Designing for the Extreme: How Zodiac Designed the H1100 Border Guard with Orca3D

February 20, 2026

When vessels are expected to operate in the harshest marine environments supporting search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement, and special operations, there is no margin for uncertainty. Every design decision must be validated, every safety system proven, and every assumption tested long before the boat ever touches the water.

That was the challenge facing Zodiac Hurricane Technologies Inc. during the development of the H1100 Border Guard, an 11-meter RHIB designed to perform reliably in extreme sea states while supporting critical, time-sensitive missions. Using Orca3D as a core part of their design workflow, Zodiac was able to confidently address stability, survivability, and regulatory compliance within a demanding project timeline.

Figure 1) Zodiac-Hurricane H1100 Border Guard with righting system

Project Overview

The H1100 Border Guard is a high-performance RHIB developed for multi-role operations including:

Search and Rescue (SAR)
General maritime law enforcement
Deterrence, pursuit, interception, and apprehension of highly maneuverable craft

Designed to operate safely in Sea State 5 and survive conditions up to Sea State 6, the vessel needed to combine speed, robustness, and advanced safety systems while remaining compliant with rigorous regulatory requirements.

Key specifications include:

Length: 11 meters
Hull: Aluminum alloy
Propulsion: Twin Volvo D6-400 / DH with duoprop
Top Speed: 60 knots (Sea State 1)

Mission Requirements & Operational Environment

Unlike recreational or commercial craft, patrol and SAR vessels must be designed around worst-case scenarios. For the H1100 Border Guard, that meant:

Maintaining operational capability in rough and unpredictable sea conditions
Ensuring structural integrity under extreme loads, particularly at the slamming hull bottom area
Incorporating a manual righting system capable of returning the vessel to an upright condition following a capsize

These requirements placed stability and survivability at the center of the design process.

Design Challenges & Constraints

Zodiac’s engineering team faced several critical challenges:

Extreme Sea State Performance - The vessel needed to remain fully operational in Sea State 5 while being able to survive Sea State 6 conditions and safely return to base.
Capsize Recovery - The righting system had to be precisely designed and positioned to generate sufficient righting moment without compromising vessel layout or performance.
Structural Integrity - Supporting twin Volvo D6-400 HP inboard engines required careful attention to hull and engine beds under both normal operation and extreme conditions.

Addressing these challenges demanded accurate modeling, reliable stability analysis, and confidence in early design decisions.

Manual Righting System: From Digital Model to Real-World Validation

A defining safety feature of the H1100 Border Guard is its manually operated righting system, designed to return the vessel to an upright condition following a capsize allowing the crew to continue the mission or safely return to base.

This system was developed and validated through a close coupling of digital modeling in Rhino with Orca3D and real-world testing.

Designing the Righting System in Orca3D

Using Orca3D’s Advanced Stability module, the Zodiac engineering team was able to fully integrate the righting system into the vessel’s structural and stability model early in the design process.

Figure 2 illustrates the righting system layout within the Orca3D CAD model, showing its placement relative to the aft structural frame and surrounding hull geometry.

Figure 2

Figure 3 presents stability and righting-moment outputs generated in Orca3D, demonstrating the system’s ability to generate sufficient restoring force to bring the vessel upright following a capsize.

Figure 3

Working directly within the Rhino/Orca3D environment allowed the team to evaluate multiple configurations, confirm clearances, and accurately size the righting bag, reducing uncertainty and limiting reliance on early physical prototypes.

Transition to Real-World Testing

Once the digital design was validated, the righting system was implemented on a prototype of the physical vessel and subjected to on-water testing.

Figure 4 shows the vessel capsized during controlled testing.

Figure 5 captures the vessel fully upright following successful activation of the manual righting system.

The strong correlation between Orca3D’s predicted behavior and observed test results reinforced confidence in both the system design and the underlying analysis. This approach reduced risk, minimized trial-and-error during testing, and supported compliance with Lloyd’s Register Grey Boat Code requirements.

Figure 4

Figure 5)

How Orca3D Supported the Design Process

Zodiac relied on several Orca3D tools throughout the project, with Basic Hydrostatic and Stability analysis playing a particularly critical role. Orca3D supported the team by enabling:

Hydrostatic analysis across loading conditions
Resistance prediction to support performance expectations
Detailed stability analysis for regulatory submission
Confident design decisions within tight project deadlines

In addition, direct support from the Orca3D team helped Zodiac fully leverage the software’s capabilities and integrate them efficiently into their workflow.

“Orca3D is an all-encompassing tool capable of addressing all prospective naval architecture inquiries that emerge during the design spiral of any marine craft.”
~Xhevit Burnaci, Technical Director & Compliance Officer

Regulatory Compliance & Validation

The H1100 Border Guard stability analysis was submitted to Lloyd’s Register under the Grey Boat Code, requiring clear documentation and defensible analysis. Orca3D’s stability tools allowed Zodiac to:

Generate reliable data for regulatory review
Demonstrate compliance with stability and survivability requirements
Reduce uncertainty during approval and validation
Results, Impact, and Broader Applications

Despite an aggressive timeline driven by immediate customer needs, the project was completed successfully. Beyond delivering a capable and compliant vessel, the work on the H1100 Border Guard had a broader impact:

The righting and stability systems developed during the project have since been refined and applied to other vessel platforms and sizes
The design approach helped reduce reliance on real-world testing in hazardous conditions
The team gained repeatable workflows for future high-performance patrol and SAR vessels

Conclusion: Engineering Confidence for Mission-Critical Vessels

The development of the H1100 Border Guard demonstrates what’s possible when rigorous engineering analysis is tightly integrated with real-world operational requirements. Faced with extreme sea states, demanding regulatory standards, and uncompromising safety expectations, Zodiac Hurricane Technologies relied on Orca3D to bring clarity and confidence to every stage of the design spiral.

By combining stability analysis, integrated CAD workflows, and data-driven validation, the team was able to design, refine, and verify a vessel capable of performing when conditions are at their worst while reducing uncertainty, limiting reliance on hazardous testing, and meeting aggressive timelines.

For naval architects and designers working on mission-critical craft, the H1100 Border Guard stands as a clear example of how Orca3D supports smarter decisions, safer vessels, and repeatable success across future platforms.

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