Lake Assault Boats, Superior, Wis., has delivered a 28' rescue vessel to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol Unit located in Minneapolis.
Purchased from the GSA schedule, the craft features the Mercury Skyhook Digital Anchoring and Joystick Piloting systems to assist in rescue and recovery operations along the Mississippi River.
The boat is powered by a pair of Mercury Verado 300-hp engines with digital throttle, shift, and power steering, as well as the Mercury Joystick Piloting and Skyhook Digital Anchoring systems, which are designed to significantly improve the craft’s on-the-water performance. They enable the operator to set precise grids for search and recovery operations and “anchor” the boat in strong moving currents without getting moved off point, or swung back and forth like traditional anchor systems. In addition, the boat can move side to side or diagonally to gain better angles on objects.
The 28' patrol boat is a landing craft style, modified V-hull configuration and is outfitted with a 64" hydraulically operated bow door, and two 34" dive doors. The 9' long pilothouse is CBRNE compliant, with radiation, chemical, and biological detection systems. The boat also features an interior clearance height of 76", a fold-down workstation, and a computer desk attached to the rear of the helm station. The boat is equipped with a full array of electronics, including two Lowrance touchscreen monitors, GPS, sonar, chartplotting, and StructureScan sonar, as well as a SpitzLift aluminum davit crane.
“We are honored to deliver this high performance rescue vessel to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol Unit to serve their protection area, especially along sections of the mighty Mississippi that flow through the Twin Cities,” Chad DuMars, Lake Assault Boats vice president of operations, said in a statement announcing the delivery “The craft is custom designed and equipped with a wide array of advanced technologies to meet the unique needs of this customer.”
