Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

Hello:

I am looking for a set of plans for a group of High School students to
build a small, fast, and stable power/speedboat. It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person, and be appropriate for being build by 10 students in
about quarter of a year with one hour of building time per day. I would
like to experiment with the engine to run as environmentally friendly as
possible. Budget: $1500. Used engines could be available. I have never
build a boat, but have plenty of construction and mechanical experience.

Any recommendations for plan sets?
Outboard or inboard? Why?
Any other tips/links/etc?

Thank you so much!

Karsten

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:52:56 -0400, "Karsten"
wrote:

Hello:

I am looking for a set of plans for a group of High School students to
build a small, fast, and stable power/speedboat. It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person, and be appropriate for being build by 10 students in
about quarter of a year with one hour of building time per day. I would
like to experiment with the engine to run as environmentally friendly as
possible. Budget: $1500. Used engines could be available. I have never
build a boat, but have plenty of construction and mechanical experience.

Any recommendations for plan sets?
Outboard or inboard? Why?
Any other tips/links/etc?

Small, 30mph and $1,500 budget sound like contradictory design goals
to me, unless you would consider some of the tiny boat designs from
folks like Glen-L
(http://www.glen-l.com/designs/outboard/tinytitan.html). If you mean
something big enough for 2-4 people, and not spending much money, your
speed goal of 30mph might have to give. Going 20 in a 12-foot boat
sure feels a lot faster.

My first two thoughts -- which might just barely be affordable if you
got materials donated or very cheap -- are Evan Gatehouse's GV11 at
www.boatplans-online.com, and the Bolger Diablo at
http://www.instantboats.com/powerboats.htm.

At your price range, you are almost certainly going to be using an old
outboard. High performance inboard engines simply aren't going to be
a feasible solution at your price point.

This group is a great resource. One of my other favorites is the
builder's group at www.bateau2.com and www.amateurboatbuilding.com.
The first is dedicated to the plans from Jacques Mertens and a small
number of other designers, and the second is wide open.

Good luck on your project. Check back in and let us know how it's
going.

- Rick Tyler

--
"Ignorant voracity -- a wingless vulture -- can soar only into the
depths of ignominy." Patrick O'Brian

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

To satisfy the requirement of "holds one person; not too fast, but feels
much faster," I'd have to recommend the Bolger Skimmer
(http://www.instantboats.com/skimmer.htm). One can damned near scare oneself
to death in that one!

Chuck

"Rick Tyler" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:52:56 -0400, "Karsten"
wrote:

Hello:

I am looking for a set of plans for a group of High School students to
build a small, fast, and stable power/speedboat. It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person, and be appropriate for being build by 10 students in
about quarter of a year with one hour of building time per day. I would
like to experiment with the engine to run as environmentally friendly as
possible. Budget: $1500. Used engines could be available. I have never
build a boat, but have plenty of construction and mechanical experience.

Any recommendations for plan sets?
Outboard or inboard? Why?
Any other tips/links/etc?

Small, 30mph and $1,500 budget sound like contradictory design goals
to me, unless you would consider some of the tiny boat designs from
folks like Glen-L
(http://www.glen-l.com/designs/outboard/tinytitan.html). If you mean
something big enough for 2-4 people, and not spending much money, your
speed goal of 30mph might have to give. Going 20 in a 12-foot boat
sure feels a lot faster.

My first two thoughts -- which might just barely be affordable if you
got materials donated or very cheap -- are Evan Gatehouse's GV11 at
www.boatplans-online.com, and the Bolger Diablo at
http://www.instantboats.com/powerboats.htm.

At your price range, you are almost certainly going to be using an old
outboard. High performance inboard engines simply aren't going to be
a feasible solution at your price point.

This group is a great resource. One of my other favorites is the
builder's group at www.bateau2.com and www.amateurboatbuilding.com.
The first is dedicated to the plans from Jacques Mertens and a small
number of other designers, and the second is wide open.

Good luck on your project. Check back in and let us know how it's
going.

- Rick Tyler

--
"Ignorant voracity -- a wingless vulture -- can soar only into the
depths of ignominy." Patrick O'Brian

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:01:23 -0700, Rick Tyler
wrote:

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:52:56 -0400, "Karsten"
wrote:
It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person,

Sorry, I missed the "one person" when I first read this post. As
someone else mentioned, add the Bolger skimmer to your list.

