Proteus Tunnel hull

[dwb2620]

Anybody ever own one of these? Back in the mid nineties when I was also into Tunnel boats, I was real close to buying one. Didn't really care if it ran well or not, just thought it looked cool!

 

[bermudadude]

ha haaa,,ur like me. i remember almost buying 1 too. jus for the look

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Anybody ever own one of these? Back in the mid nineties when I was also into Tunnel boats, I was real close to buying one. Didn't really care if it ran well or not, just thought it looked cool!

Bobby Tom built something like that back about that time. They raced it somewhere in California but if it had of performed well I think you would have seen it produced. Actually Joe Monohan may know something about it because he and Bobby Tom are close friends. I would get in touch with Joe if you want to know more about it. That is "IF" that is the boat Bobby designed. That huge cutout at the rear on each side of the transom would cut away a lot of usable air. I wouldn't think you would want to do something like that. Bobby's boat wasn't cut in the rear like that if I remember right.

-Carl

 

[RonShaw]

Marty Davis, (the Engine Analysis Software Expert), used to sell these tunnels years ago. He should be able to get you all the reasons why you don't see them anymore.

 

[RonShaw]

http://rc-engine-analysis-software.com/antaec.htm

At $599 for the carbon fiber hull only in 1995, all I can say is WOW!!! It was manufactured by AE Composites. They also made a carbon outboard pipe for $69.

 

[Mike Byer]

Pretty sure none were ever produced, had one on order with Marty and never got it, he said they had decided not do the project.

 

[dwb2620]

Same here, I seem to remember that there was a delay or something and I could not get an approximate date of when it would be built.

 

[dave roach]

I remember that boat.It was built in Indy and was very fast if you could keep it on the water.

Dave

 

[Carl Van Houten]

I got Bobby Tom on the phone last week and he mailed me a picture of the boat I was talking about. Bobby called his design the DRAGON and it won the 1997 NAMBA Nats. He had some issues with the handling that came mostly from the deep cut forks in the design. He later added canards to the boat in an attempt to resolve the issues. I scanned it and tried to post the picture but it would not load. I will try it again later. The boat looks a lot like the Proteus in the way that both boats have deep forks.It looks cool to have the forks cut that deep but I have found that cutting that much air out of the front of a tunnel boat causes the boat to become very sensitive and hard to trim.

Okay, I got it to load. see attached. The cowlings have changed quite a bit but the hulls favor.

-Carl

 

[Kris Flynn]

looks like a Shaman (minus the cowl)

 

[Slideblues]

I remember my jaw drop'n to the floor when I saw the Proteus ad........

Very cool for its time,never did hear any run in reports.

Like that last pic too Carl

Gene

 

[Carl Van Houten]

looks like a Shaman (minus the cowl)

Look closer. That boat has no camber and if I cut my forks back that far I would still be at the pond trying to get it trimmed. LOL Those kinds of modifications are too radical for me. I'll let somebody else beat their head against the wall. Back in the 90's there were a lot of things like that tried. Bobby's boats were always rigged very nice with no short cuts. He loved the out of the box designs and wasn't happy running what everybody else had.

-Carl

 

[Kris Flynn]

looks like a Shaman (minus the cowl)

Look closer. That boat has no camber and if I cut my forks back that far I would still be at the pond trying to get it trimmed. LOL Those kinds of modifications are too radical for me. I'll let somebody else beat their head against the wall. Back in the 90's there were a lot of things like that tried. Bobby's boats were always rigged very nice with no short cuts. He loved the out of the box designs and wasn't happy running what everybody else had.

-Carl

I was looking at the deck lines and if you moved the front of the tunnel forwards (or cuts as i think you are calling them) then I still think it looks like a Shaman.

The Shaman is a sweet looking boat, I am not saying otherwise. Just awsome that a boat that is 20 years old does not 'look' out of place today...the underside may say something else though!

 

[Andy Greene]

Would be a very cool ModVP project in the right hands

 

[Carl Van Houten]

I see what you are saying and you are right. Bobby's design was going in the right direction in its sleekness. For a boat that was designed in the 90's... it had a very futuristic and out of the box look. Bobby worked for K&B for many years and loves thinking about new tunnel boat designs even today. He is still working with that design in his spare time and has made some changes.

The bottom of the boat looked very much like a Lee Craft XT- 460

One thing he hasn't changed is the deep cut forks. There were some cool boats out there back then.

I just thought you guys might enjoy seeing it because it was so similar to the Proteus design.

-Carl

 

[BradSpencer]

Here is a 7.5cc cabon pipe made by the same company (AE Composites).

Very nicely made, super light.

Been sitting on this one for a little while, got to get around to doing some testing with it.

Looks fast

 

[Mark Poole ModVP]

I believe somewhere in the rules there is a limit on how deep the fork cut outs can be. Pretty sure the Proteus exceeded it.

 

[moparbarn]

I believe somewhere in the rules there is a limit on how deep the fork cut outs can be. Pretty sure the Proteus exceeded it.

I can't find anything in impba rules about it, mark. Maybe namba?

 

[Carl Van Houten]

I believe somewhere in the rules there is a limit on how deep the fork cut outs can be. Pretty sure the Proteus exceeded it.

I can't find anything in impba rules about it, mark. Maybe namba?

IMPBA rules don't limit the fork length. I was just talking to a friend of mine last night about this very thing. If you cut the forks back too far, it makes the boat hard to trim. I tried that once and spent way too much time trying to get it to work and finally went back to a reasonable fork length. The ML Boat Works forks are about as deep as you would ever want to make your forks (percentage wise) . His boats work great with forks cut to that length but if you go much further than that you will wish you had a retrieve motor with an electric start. LOL

-Carl

 

[Kris Flynn]

David Moyle has pretty long forks on his boats and the work GREAT...he also runs no stumble blocks!!

Carl, when you talk about fork length casing issue, are you referring to how the water comes up over the center section easier?