What Makes Gyro Stabilisers, a Boatie’s Best Friend?

Anyone who has experienced a boat with a gyroscopic stabiliser knows its benefits. With a gyro, boats don’t rock and roll, seasickness can be eliminated, and they make moving around the boat easier, more comfortable and significantly safer. With a gyro, boating is better.

There are now many brands of gyro stabilisers, and some have become known as household brands, but that doesn't mean they function and cost the same or have similar maintenance levels.

Who is ARG?

Anti-Roll Gyros (ARG) is a part of Japanese industrial giant Tohmei Industries (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries), a specialist design and engineering company that builds precision solutions for aeronautical, military and space programs. It pioneered a gyro for use in space in the late 1980s. It goes without saying, there is an emphasis on exacting standards, reliability and quality.

The ARG range

ARG has gyros for boats as small as a 30-foot cabin or centre console fishing boats right up to units designed for 150-foot motor yachts.

ARG’s gyros are classified by the torque they apply at operating RPM. The smallest model, a 12V unit designed for small boats, boasts up to 5,000Nm of anti-rolling force while the flagship model, the ARG375T produces up to 37,500Nm and is suitable for vessels up to 60Ton.

What sets ARG apart?

The main thing that differentiates the ARG design from others is its highly intelligent - yet physically simple - hydraulic circuit, which in turn provides exceedingly unmatched reliability and performance in a maintenance free design.

This fully customised and globally patented hydraulic design is the result of the collaboration of some of the world’s leading rocket scientists. They spent many years in a melting pot of research and development, working diligently to design what would come to be known as the world’s most fit-for-purpose, highly reliable, high-performing, trouble-free transfer of energy from a large spinning mass, into a vessels hull that the world will likely ever see.

ARG gyros use a flywheel that contains the bulk of its mass further from its rotational axis, providing previously unheard-of leverage (anti-rolling torque) possibilities, at slower rotational speeds.

This is the second fundamental and equally significant difference in the ARG design. It allows maximum torque applied to the vessel at lower rotational speeds, which on average allows the ARG bearing to outlast the closest competitor by six times the life in the same operational conditions.

ARG does not use water cooling to keep the gyro and its internals cool. And unlike any other brand of air-cooled unit, the ARG has been designed to be highly effective at self-cooling, withstanding extremely hot working environments with a thermal protective isolation setting at an astounding 83 degrees celsius!

ARG avoids using off-the-shelf hydraulic parts that are very prone to leaks, failure and high maintenance costs. The ARG gyro is operationally simple and reliable with service intervals between 5000 and 7000 hours of use.

What boats would an ARG gyro suit?

The service interval and simplicity of the ARG gyro will appeal instantly to commercial fishermen. Cray boats, squid boats and dive operators will all appreciate the unmatched reliability and operational simplicity.

Trailer boat owners will significantly appreciate the compact and user-friendly installation process, utilising the 12V DC models that benefit their boating weekends in all-sea conditions.

Luxury vessel owners and builders will be drawn to the luxury of high-performance, simplicity in operations and ongoing reliability, knowing that every time they head out for a weekend with the family and friends, their vessel with be stabilised. There is nothing to think about other than stepping onboard and pressing the ‘on’ button.

One of the best things about the ARG gyro is its compact nature. The ARG250T, designed for boats 40-65 feet, is 700x700x1020mm. Allow some space around it for service and installation access and it still takes up very little room. They can be retrofitted which makes up around 80 per cent of ARG’s installations currently, while they are becoming the default gyro in more Australian-owned boat building factories every month. By the end of 2022, ARG is on track to be the #1 option for new builds across Australia.

What does it cost to install an ARG?

If you are buying a new boat from the likes of Maritimo or Riviera, there is a good chance the hull was designed to take a gyro like an ARG so the cost to install one is lower than a retrofit. You will need to pay for the gyro, shipping and installation costs which won’t include any bearer or stringer work.

If you are looking to retrofit a gyro to your existing boat, ARG suggests it costs around $12,000-$20,000 for standard structural and electrical works, and time frames vary from days for a simple installation to weeks for highly complex retrofits.

What is next from ARG?

The company sees an opportunity to continue to promote is full-operational stabilisation. It has seen that skippers and drivers want simple systems that can integrate planing speed stabilisation, with trolling and at-rest stabilisation.

Early this year, ARG launched a program to partner Zipwake trim tabs systems with ARG gyros to offer packages of mechanically simple and reliable stabilisation at all speeds.

Zipwake’s designs are simple with a vertical blade that drives into the water, mounted to the transom, that both auto controls trim to maximise underway performance, ride and fuel efficiency, as well as auto levelling roll which is most effective during higher speed operations. Its popularity is born from its simple design that features in-water serviceable actuators, unlike traditional trim tabs that are bulky and feature long either electronic or hydraulic rams to force the tab down. This simplicity is what appealed to ARG as well as Zipwake’s dynamic automatic control.

Packages exist for hulls from 30 feet to 80 feet paired with the right ARG gyro.

These two systems of ARG Gyro Stabiliser and ZipWake Interceptor, offer a beautifully complimentary set of systems, which work seamlessly in combination with each other, providing you the most reliable and user-friendly solution the world has ever seen.

Your operational experience is so simple. You turn on your ARG when you arrive at your vessel (nothing else to do, ever!), while your ZipWake system automatically turns on and is completely self-managed as soon as you turn on your engines!

For more information head to www.antirollinggyro.com and www.zipwake.com

Learn more about gyroscopes

The Next Steps

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