BETH BROGAN / THE TIMES RECORDU.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, steers a Greenough Advanced Rescue Craft (GARC) down the Kennebec River Tuesday morning, shortly after christening the high-tech vessel built by Hodgdon Defense Composites in Bath.
Just before rolling up her pant-legs and stepping onto a new, high-tech 13-foot rescue vessel to zoom out into the Kennebec River, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, on Tuesday christened the new, jet-ski-like rescue vessel, built by Hodgdon Defense Composites in Bath for use by elite U.S. Air Force parachute-rescue units.
After speeding Collins away from the dock, Peter Maguire, who co-invented the Greenough Advanced Rescue Craft (GARC), handed the seersucker-clad senator the wheel, and the two river-skimming duo raced back past a shorebound crowd of onlookers.
Standing beside Hodgdon Yachts owner Tim Hodgdon before her riverine reconnaissance mission, Collins said, “In these challenging times, it is imperative that America’s special forces be able to operate effectively, quickly and safely in the most difficult of conditions.”
She added later, “It is so important to our state families that Hodgdon is adding jobs and keeping our highly skilled workers right here in the great state of Maine.”
Collins also announced that HDC, an affiliate of Hodgdon Yachts, secured a contract with the U.S. Air National Guard to build another 16 GARC vessels, in addition to the five already under construction.
HDC subcontracts with North Carolina-based Rapid Response Technology (RRT) to build the GARC, which is designed to withstand being dropped from a C130 military transport aircraft into rough surf, then boarded by paratroopers on a rescue mission, HDC President David Packhem Jr. told The Times Record in December.
Maguire, who owns RRT, invented the GARC with George Greenough, an underwater photographer and surfer known for tackling the largest waves in the world, and for whom it is named.
A former lifeguard, Maguire lived on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, and found himself rescuing many surfers because no lifeguards were stationed there, he said Tuesday.
"I called (Greenough) and said, ‘Hey, George, let’s drop a jet (ski). So we did it … We built the prototype (of the GARC) under his house."
Today, the high-tech GARC produced by HDC "does exactly what it’s supposed to do," HDC President David Packhem said Tuesday.
In December, Packhem told The Times Record that the Air Force Special Command will carry two GARC vessels in the hold of a C130.
“If there’s a particular mission they’re shadowing, within 90 seconds paratroopers can have these things up and running,” he said. “The air drop is what distinguishes this aircraft from other rescue crafts. You could use inflatables, but those boats as rescue craft take a lot longer. Instead of 90 seconds, you’re looking at more than a half-hour, in the best case, before they’re up and running, and that’s if you do it properly.”
On Tuesday, Collins also praised the city of Bath for “great vision” working with HDC to make the facility that manufactures the GARC become a reality in just two months.
“Hodgdon Yachts is a great example of the kind of flexibility and manufacturing that should typify Maine businesses,” Bath City Council chairman David Sinclair said, noting the range of the company’s vessels, from the 124-foot Antonisa luxury yacht to the 13-foot GARC. “It shows a range of innovation and thought … if we had more firms with that kind of flexibility, we would have more firms with this kind of success.”
To view video of the U.S. Air Force using the GARC, visit rapidresponsetechnology.net.
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