Design & Build Dossier

Vector 45 — High-Performance All-Aluminum Offshore Platform

A first-principles offshore hull — and a demonstrator path to autonomous surface craft. Designed & directed 1996–1998 by Carl McBride, Naval Design & Marine Systems • USCG Master 100 GT.

Type

All-aluminum planing monohull

LOA

45 ft

Design CG / Disp.

12,500 lb

Hull

Twin-skin foam-cored sandwich

Skins

1/4 in outer / 3/16 in inner

Framing

3 in U-channel @ 6 in centers

Core

Injected 4-lb-density foam

Power (final)

Triple turbo 540 ci

Drives (final)

Mercury Racing #6 Speedmaster

Period

1996–1998

01 • The Platform

Engineered for the harshest open water.

The Vector 45 is a first-principles, high-performance monohull: a 45-foot all-aluminum offshore platform designed and fabricated to a structurally near-complete hull between 1996 and 1998. The hull is a foam-cored twin-skin aluminum sandwich — a 1/4-inch outer and 3/16-inch inner skin over 3-inch U-channel framing on 6-inch centers, with an injected 4-lb-density foam core — for exceptional stiffness, impact resistance, and a soft, quiet ride.

Its running surface integrates boundary-layer management and stepped cavitators developed from the planing-hydrodynamics research of Dr. William S. Vorus of the University of New Orleans, and its structure was engineered to a complete production drawing set for triple custom turbocharged 540 ci power on Mercury Racing #6 Speedmaster drives.

“A light, stiff, efficient aluminum hull with a computationally-informed running surface — the same virtues modern autonomous surface craft are built around.”

Three decades on, the design's core virtues map directly onto what modern autonomous surface craft are built around: range, sea-keeping, payload margin, and low-cost manufacturability. The physical hull survives and is available for acquisition. This dossier documents the original engineering and build, and frames the Vector 45 as a candidate demonstrator platform for autonomous conversion.

02 • Design Intent & Hydrodynamics

Surface model, general arrangement, and hull lines.

General Arrangement — Accommodations & Cockpit

Profile and plan — layout and design intent. The hull was faired as a NURBS surface model in FastShip/FastYacht, the professional hull-modeling tools of the era, which fed both the hydrodynamic analysis and the NC-cut plating development.

DWG 9608-10

Design lineage & hydrodynamic basis. The Vector 45 program secured Canadian NRC / IRAP research funding, under which Dr. William S. Vorus — Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of New Orleans and a leading authority on planing-monohull hydrodynamics — was engaged to evaluate the hull concept and design. The running-surface approach, combining boundary-layer management with integrated cavitators in the planing surface, was grounded in Dr. Vorus's published research on planing, ventilation, and cavitation. Because the Vector 45 was designed to couple hydrodynamic and aerodynamic flow in a single solution on the same timeline, the analysis was assessed as requiring Cray-class supercomputing — far beyond the x86 workstations available to the project at the time.

Note on provenance: This account reflects the project as conducted between 1996 and 1998. Supporting records — grant documentation and analysis correspondence — were held by the contracting parties and are no longer retained by the author. The lineage is presented as the author's professional account.

03 • Structural & Systems Engineering

A complete, coherent production drawing set.

Deck Lines & Plating Development

Flat-panel development for NC-cut plating — panels 1–4, windscreen and airscoop development, with as-built dimensions annotated. Rev. Aug 29, 1998.

DWG 9608-20

DWG 9608-22

Deck Frames

Transverse deck-frame development, stations 0–42, with swim-platform support frames.

DWG 9608-71

Stringer & Structural Detail

Engine beds, stringer/web system, tankage, weld schedule.

DWG 9608-72

Body Sections

Framed sections with machinery — Frames 2, 6, 10, 18.

DWG 9608-73

Fuel Tank Fabrication

Baffled aluminum tanks, capacities & access-plate detail.

DWG 9608-81 • Rev. Apr 1996

Transom & Propulsion — Final Issue

Triple 540 ci turbo on Mercury Racing #6 Speedmaster drives.

04 • Fabrication

Foam-cored twin-skin aluminum sandwich — tooling to finished hull.

Vector 45 bottom plug during tooling development. — Plug & Tooling

Bottom plug fairing during tooling development.

Vector 45 bow structure — transverse 3-inch U-channel frames on 6-inch centers landed on longitudinal stringers. — Aluminum Framing

Transverse 3-inch U-channel frames on 6-inch centers, landed on longitudinal stringers — bow structure.

Vector 45 framed hull under assembly in the fabrication shop. — Hull Assembly

Framed hull under assembly in the fabrication shop. Twin-skin sandwich — 1/4 in outer / 3/16 in inner skins over 3 in U-channel frames at 6 in centers, injected 4-lb foam core.

Vector 45 fully framed hull with welded centerline keelson, looking aft, at the pre-foam stage. — Interior Structure

Fully framed hull with welded centerline keelson, looking aft — shown at the pre-foam stage. Rigging chases and conduit are fitted into the framing bays before the 4-lb foam core is injected and the inner skin closes the sandwich.

Finished bare-aluminum hull. Completed, faired & planished — structurally near-complete. Never launched or sea-trialed; the project was suspended when the fabrication relationship ended. The hull survives and was located in 2025.

05 • Forward: Autonomous Conversion

A proven platform for the autonomous mission.

The qualities that made the Vector 45 a fast, stable, efficient offshore hull are the same qualities today's autonomous surface vessels are built around: an efficient aluminum planing platform delivers range, payload margin, sea-keeping, and low-cost manufacturability.

The surviving, computationally-informed hull represents a proven platform that could be completed and converted as an autonomous demonstrator. Its foam-cored twin-skin hull — stiff, damage-tolerant, and notably quiet-riding — is well suited to an autonomous platform carrying sensitive sensors and payloads.

Concept visualization of an autonomous surface vessel configuration derived from the Vector 45 hull. — Concept Visualization

Autonomous configuration derived from the Vector 45 hull. *AI-generated rendering — a clearly-labeled generative concept, not a photograph.*

Provenance & contact. All engineering drawings and construction photographs in this dossier are original artifacts authored, directed, or captured by Carl McBride during the Vector 45 program (1996–1998), fabricated under a contracted aluminum shop in Ontario, Canada. Surface-model images are period FastShip/FastYacht outputs. The autonomous configuration is a clearly-labeled generative concept, not a photograph. The vessel was engineered and fabricated to a structurally near-complete bare-aluminum hull and was never launched or sea-trialed. The hull was located in 2025 and is available for acquisition as a demonstrator platform.

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