year, here is his testimonial-

After 25 years operating around the coasts of Europe in a number of vessels, conducting survey operations and orginally fishing, the Interceptor 42, I am pleased to say, is one of the best boats I have come across to date.  In recent years, I have run a Targa 35 and  a Cleopatra 38.  Both of these vessels, although the Targa is an exceptional boat, do not come close to the Interceptor.  Since her delivery in June, all of our work has been in the Liverpool   Bay area of the Irish Sea .  Here we experience very short, steep and confused seas which have not phased the vessel at all.  Part of our design for the "Barinthus" was to have an observation tower for our Environmental observations at sea. This tower means that we have 2 scientists sat with their eye line height 6 metres above the sea.  It was a worry to me when designing this, of the pendulum effect that this might impose on the vessel.  It has been great relief to find that because of the boat's excellent sea keeping abilities and its deep keel, that this has been no problem.  We have had surveyors working in sea conditions up to force 6 with wave heights of in excess of 2 metres and they have conducted their disciplines in comfort on the tower. 
The Interceptor 42, on top of being an excellent sea boat, is very striking to the eye and we are convinced that this has contributed to the amount of people queuing up to use her.  The introduction of trim tabs has given us the ability to push hard into head seas with comfort, and we have experienced very little, if any pounding.  In a following sea, she has the speed to overtake any wave action and we find the faster the better. 

 
Although we pushed Frank into letting us have the boat a week ahead of his time schedule, we have had absolutely no problems with the finish or any auxiliary equipment.  Two days after her delivery, she was working and continues to work flat out to this present day.   All in all, we are very pleased with the overall performance of the Interceptor 42 and would have no hesitation in recommending her for commercial use.  For the leisure market, she would prove to be a very safe, forgiving vessel.  On a number of occasions, I have said to Frank, that if he produces a 60' version, we would be the first on the order books.

Nick Longfield

Managing Director
Ocean Marine Research Ltd.

Dick Beaumont purchased Zeus, An Interceptor 38 MKII custom built dive boat. Here is his feedback:

Dear Frank

Having settled in at Dover for a few months I thought I would let you know how pleased I am with Zeus, my Interceptor 38MKII. The trip across from Cork to Penzance went amazingly well with Zeus keeping a steady 16kts at cruising revs of 2250 as recommended by John O Leary at Caterpillar and we made the crossing in just 12hrs. We were in port for 6 hrs then straight off to Salcombe. The seas built up around the Lizard with force 5 on the st/bd quarter, but Zeus hardly seemed to notice. She had no problems with yawing, heeled little and the Auto pilot held her course dead steady. After that leg the wind dropped off and we cruised up to Dover in just 2 legs diving the cruising all the way.

As you know I wanted Zeus primarily for Diving and the extra beam of the MkII has provided just the stability divers need when exiting for or returning after a dive. The dive platform works perfectly save that the stainless tubing needs some non slip strips to avoid slipping. Last weekend we were out in a good blow, on our return with winds of 23-25kts right on the nose we soon had a difficult short steep sea typical of this end of the Channel. Zeus punched right into it no problem after dropping back to 9 - 10kts. The extra cabin space of the extended cabin version is well appreciated especially as we get to the winter months and we are looking forward to fishing with occasional diving right through to spring.

Thanks again Frank for accommodating everything in Zeus that was specified but I feel it was well worth the effort since now having tested her in most conditions there is nothing other than the winch rollers I would change. She’s a great boat.

Best regards

Dick Beaumont

Dave Faithfull and Phil Hunts feedback on the Wildcat JO DAN IV's seakeeping

At the end of January ‘JO DAN IV’ was sailed from Cork to her home port of Portsmouth . Undertaking the voyage were her owner Phil Hunt,  fellow charter boat owners Dave Faithful and Steve……. All experienced skippers. During the voyage the Wildcat’s sea keeping was truly tested in some severe weather. What follows is a brief account of the voyage and a testimonial as to the capabilities of the Wildcat catamaran.

            Below is the e mail received from Dave Faithful after the voyage.

Hello Frank

            Firstly I would like to thank you for your hospitality, it is always a pleasure coming over to Ireland - good food, good drink (Guinness) and lots of boats - what more could we want?

