See incredible pictures of the world lifeboat freefall record attempt in Motor Boats Monthly's image gallery
A new world record has been set for the highest freefall drop by a lifeboat. The 30-tonne FF1200 lifeboat was dropped into the sea from a 55m test rig at Schat-Harding’s Rosendal facility in west Norway.
You can see some incredible images of the record attempt in Motor Boats Monthly’s image gallery .
The boat surfaced with powerful positive headway and no internal or external damage. “The high drop height makes the boat go very deep, around 11m under the water, and gives it a lot of momentum,” said Ove Roessland, the company’s CEO.
Roessland says 55m is by no means the highest limit of the boat, but was dictated only by the height of the available crane for testing. “G forces measured in the boat during fall and impact were well below the requirements of the authorities,” he added, “but it is quite something to see a 30-tonne lifeboat flying.”
