Sure seems dead around here.

[shoboat]

Carl,

I am with you, it is not dead at all around here. I am over 783+ finished propellers

already just from PayPal orders, and it is still October. Busy year in the propeller shop for sure.

Andy,

I believe you are correct, more are getting out to the lake or pond. With the increase in electric boats

in the last five years or so, there is plenty more boaters around the world than ever before.

Thanks For Reading,

Mark Sholund

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Carl,

I am with you, it is not dead at all around here. I am over 783+ finished propellers

already just from PayPal orders, and it is still October. Busy year in the propeller shop for sure.

Andy,

I believe you are correct, more are getting out to the lake or pond. With the increase in electric boats

in the last five years or so, there is plenty more boaters around the world than ever before.

Thanks For Reading,

Mark Sholund

That's great Mark!

I think that I sent Nova Rossi 43 Lynx since Ron Shaw and I started working together in our joint effort to "make tunnels available again" and I had sold at least 30 before we started so that is over 70 of just that one model so people are racing somewhere! LOL We have a phase II coming up soon that should shake some things up. I really feel as though we are going to see a noticeable increase in the outboard classes next year.

 

[Bill Britton]

...

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Been pretty busy myself the last month. Just finished these a few days ago. Not racing for a few years gave me time to focus on design and theory. Building literally a hundred boats, running it for a few weeks, then making changes and building again. I learned that 30 year old tunnel boat design practices are good but quite a few "standards" and "rules" are fictional or just outright wrong...

44118507_2335461779816327_2921856824015585280_o.jpg

44179863_2335461636483008_7106778218849370112_o.jpg

44129338_2335461709816334_328715974834388992_o.jpg

Bring one of those to SOWEGA and let's RACE! I will be driving a wooden boat that is 25 years old in the sport 3.5cc class. Mike Rushing used to call it "Twiggy" because it was a wooden boat. We only built one of them and then I designed the Lynx so it is just a one of a kind but it is no slouch now. I may run in Mod 3.5 too but I'll have to see what the weather is going to be like that weekend. If it is not going to be windy, I will run it in both classes of 3.5cc tunnel.

 

[Brandon Atwell]

Weve had a heck of a season in District 13!

This upcoming race is at 15 boats in EACH tunnel class. 216 total on top of that! Nothing too shabby for a grand prix race. The past tunnel championships in sowega were also a hit, and the Atwells are gearing up for next year with some possible new additions and revamps to our fleet as well

 

[Bill Britton]

Bring one of those to SOWEGA and let's RACE! I will be driving a wooden boat that is 25 years old in the sport 3.5cc class. Mike Rushing used to call it "Twiggy" because it was a wooden boat. We only built one of them and then I designed the Lynx so it is just a one of a kind but it is no slouch now. I may run in Mod 3.5 too but I'll have to see what the weather is going to be like that weekend. If it is not going to be windy, I will run it in both classes of 3.5cc tunnel.

...

 

[Terry Keeley]

Been pretty busy myself the last month. Just finished these a few days ago. Not racing for a few years gave me time to focus on design and theory. Building literally a hundred boats, running it for a few weeks, then making changes and building again. I learned that 30 year old tunnel boat design practices are good but quite a few "standards" and "rules" are fictional or just outright wrong...

44118507_2335461779816327_2921856824015585280_o.jpg

44179863_2335461636483008_7106778218849370112_o.jpg

44129338_2335461709816334_328715974834388992_o.jpg

Sweet!

 

[Grimracer]

Bill,, your boats look great. Super Nice!

I find.. that I just don't make I waters my first stop anymore.. FaceBook is typically my first stop.. I suspect thats true for some or most of ya. Here it is.. 11am and I am getting my first post in for the day.

I tend to bounce from Run Ryder to I Waters as time allows.

Taking time to post.. I just dont do it that much anymore. I dont have anything to share all that often.

Grim

 

[Bill Britton]

Bill,, your boats look great. Super Nice!

I find.. that I just don't make I waters my first stop anymore.. FaceBook is typically my first stop.. I suspect thats true for some or most of ya. Here it is.. 11am and I am getting my first post in for the day.

I tend to bounce from Run Ryder to I Waters as time allows.

Taking time to post.. I just dont do it that much anymore. I dont have anything to share all that often.

Grim

...

 

[Tommy Lee]

Bill Britton-would you care to explain what is wrong with the 30+ year old designs? The XT-460 tunnel boat designed by myself and Rod Geraghty is 33-34 years old and is still winning races. In fact it is the standard by which ALL TUNNEL BOATS ARE BUILT. If not for the XT-460 NONE of the tunnels on the market today would exist. There is no such thing as the perfect boat but a boat that has been around for 30+ years and still winning can't be all bad.

 

[Bill Britton]

...