            As you know, I have always been very cynical about reports made by Boat Manufacturers as to how good their boats are so what could be better than to steam back from Ireland in Phil Hunt's new Wildcat.  The night crossing on the Irish Sea was pretty uneventful; we had a following sea approximately 6ft swell - it was like she was on train tracks because she steered as straight as an arrow on the auto pilot which was accidentally switched off in the dark but we carried on the same course for at least another 20 minutes before we realised.  We stopped in Falmouth to top up with fuel and decided to press on to Weymouth due to the bad weather forecast for the next few days.  We left Weymouth the following morning having had a good nights sleep onboard.  The forecast was SW 6-7 coming up Gale 8.  As we got out about 3 miles we estimated the wind to be about Force 6.  10 miles down the line the weather deteriorated even more, it had to be blowing a good 7.  We were going along at a steady 16-17 kts beam on which in itself was totally amazing.  It was incredible how the boat was taking the waves with ease with no violent motion.  Half way back we altered course for The Needles putting the weather on our stern quarter.  At this stage of the game I would have been crapping myself by now had we been in a monohull boat, but the Wildcat handled it superbly with no lurching sideways.  Normally I would have been fighting with the wheel trying to keep the boat straight but the Cat didn't falter and carried on in a straight line without a care in the world.  The last 5 mile leg to The Needles put the weather on our stern.  At this stage the sea conditions were atrocious with a 12-15ft sea running.  I think it would be fair to say that the 3 of us were getting somewhat concerned for our own safety as none of us had ever experienced such rough sea conditions.  On approaching The Needles, still stern into the weather, one wave lifted us up and as we went down the other side there must have been a 20ft drop (yes 20ft).  I honestly thought "That was It" the Cat would have to fall sideways or bury its head straight into the next wave, but incredibly she touched down seemingly on a bed of air and rose up over the next wave (fucking hell what a rush).  I would love to have got a photograph of our faces, it would have been a classic.  Incidentally whilst all this was going on we were still doing 17kts. 

            To summarise this Cat is awesome.  She won't fall off a wave, she won't slew round in a stern or quarter sea, she won't slam, she's pretty damn quick and I want one!  She's the safest boat I have ever been on.  Frank you should be proud of yourself, you've turned one old cynic into a believer.

            As I am not purchasing one of your boats, I class myself as an independent skipper with unbiased views and would gladly share my views with any potential purchaser of a Cat who would care to contact me, if this is of any help to you Frank  

See you at the Boat Show.

Dave

Phil Hunt sent me this letter about his opinion on his Wildcat.

JO-DAN IV  MADEN VOYAGE 28^th Jan

            Myself and two best mates, also charter skippers arrived at Cork airport and taxied down to the boat, where we find Frank finishing some small jobs after checking over the boat. Frank took us for a meal where we all had half a cow and a pint of the black stuff. From there we went to Franks yard to get the latest weather reports. As normal, four reports all total different, 6-7 SW, 4-5 SW,3-4 SW with a 7-8 SW coming in Friday.

We all went back to the boat and discussed what to do and at 11pm we said lets go for it. We left Frank on the pontoon and slowly made our way out of Cork harbour. Setting the auto pilot and throttles to 15knt we were on are way. Our biggest worry was the Irish Sea but on a clear night and with a large swell on a following swell we crossed without any problems. We sited Lands End about 8.15am with a great sigh of relief. With a bit of daylight we came up to 17knts and made our way down to Falmouth where we arrived at approx 11am. As we fuelled up with 600L, the weather reports were getting worse so we decided to push on to Weymouth . As we proceeded on our way the sea started to chop up and when we arrived at the rips off Weymouth at dusk it was very snotty, but still the boat stayed on course with out any problem. We moored up at 7pm and at 7.01pm we were downing our first pint, discussing how well she had performed in the rips and on the whole voyage.

            We slept on the boat that night and froze our balls off. While fuelling up with 300L the next morning the weather reports were 6-7 SW going 7-8 SW later that day? We left Weymouth at 9.30am and made our way out into the channel where you could see the white tops. After clearing Weymouth the course left us with a beam sea on our starboard, and as we proceeded there were some huge waves slamming into our side at 14knts but once again the boat performed really well. We all agreed we would hate to be in a mono hull at this point, but on the Wildcat the auto pilot held the course smack on. Once we reached our last headland we made a slight change in course to go down to the Needles leaving us with a huge following sea right up our stern, there was white water everywhere, huge waves on our bows and up our stern and the weather was getting worse. Many a time she was surfing down 20ft waves at over 20knts during which we were expecting to bury the bows, but it just did not happen, she just flew up the huge wave in front and surfed down the next. After 4hours of this our confidence with the boat was mind blowing, we all agreed that none of us had ever been in such sea conditions and felt so secure. As we surfed into the solent and calm waters, we were all buzzing with how well the boat had performed we all admitted that at one time or another whilst at the helm we had nearly shit our pants thinking she’s not going to make this wave, but every time she come out with flying colours. We tied up on my berth at 2.30pm . Where all the families arrived to welcome us home.

