Cadkey News

A small New Orleans boat design and manufacturing firm has combined proven materials and cutting-edge design technology to provide the ultimate in one-off efficiency, giving its customers custom boats at production prices. Dave Sintes of Sintes Fiberglass Designs has been tweaking his CADKEY-brand CAD-CAM software for over 10 years, customizing and augmenting the off-the-shelf 3-D program to produce scantlings, drawings, materials lists, and weight and balance calculations for his designs. When the boat's design is complete, the program produces computer-disk instructions to guide the yard's flat-bed router. Even on Sintes' 700 mHz computer, the CADKEY program is fast and versatile. With a few mouse-clicks, Sintes can fine-tune a vessel's lines by altering its 3-D on-screen rendering.

Incat Australia Pty. Ltd. is widely regarded as a premier builder of high-speed ferries, and that reputation was enhanced with the production of three wave-piercer catamarans, which hold the distinction of being the fastest ships ever to cross the Atlantic. The two latest, Catalonia and Cat-link V, are from Incat's line of 299 ft. wave-piercer class of fast-ferry vessels. They made their individual record-breaking journeys across the Atlantic within weeks of each other, at average speeds of 39 knots and 41 knots, respectively. The wave-piercer fast-ferry vessels have been launched from Incat docks in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, since September 1997.

Incat Australia Pty. Ltd. is widely regarded as a premier builder of high-speed ferries, and that reputation was enhanced with the production of three wave-piercer catamarans, which hold the distinction of being the fastest ships ever to cross the Atlantic. The two latest, the Catalonia and the Cat-link V are from Incat's line of 299 ft. (91 m) wave-piercer class of fast-ferry vessels. They made their individual record-breaking journeys across the Atlantic within weeks of each other, at the average speeds of 39 knots and 41 knots, respectively. The wave-piercer fast-ferry vessels have been launched from Incat docks in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, since September 1997.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, The Duclos Corporation, has begun construction of a new all-aluminum catamaran, which will join three other high-speed ferries built by the shipyard for Boston-based Boston Harbor Cruises. Measuing 142.6 ft. on the deck, 39 ft. abeam and carrying 500 passengers, the new vessel will be the largest Incat-designed fast ferry in the country, said shipyard officials. Delivery is scheduled for next June. Designed for commuter service, whale watching and passenger coastal excursions by Australia-based Incat Designs, the ferry's stylish lines resemble a modern megayacht. The architectural style was deliberate, says Peter Duclos, who heads the shipyard's business development.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, The Duclos Corporation, has begun construction of a new all-aluminum catamaran, which will join three other high-speed ferries built by the shipyard for Boston-based Boston Harbor Cruises. Measuing 142.6 ft. (43.4 m). on the deck, 39 ft. (11.8 m) abeam and carrying 500 passengers, the new vessel will be the largest Incat-designed fast ferry in the country, said shipyard officials. Delivery is scheduled for next June. Designed for commuter service, whale watching and passenger coastal excursions by Australia-based Incat Designs, the ferry's stylish lines resemble a modern megayacht. The architectural style was deliberate, says Peter Duclos, who heads the shipyard's business development.

Cadkey has released Cadkey 99, a major version of its flagship mechanical PC-CAD product available for Windows 95/98/NT 4. Cadkey 99 delivers product features designed for interoperability excellence, such as the introduction of powerful solid body healing and tolerant edge functionality. With an abundance of enhancements and solid modeling capabilities, including wireframe, solid and sheet metal bending, the Cadkey data translation lineup now offers a new high-speed, one-pass IGES translator and a new Parasolid® file for XT files. The product will also include a free bonus CD worth more than $225 for customers with current AUCs (Annual Update Contracts).

CADKEY Corporation’s CADKEY 20+ Workshop, a new interactive training CD from Distance Engineering (Ann Arbor, MI), is now available for sale on the CADKEY Webstore at www.cadkey.com/webstore. The CD is the eleventh CD-ROM training tool co-authored by Walt "Doctor Walt" Silva, President of Distance Engineering, Inc. and author of seventeen CAD books. Packed with more than 60 step-by-step tutorials, the product gives users concrete lessons and time-saving shortcuts for the all-new CADKEY Workshop V20 architecture. Using real-world examples, it lets CADKEY users immediately apply the new functions in CADKEY by pressing "Alt-Tab" to jump in and out of CADKEY, helping to improve productivity and strengthen modeling skills. The CD is available for $59.95 USD (plus shipping and handling).