Lifting the Southern Ocean 55 - Arguably the fastest Australian owned race boat.

The Lift: 
The Southern Ocean 55. Arguably the fastest Australian owned race boat.

Cranes: 
AC55 City +  MAC25 (dual lift)

The Job:
Relocation of The Southern Ocean 55, arguably the fastest Australian owned race boat, from holding yard to water. 
There were numerous challenges involved with this lift. The boat was stored in a holding yard which had overlying trees and other boats stored in the yard. Once the boat was lifted in to a clear area, we had to contend with driving the AC55 on a cambered driveway to get out on to the road.

The boat was 12m wide which now proved a challenge because of the street signs and power poles on the road’s edge. We had to temporarily remove some street signs.  After walking the boat around 50m down the road there was also a low lying power line. We had to keep the slings as short as possible as well as both booms on the two cranes to ensure we remained at a safe working distance from the power lines.

Once we had navigated underneath the power line, we had to negotiate a 90-degree turn. This turn was made more difficult because a car was parked on the corner. We had to take the turn wider then we would have liked. This again proved a challenge because there was a 6m tall workshop which we had to stay away from. After we had driven around the corner, there was a brand-new caravan parked on the narrow road. Both cranes had to lift the boat over the caravan.

We navigated and successfully got through all the challenges presented to us on this job. This was made easier with the experience of both crane operators and their respective riggers. Both cranes handle this job was great ease.