Frank what can you say the boat is GREAT. The boat looks good, it can handle any sea. To me its like an express train on rails, it goes where you tell it to in any sea condition. You have well impressed me and also Dave and Paul.

WELL DONE FRANK

REGARDS PHILL HUNT  

CHARLIE BARTLETT ON HIS NEW INTERCEPTOR 42 'MIKATCHA'

After running ‘Mikatcha’ nearly every day for the past 3 weeks Charlie sent a letter to us

Saying-

 “Dear Frank. 

After operating my new vessel "Mikatcha" for 3 weeks taking angling parties out on a daily basis from Aberdyfi into Cardigan Bay I feel that I must write to let you know how impressed I am with your "Interceptor 42". This vessel performs so brilliantly in all sea conditions it stays dry when punching into heavy seas and does not broach when in big following seas, indeed I have had to bring her home in a near gale over Aberdoveys bar through 5 meter breaking seas and being amazed how safe and in control she was in these dangerous conditions. When at anchor it is a very stable working platform. What more does a charter boat skipper need than this awesome looking beast that has the ability to push hard into head seas at 20 knots. The standard of workmanship is well above expectations on Mikatcha so it now leaves me to say a big thank you to all your team for doing such an excellent job on such a beautiful boat. Last but not least my customers are extremely impressed with all facilities onboard. I am so glad I chose an Interceptor 42, what an awesome vessel.

                                      Thanks again

                                     Charlie Bartlett

FORCE 9 DELIVERY VOYAGE IN A WILDCAT

An account written by Robert Duncan of the delivery voyage of  High Velocity to her new home in Scotland where the crew experienced  force 9, 65mph wind speeds and 20ft seas

We are based in Tarbert on Loch Fyne, Argyll Scotland and we were looking for a boat more suitable for our activities which are wildlife trips, sea angling, survey work, photography, filming and diving. To do this we wanted a boat which had a large deck space, could easily carry a dingy, had transom steps and a diving ladder as well as comfortable accommodation. A magazine article showed the Wildcat could be the boat we were looking for.  Barry flew over to Cork in December and was very impressed with the ‘Motor Yacht’ version, the vessel was subsequently surveyed and a few minor modifications carried out to comply with the MCA code for 60nm miles offshore.

In early January we arrived in Ireland to collect the boat. Frank Kowalski (the designer of the Wildcat) collected us from the airport and took us to East Ferry marina where she was berthed.

The delivery crew was to be Barry Meredith, the owner, (myself) Robert Duncan, navigator and Alan Watkins. Barry’s previous boats include a Breede Class lifeboat and a Jeanneau Prestige 36. The next day saw us provisioning her and Frank, his electrician and engineer showed us the boats systems and we saw how strongly she was built, we didn’t know then but we were to appreciate that over the coming days.

On Wednesday our day of departure the forecast was not promising with gale warnings for our route home. We decided to leave Cork Harbour and assess the conditions cautiously, as none of us had experience with Motor Cats. Frank had advised us that the forecast was bad, and that if we were in a mono hull he wouldn’t have recommended leaving, but with the wind behind us, and knowing from his own experience (it was his personal boat) that the Wildcat would be fine This gave us confidence. Outside the wind was West F6 and conditions moderate, so we began our journey at 18kts with an open mind as to our destination for the day. S/W of Waterford conditions worsened to force 8, we now began to experience just how good the Wildcat was. Conditions were now very rough, and in big Atlantic seas the Wildcat ran downwind with the sea behind her effortlessly. Barry commented that in any of his previous craft he wouldn’t have even entertained the idea of continuing. We decided to make for Dunmore East, a small fishing harbour and on entering, contacted the harbour master who was very helpful and advised us to raft up alongside some fishing boats. We were soon joined by another local Catamaran fishing boat, a Gemini, and enjoyed the crack with their crew who gave us advice on the hazards of the Irish Sea as far as Dublin Bay . The people we met made our visit to Dunmore East a real pleasure.