 

[Grimracer]

Bill Britton-would you care to explain what is wrong with the 30+ year old designs? The XT-460 tunnel boat designed by myself and Rod Geraghty is 33-34 years old and is still winning races. In fact it is the standard by which ALL TUNNEL BOATS ARE BUILT. If not for the XT-460 NONE of the tunnels on the market today would exist. There is no such thing as the perfect boat but a boat that has been around for 30+ years and still winning can't be all bad.

Tommy..

The VS-1 (yes its outdated in my opinion). Was not designed using the XT460 as a base platform. As a matter of fact I have never owned or drove a 460. I really knew very little about the hull until I updated the build manual for Ron using your hand written instructions.

Grim

 

[Kris Flynn]

Bill Britton-would you care to explain what is wrong with the 30+ year old designs? The XT-460 tunnel boat designed by myself and Rod Geraghty is 33-34 years old and is still winning races. In fact it is the standard by which ALL TUNNEL BOATS ARE BUILT. If not for the XT-460 NONE of the tunnels on the market today would exist. There is no such thing as the perfect boat but a boat that has been around for 30+ years and still winning can't be all bad.

Tommy..

The VS-1 (yes its outdated in my opinion). Was not designed using the XT460 as a base platform. As a matter of fact I have never owned or drove a 460. I really knew very little about the hull until I updated the build manual for Ron using your hand written instructions.

Grim

X2 for me

never had or seen one myself...heard they are pretty good, especially for the age!

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Nobody can deny that the XT was the first modern day tunnel boat and had its place for sure.

But, Let's talk about the new style tunnel boats...

The Lynx was the first O/B tunnel boat that ever had the capability to actually layover at half track due to its tuned aerodynamic design. When it was introduced to the market in 2004, we dominated so bad with it that people started pulling out of the class. That's when I decided to sell it because I felt like it was actually hurting the class.

Recently people have started to experiment with what else can be done with these variables and some other good boats are starting to pop up and it is past time that this has happened because these designs and new ideas keep our hobby from dying out.

I have recently released a new fiberglass 3.5 round track boat that takes advantage of some new ideas and this boat is very stable at high speed for the mod 3.5cc class. It will do things that Lynx has trouble doing. I'm not sure how many Ron has in stock today but i have already made about 12 of them.

I am excited about the new boats being made and look forward to kicking all of their asses! LOL Just kidding. This next year will be a blast for sure. I have a new 7.5cc Tunnel design that is in the molding stages right now. Hopefully a full glass version will make it to SOWEGA this spring and then on to Huntsville where we can see what it will do on the clock.

Thanks to RON SHAW because none of these new designs would be possible without his contributions to our hobby. THANKS RON!

It should be fun! NOPE NOT DEAD AT ALL...

 

[Bill Britton]

...

 

[Grimracer]

Bill.. the Stumble blocks make lift.... hum.. not as I understand it... to me.. JUST THE OPPOSITE!

Limiting the air though the tunnel causes it (the air) to SPEED UP.. making it the LOW pressure.. causing down force (Drag)..

Also.. some wild things happen near or at the back of the tunnel.. just the opposite of what most think making the above a GOOD THING!

I cannot build boats anymore so so who cares what what grim says..LOL......

I like your boats and would love to study one up close.. its a good looking boat!

Grim

 

[Bill Britton]

Bill.. the Stumble blocks make lift.... hum.. not as I understand it... to me.. JUST THE OPPOSITE!

Limiting the air though the tunnel causes it (the air) to SPEED UP.. making it the LOW pressure.. causing down force (Drag)..

Also.. some wild things happen near or at the back of the tunnel.. just the opposite of what most think making the above a GOOD THING!

I cannot build boats anymore so so who cares what what grim says..LOL......

I like your boats and would love to study one up close.. its a good looking boat!

Grim

...

 

[Carl Van Houten]

Bill.. the Stumble blocks make lift.... hum.. not as I understand it... to me.. JUST THE OPPOSITE!

Limiting the air though the tunnel causes it (the air) to SPEED UP.. making it the LOW pressure.. causing down force (Drag)..

Also.. some wild things happen near or at the back of the tunnel.. just the opposite of what most think making the above a GOOD THING!

I cannot build boats anymore so so who cares what what grim says..LOL......

I like your boats and would love to study one up close.. its a good looking boat!

Grim

Mike - I'm actually speaking of a boat setup to run loose. I have found that the effect of the air hitting the face of the pads at that angle does create additional lift since they are not exactly parallel to the tunnel. AND at that angle there is little to no low pressure considering the angle of attack. I apologize that I was not clearer in my statement.

PS* - I in no way am stating that I have any answers to the above remarks I made. I simply stated that in my view they are potential areas of improvement.

The tunnel boat is a strange creature for sure. It is fun to play with these effects as they play off of each other. The Taboo has a lot of Aerodynamic stuff happening that help stabilize it. Once I finished it, the resulting look was not exactly what I started out to build. It has quite a plain look to it but looks had no part in its design.

 

[Bill Britton]

 

[Grimracer]

Bill.. why did you pull your posts?..

Grim