EDITOR:Harbor Patrol needs new boats

My name is Duffy Duffield, and I make the electric boats you see running around Newport.

The Harbor Patrol boats must go faster than 5 mph in emergencies. The trouble is that the wake that is produced by the heavy, old-fashioned, horribly designed patrol boats is huge when they go faster than bay speed.

I have tried without success to convince them to use a boat design specifically made to produce very little wake at speed. This technology is available today and is proven. I even took the harbor master and his staff out on one of these craft a few years ago.

The boat was 35 feet long, and at 30 knots the wake was less than 6-inches high.

My suggestion was to produce a Harbor Patrol boat with this hull shape and also have it operated on diesel electric to minimize noise and pollution.

The Harbor Patrol boats should patrol the bay using electricity and in emergencies use the four-stroke diesel engine for high speed. Not only did they not pursue this concept, they went ahead and bought several more of the outdated designs.

Maybe it's time to discuss how we can replace the fleet of wave makers and replace them with the Mangia Onda (Italian for wave eaters).

DUFFY DUFFIELD

Newport Beach