 We departed cautiously the next morning with a forecast of  West 6-8, visibility good and with a following wind of force 6 we increased speed to 16kts, conditions improved slightly and we passed Coningberg lighthouse at 18kts By 10.40 we had Tuskar light abeam, staying in the inshore separation lanes, the wind was getting up to force 7 again and we eased back to 16kts. Going North we stayed outside the sandbanks, although this put us several miles offshore giving a good fetch to the increasing wind. North of Wicklow the wind rose to force 9 forcing us to reduce speed to 10kts and then again to 7kts at the height of the storm. The sea was extremely rough and violent with a general wave height of 15 to16ft with the biggest up to 20ft (6 metres) At this time the Wildcat was pitching in a lively manor with an impressive amount of spray going over the top but even when falling off wave crests into the biggest troughs she did not bury her bows or take

Green seas over the foredeck. The view astern looked like a maelstrom in our wake. Some quartering waves slewed us around to a degree, but much less than I was expecting. Amazingly the autopilot, whilst admittedly working hard, maintained a good course. I had assumed we would have had to hand steer through the big waves, but it wasn’t the case. After about 3 hours of force 9 (the maximum wind speed on our Annometer was 54 kts / 65mph) the wind eased to force 8. We arrived into Dublin Bay and Howth shortly after dark. The log for the afternoon was very sketchy as it was difficult to write in those conditions. Entering the marina was difficult with the wind still force 8 with little room to manoeuvre in the marina. We eventually contacted the marina staff (they couldn’t believe that we were out in those conditions and had locked up, assuming no one would be arriving during a storm)

On Friday we left Howth at 9.30am after refuelling for the 94 mile run to Bangor with a forecast of NW 5-6 decreasing, and maintained 19kts all the way. Saturday began with a forecast for NE 4-5 so we left Bangor for the 77 mile run across to Scotland . We had head seas now and were amazed how fast the Wildcat was able to punch into them, never once slamming although occasionally we had to pull back as we were becoming airborne. Visibility was excellent and we could see the mountains on Arran and the Mull of Kintyre from a great distance off. Eventually we ran up the Kilbrannan Sound past Arran and on to Tarbert, in the smooth water here we ran at 29kts into sunshine and home having travelled 355 miles in four days.

On a final, none of us had any previous experience of power cats. We were all very impressed with the stability and sea keeping of the Wildcat, especially in not burying her bows and her amazing directional stability in big quartering seas. In the severe weather and sea conditions we experienced during three out of four days, we always felt safe on the Wildcat, and it gave us confidence that she would always be able to weather a storm and bring us home safely. The autopilot, steering and rudders worked really well, even in the worse conditions we never had to hand steer so good is her directional stability. The trip gave us big seas from all directions- this boat has no vices. She has sea keeping qualities at last as good as all the other boats I have ever sailed on, and to put that into perspective I am comparing the Wildcat with ocean going racing yachts in the open oceans in force 10. If you need a boat delivered contact Robert Duncan- Wildcats especially welcome.

A Modern Day Epic Voyage, A letter from Nick Longfield on Barrinthus after 3 years of ownership.

To All Interceptor Owners and Prospective Owners,

On the 17^th of July 2005 , the vessel “Barinthus” departed on the hunt for the site of the Santa Maria Delarosa on the West side of Ireland .  The “Barinthus”, built by Safehaven Marine and dedicated to survey work, was chartered to go hunting for a Spanish Galleon lost off the West side of Ireland .  The morning of the 17^th, we departed Conwy, North Wales and made passage to her home port of Cobh , 220 miles in all.  Because of fair weather and perfect sea conditions, we made this journey in a fast 9 hours and 35 minutes.  The morning of the 18^th of July, we woke up to a brisk Westerly breeze and departed Cobh for Dingle.  The forecast wasn’t looking good but our confidence in the boat meant that we pushed on and upon reaching Fastnet we were facing 25+ knot winds, 15 degrees off the starboard bow.  As we turned North, the wind swung with us and stayed that same 15 degrees for the rest of the trip.  We were pushing up into a good 2 to 3 metre swell, which as we passed the headlands, grew to become a very confused, broken and peaking sea of at least 4 metres.  At this point, you think to yourself, have I bitten off more than I can chew and where can I run to.  But my confidence in the boat’s abilities dictated that we would push on and see what the day brought.  By the time that we reached Dingle Bay , the 2 crew with me were useless objects lying on the deck having emptied out all previous meals.  The only really unnerving part of the trip was to come.  As we turned in the North part of Dingle Bay to run in with the swell, which was now breaking heavily, we were altering our speed from about 10 to 12 knots climbing the back of the swell to a record breaking freefall down the front of one wave which hit 37 knots.  Upon reaching the trough of this wave the boat did as she always does, ploughed her sharp bow into the back of the next swell, then lifted herself clear and we were climbing again.  I’ve been skippering boats around Europe for 20 years and this day will probably be one of the ones that will be remembered for a long time.

In my opinion, Frank has built a very sea worthy vessel in the Interceptors and I would have no hesitation in saying that they are probably one of the best small, fast boats around. 

Nick Longfield

Skipper/Owner

M.V. Barinthus