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well, winning awards for delivering seven hulls in a row, on-time and on budget. Beyond this, Vigor has also performed more than its fair share of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard repair work. Vigor?s von Ruden insists, ?They can be comfortable with our stewardship of their dollars,? adding for emphasis, ?We?re in it to win it ? absolutely. We?ll submit in January, and selections will be in the June time- frame. I would expect the contract to be awarded by the end of the  scal year (2013), with the Coast guard down- selecting one more time in 2015 for the single yard.? In addition to the futuristic Ulstein X-Bow design, Vigor brings three new construction facilities and a skilled workforce to the competition. For the production and engineering tasks, Vigor will employ ShipConstructor, an AutoCAD based shipbuilding CAD/CAM software suite. Matt von Ruden said that the program had been used with success in the Washington State ferry efforts. Widely used in Tier II shipyards (like Vigor), the cost-effective software is, von Ruden reports, continually getting better. Rounding out the Vigor team are well- known maritime industry stalwarts DRF Power Control Technologies and L-3 Communications.That the Coast Guard is insisting upon a proven hull form for their  edgling OPC design and build program comes as no surprise to industry analysts. On the other hand, Vigor?s early unveiling of a hull concept that could not only change, but signi cantly enhance operational capabilities has many doing a ?double- take.? Imagining a Coast Guard cutter in this unique package will, for some, take some getting used to. Once that happens, however, there may be no going back. And, given the pedigree of this team and its chosen design, why would anyone want to? www.marinelink.com MN 39MNOct2012 Layout 32-49.indd 39MNOct2012 Layout 32-49.indd 3910/2/2012 9:59:00 AM10/2/2012 9:59:00 AM