TOPPY 3 Super High-Speed Passenger Hydrofoil
The super high-speed passenger hydrofoil TOPPY 3, which has a foilborne speed of 45 knots, was delivered in March 1995 to Kagoshima Shosen Co., Ltd. of Japan at Kobe Works of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI). The vessel is the fifteenth Kawasaki Jetfoil built by KHI under license from Boeing Company of the United States.
Features
1. The Jetfoil can reach a super high-speed of 45 knots (83 km/h) with a waterjet propulsion system and fully submerged hydrofoils that lift the hull completely out of water. The Jetfoil can ride out waves as high as four meters.
2. Comfortable riding is afforded because the fully submerged hydrofoils are affected very little by waves. A computerized Automatic Control System reduces pitching, rolling and other motions.
3. The propulsion system, which provides both foilborne and hull-borne modes of operation, consists of gas turbines, reduction gears and waterjet propulsors. In the foilborne mode, water enters through the inlet located at the forward lower end of the aft center strut. The water passes up through a duct in the interior of the strut. At the top of the duct, the water splits into two paths to enter into each of the two axial-flow waterjet propulsors. Water is discharged at high pressure through nozzles directed aft, driving the vessel ahead.
