Multipurpose air cushion platform

The aim of this paper is to describe the hovercraft "MACP", Multipurpose Air Cushion Platform arising from the 7thFP project named "Hoverspill". This project deals with the innovative design of a hovercraft for rapid Oil Spill in emergency situations. The developed vehicle is an Air-cushion platform characterized by compact size, wide cargo space and modularity which provide several utilizations, both for research & development and for working purposes (e.g. oil Spill emergency, bathymetric surveys, search and rescue). In this study we describe the main issues that led to the definitions of the vehicle. We summarize the main tools of the project and the systems installed on-board. More, we introduce the SoftHull(TM), an innovative composite structure to solve the wear and fragility problem is described. Reports are given on the modular propulsion system and on the different techniques to improve the turning of hovercrafts. Finally we outline testing results which suggest future applications of our results for the research on hovercrafts and boats.