Vollen Slipp AS had a new Boomeranger 1100 to get to Trondheim for Nor-Fishing. The easy option was a trailer over the mountains. Jørgen
Braathen chose the other one.
The reasoning was simple. A boat built for defence forces, coast guards and harbour patrols should be able to make its own way to a show where it is
presented to those exact operators. Anything else is a display. This was a test.
The boat left Vollen at 18:20 on 10 August and moored on the Nidelva in Trondheim at 15:50 on Saturday 15 August, with a berth reserved for sea trials
during the exhibition together with KGK Norway.
Skagerrak, and a night in Blindleia
Conditions changed at Hvasser, where the Oslofjord opens towards the Skagerrak. Off Svenner the crew met very confused seas, and at Tvistein, with 12 to
14 metres per second of wind, they cut speed hard and took shelter inside the skerries at Såstein. From breaking seas to mirror-flat water in a few
minutes. That contrast repeated the whole way north.
Arendal at 00:38 for the first full technical inspection: engine oil, coolant, gear oil, trim, then 300 litres of diesel. They left at 01:45 into complete darkness
and, rather than take the open seas off Grimstad, went through Blindleia at night. Charts, navigation lights and full concentration through narrow channels
between Lillesand and Kristiansand.
Sunrise came off Mandal. They took the Spangereid Canal behind the Lindesnes peninsula at 06:00 and reached Farsund at 07:20, roughly twelve
continuous hours at sea. Four hours of sleep, then back out.
Lista
An hour out of Farsund the boat was off Lista, an open stretch of coast with nothing between it and the North Sea. This was the hardest part of the trip:
waves estimated at up to five metres, wind of 15 to 18 metres per second directly on the nose, and no alternative route. Speed came down to between 12
and 16 knots and stayed there for an hour and a half.
“We covered 900 NM on this trip. The seas were what you’d expect on this coast, short and steep in places. What the Patrol jockeys do is let you keep the speed up when
you’d otherwise back off, because you’re not taking the impacts through your spine. That’s the practical difference: you get
there, and you get there in shape.” – Jørgen Braathen, Vollen Slipp AS
Approaching Hidra everything changed again. The crew moved in close, running north 20 to 50 metres off the coast, and speed came back up to 30 to 35
knots. At Egersund both engines had their oil changed. Twenty-seven engine hours in, gear oil, trim and coolant were all still in good condition.
Stad, Hustadvika, Trondheim
Jærens rev came next, exposed and difficult as expected. Past Bergen at 10:12 the following morning, then Stadhavet, one of the most notorious stretches
of water on this coast. The crew got lucky: long swells, very little wind, 30 to 34 knots across it.
At Ålesund the crew split, and Jørgen continued alone. Hustadvika is shallow, open to the Norwegian Sea and unforgiving of overconfidence. Crossing it
single-handed went well. Kristiansund at 12:20, Hitra at around 35 knots, then a deliberately slow run up the Trondheim Fjord.
Over six days the boat logged two faults: two loose bolts in the radar mast at Bastø, and a fuel gauge that stopped working, which turned out to be a
circuit breaker the crew had switched off themselves.
It did not arrive at Nor-Fishing on a trailer. It arrived under its own power, having been used rather than shown.
Hull: Boomeranger 1100, Finnish-built commercial RIB, approximately 6,000 kg. Boomeranger builds vessels up to 15 metres,
primarily for defence forces, coast guards and harbour patrol operations.
Propulsion: Two AX Caudwell 300 V6 diesel outboards with hydraulic gearboxes, AXIS steering, twin propellers and joystick
manoeuvring.
Seating: Four Ullman shock-mitigating seats: two Ullman Patrol, two Ullman Biscaya. Further seats to be installed later.
Navigation: Raymarine. Two Axiom 12.2″ and one Axiom 16″ chartplotter, two touchpads, AIS, VHF, Quantum 2 Black radar, CAM300
IP and CAM220 cameras.
Power: WhisperPower Piccolo 6 generator, six Lithium Superieur batteries, charger, inverter, OctoView monitoring.
Stabilisation: Quick Gyro X7 with IN45 interceptors.
Lighting: Hella navigation and work lights.
Fuel: 1,100 litres in a single tank.
Targa top: Folding aluminium structure by Vollen Slipp, folds flat aft to reduce height for road transport.