- Rick Tyler

--
"Ignorant voracity -- a wingless vulture -- can soar only into the
depths of ignominy." Patrick O'Brian

Follow-up questions
 

Thanks for the answers above.

What do you think about the small hydroplane or runabout kits available
from Clark Craft or Glen-L?

What would be the main concerns for using inboard motors versus outboard
motors? Clark Craft sells plans for a 9' inboard runabout and I am
wondering what drawbacks are there to that concept.

Karsten

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

There used to be little boats called sea fleas that went quite fast with
very little power and were easy to build
"Karsten" wrote in message
lkaboutboats.com...
Hello:

I am looking for a set of plans for a group of High School students to
build a small, fast, and stable power/speedboat. It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person, and be appropriate for being build by 10 students in
about quarter of a year with one hour of building time per day. I would
like to experiment with the engine to run as environmentally friendly as
possible. Budget: $1500. Used engines could be available. I have never
build a boat, but have plenty of construction and mechanical experience.

Any recommendations for plan sets?
Outboard or inboard? Why?
Any other tips/links/etc?

Thank you so much!

Karsten

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

Rick Tyler wrote in message . ..
On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:01:23 -0700, Rick Tyler
wrote:

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 07:52:56 -0400, "Karsten"
wrote:
It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person,

Sorry, I missed the "one person" when I first read this post. As
someone else mentioned, add the Bolger skimmer to your list.

- Rick Tyler

Yeah, I got the skimmer, right here.. This boat will scare the hell
out of you with a ten horse. Also look at Diablo. Skimmer will meet
your time requirements much better than Diablo as it is much less
complicated to build. However, skimmer does not meet some of the other
requirements for handeling, you may have to make some compromises
here. Skimmer "will" get airborne and with the reverse wing setup
sucks itself back down nicely, but if you yaw during the flight, it
can throw you real good... So get the kids to sign a release, and
build the skimmer..
Scotty, The Backyard Renegade

Small, fast, stable powerboat
 

"Karsten" wrote in message alkaboutboats.com...
Hello:

I am looking for a set of plans for a group of High School students to
build a small, fast, and stable power/speedboat. It should not go much
faster than 30mph, feel much faster, be stable in a chop and in turns,
hold one person,

Some very contradictory requirements here, you will not get them all.
I posted another response somewhere in this thread but I forgot to
mention the stats. Skimmer, with myself (160 lbs) and about 100 lbs
equipment, my skimmer clocked out at 19.5 mph over a three mile
course, flat water, no traffic. But again, stable in a chop and in
turns, hold one person, easy to build, cheap, lays golden eggs etc...
you can't have it all. Another boat you may consider is the Herring
Skiff, available for free from Ira, there is a link on my website
(smallboats.com) to those plans, but the best bet would be Diablo if
you could build it in time, just my opinion.
Scotty, ugh, snapped a gunnel, customers boat too! Argh, I love this
sport.


and be appropriate for being build by 10 students in
about quarter of a year with one hour of building time per day. I would
like to experiment with the engine to run as environmentally friendly as
possible. Budget: $1500. Used engines could be available. I have never
build a boat, but have plenty of construction and mechanical experience.

Any recommendations for plan sets?
Outboard or inboard? Why?
Any other tips/links/etc?

Thank you so much!

Karsten

Follow-up questions
 

"Karsten" wrote in message alkaboutboats.com...
Thanks for the answers above.

What do you think about the small hydroplane or runabout kits available
from Clark Craft or Glen-L?

What would be the main concerns for using inboard motors versus outboard
motors? Clark Craft sells plans for a 9' inboard runabout and I am
wondering what drawbacks are there to that concept.

Karsten

I think you need to really look at the time constraints, you need to
stick to a quick outboard in my opinion. 50 kids, one quarter of
school, one hour a day. Thats about 45 days, minus a few toward the
end of the year. Let's say with the "too many cooks" scenario and the
"hurry up and wait" characteristics of epoxy and such you average 2
solid manhours of work a day, That's 80 hours labor for your boat.
Even with loads of equipment and good solid background, it is going to
take a firsttimer more than 80 accumulated hours of labor to build
most of the boats we are discussing here from my experience, not
trying to be a downer here, just throwing something on the table for
discussion. I am not saying it can't be done, but if you bite off more
than you can chew, everyone will be dissappointed.
Scotty