My thundercat

[Roflhat]

Helps keep the nose down, useful if it's windy conditions, these boats get extremely flighty especially 1up. You'll notice in the videos of racing it's always 2 people, the copilot uses their weight to stable the boat

[Roflhat]

Got the new throttle roller fitted, along with the 1m length of ali angle along the transom. Definitely an improvement, boat feels far more drivable in choppy conditions, especially with the steering damper too.

[realdeal]

Fel2. I can buy a trailer anywhere. Do these cats need a particular trailer? Louie

[fel2]

I made mine with an old sea doo trailer and some really good wood, but you should buy a new sea doo trailer, they cheap and won't rust, they are easy to adapt too, jacques gave me the mesurement and it was all right. I should have the picture somewhere in my old email if you really need it

[Roflhat]

Got my other 70hp project up for sale - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/113201949134?
great start if somebody wants to build the ultimate thundercat engine

[Nomountainshere]

so cool to follow your exploits! Thanks for sharing and making the effort. Got two quick questions; In an earlier post I saw you are/were running a fuel bladder - where do I get hold of one? (Northern Europe) - found them in Aus/Nz, but customs are a hassle. Secondly, would like to trim my engine further down to stabilize the boat a bit with one one driving it - currently I'm already in the lowest/innermost set of holes, so, any input on where to find suitable transom wedges for the M50d2? (or any idea how to tame the Aquarius with a 21p Ronhill? Gets somewhat lively at WOT ... crossing form FUN -to WHOO Any input is much appreciated.

[Roflhat]

Glad you're enjoying it!

I still use the fuel bladder, it was imported from Australia. Has been great so far, and you don't have to worry about it venting. Thundercats used to race with similar ones but the interior lining would come off and block the tanks after a while.

You can get special brackets to give you more negative trim - https://www.specialistsmallcraft.co....transom-wedges

I've never used the trim brackets, I just used a piece of wood near the top engine bolts to trim it in more. Have to be very careful at WOT 1up as you go faster, boat gets very unstable. You generally just get a feel for it, and get better at reading the water so you know where the gusts of wind are

[Roflhat]

Had some cracking days out through the summer, got out for a run a while back 3up in mine and 3up in jacks, went into some of the caves and arches around Uig.

New drybag, all black of course


Weighed the boat and engine, with around 10l of fuel and the anchor, came in at 171.5kg. Just doing final preparations for Coniston next month.

Got a new helmet for it, courtesy of Douglas Curley at Eric Young & Co. who are very kindly sponsoring me.

Bought a dial indicator and used an old record with a degree wheel sticker to do the timing. Never managed to find a service manual for this engine but spoken to lots of folk, mine was at 21 degrees at WOT, now adjusted to 23 so will see how it goes. Been told I can go higher but dont want to go blowing holes in the pistons


Photo from last year

[Roflhat]

Some exciting development on the props I designed too, making decent progress with them. Should be ready for testing soon hopefully

[jeffstevens763@g]

Cracking love the stealth look

[realdeal]

Roflhat. Good job. Keep up the good work. Louie

[Roflhat]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Cracking love the stealth look

Originally Posted by realdeal

Roflhat. Good job. Keep up the good work. Louie

cheers

[Roflhat]

Getting a lot of testing done just now, different engine heights, propellers etc.
Got the first 2 Forge V1 cleavers back, one tuned to design spec the other tuned up to 19p and more lift. So happy with them, they run superbly and really fast. Awesome acceleration and still better top speed than the Mercury equivelents. Absolutely delighted with them. Having another 2 set up just now, one with less diameter and one with a "stealth" cut on the leading edge.



New helmet is super comfy too, think I'll start wearing this more often on the boat


A bit of weight reduction too, cut the steering bracket (only used on circuit class boats). Means I can trim the engine further in and also it weighed 1.8kg.

[Roflhat]

Successful time down at Coniston Powerboat Records Week. I’ve been out every day except Wednesday, which I spent re-tuning the engine to squeeze a bit more out of it. On Monday I got 62.79 miles per hour, 63.65mph on Tuesday, 67.83 on Thursday and after three runs this morning I hit 69.99mph twice, and then reached 70.10mph, faster than the existing world record of 67.47mph. Hit 74.9mph on one run today!

Huge thanks to my sponsors -
Douglas Curley at EYCO
Mathesons Furnishings
Gulfxstream Limited
Seatrek Marine Commercial Boat hire
Specialist Small Craft Ltd - Marine Distribution
Lochs Diving Services Ltd
Venture West
Fraser Ralley
Islay Seafari

Thanks to Adrian Morse for the use of his propellers too

[jeffstevens763@g]

Christ that's motoring top job

[spartacus]

Absolutely fantastic news.

Get an email off to Yamaha and Caesar for some PR and see if they're interested in supporting you now you hold the world record!

[Maximus]

Congratulations!... Great stuff! (Douglas has kept me in the loop)
I know how hard theses speed records are fought for

.....Reckon by the pictures you might just have trimmed out a "bit" more!!

PM sent

[Roflhat]

Thanks very much! Been an absolutely amazing response from this, I’m on top of the world still!
This should hopefully make attracting sponsors a bit easier right enough, I’ve proven I’m capable of it.
Amazingly the boat feels totally planted, which is incredible after seeing in the photos that only the gearbox and prop are in contact with the water. Felt as stable at 65 knots as she does at 50. Even after we had passed the measures kilometre marks I was holding the throttle wide open, it was just that stable. Got to be a good sign, have to push for 70 knots now!

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Roflhat

Successful time down at Coniston Powerboat Records Week. I’ve been out every day except Wednesday, which I spent re-tuning the engine to squeeze a bit more out of it. On Monday I got 62.79 miles per hour, 63.65mph on Tuesday, 67.83 on Thursday and after three runs this morning I hit 69.99mph twice, and then reached 70.10mph, faster than the existing world record of 67.47mph. Hit 74.9mph on one run today!

Great effort, well done [emoji106]
I reckon you could still shave a few more kilos off & gain a few more MPH[emoji6]

[chipko]

Holy shite! ‘Hats off’ Roflhat.
Amazing result, so pleased for you and your team.