news Defining maximum speed at water

Determining the maximum speed for a boat dependents on a few factors.

1 Number of pilots

our boat is actually made for a 24h race and for that you only need to have 1 person on board. And for offshore competitions you are obliged to navigate with two so the first thing we have had to do is to cut out a piece of our cockpit for space for a second person due to the fact that there is a second person who is behind the pilot this means that the ballans have been brought back more.

2 Balance of the boat

For this to be compensed we have placed the batteries and the oil thank in front of the boat. So once the ballans of the boat has been determined, the next thing for a maximum speed is to get the boat as light as possible so you start by filling the boat with gasoline that you need for the race no extra drop because this can make a big difference in speed.

3 Three or four blade propeller

You also have a ballast tank this you normally use to keep the ballans of the boat nice and straight. So now you have the minimum of weight that you can obtain and so you start testing propellers now. Determining a propeller is very essential you have 3 blade propellors and 4 blade propellers. A 3 blade version has one blade less in the water so this means less resistance than a 4 blade format so a 3 blade version is perfect for a top speed. But since it is offshore, this means at sea and therefore that you have to anticipate waves and therefore reduce gas and accelerate constantly. Because you only have 3 leaves in the water, this of course suffers from acceleration loss and this is not what we want plus this also means less grip in the corners. That is why you see most boats with 4 blades use if it is a course with many curves. Apart from the fact that you have 3 or 4 blades, you also have the pitch of the screw, this is the angle at which the blade is located.

4 Pitch of the propeller

The pitch determines the speed of the engine. You always want the speed at the desired speed because you do not want to be below or above the desired speed or this determines the life of the engine. But the pitch also determines the top speed the larger the pitch the faster your boat will run the smaller the pitch the faster the boat will accelerate. So determining a propeller is not just done in 123 this requires a lot of testing of the boat because one boat is not the same boat.

5 Mounting height of engine

You then have 1 factor who determines the speed. That is the height of the engine against over the fuselage. You want the lower unit to be as high as possible, which ensures that the lower unit has less resistance to the water. But for in the waves, the lower unit should not be too high or it will constantly come out of the water so you are looking for an ideal height per sea.

6 Additional rules

Apart from all this information, there are also stricter rules such as that you must have a fixed ballast and therefore may not be able to change during the race the boat may only have a minimum weight and this is determined by the number of horsepower you have. The height of lower unit may also have a maximum height that is imposed on you class.