Go-fast boat
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A "go-fast" is the preferred boat of many smugglers. |
The
go-fast boat is a high performance
boat of a characteristic design.
It is the
drug smuggling boat of choice in many parts of the world in the
1990s and
first years of the
21st century.
A typical
smuggling go-fast is built of solid, dark-colored
fiberglass, wide of beam and with a deep "
V" offshore racing hull from usually 30 to 50
feet (10 to 15
m) long. It commonly carries a
ton or more of cargo, several fuel drums, a handheld
Global Positioning System, perhaps a
cellular telephone, and a small crew. With several 250
horsepower (200
kW) engines, they travel at top speeds of 35 to 50
knots (65 to 100
km/h), slowing little in light chop and still maintaining 25 knots (50 km/h) in the average five to seven foot (1.5 to 2 m)
Caribbean seas. They are heavy enough to cut through higher waves, although at a slower pace. Go-fasts are rarely detected by
radar except on flat calm seas or at close range.
The
US Coast Guard finds them to be
stealthy, fast, seaworthy, and very difficult to intercept using conventional craft. Because of this, Coast Guards are developing their own high-speed craft and also using
helicopters. The helicopters are equipped with
sniper rifles which can be used to disable the motors of the go-fast boat. The Coast Guard go-fast boat is an
RHIB equipped with radar and more powerful engines. The RHIB is armed with several types of
non-lethal weapons and
M240 GPMG.
*
Go-Fast boating website*
Congressional testimony on technologies for detecting go-fast boats*
Lexington Institute article on technologies for stopping go-fast boats
