JD's New 45 Tunnel

[Jerry Dunlap]

After a couple of years of running a 45 size tunnel I didn't design or build, I decided to build a new boat for the upcoming racing season. WOF(Wood Over Foam) was used for construction and the cowling is plywood and balsawood. I basically cloned the Top Speed 3 cowling and made a couple of design changes from my previous 7.5 tunnel builds.

The boat is 32" long, my other 7.5 designs were 34" in length. The 8" tunnel width is the same, but the curvature of the top is greater than previous designs. OK, I took the deck shape from a Van Houten Shaman. The sponson dihedral is 16 degrees. The slap sides are higher. The boat isn't light - probably around 6 1/2 pounds.

I will have an opportunity to race it for the first time this coming Sunday at our club's Mini Daffodil Regatta.

JD

 

[HTV Boats]

Jerry,

Looks really neat. Let us know how it performs, I suspect it will do well. Would make a dynamite full "P" boat for the sparkie crowd too. TopSteroid-3 We need you back at Chuckytown one of these years.

Mic

 

[Ronald van Essen]

He Dunnie,

Nice piece of work.

Hope it runs well.

Ronald

 

[David Moyle]

Looks great Jerry, I'm sure it will perform well!

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

wow 32 inches is small jerry

are you going to run a stock motor ? (can muffler )

i was concerned that 36 inches was going to be too small

for the nova 46

The new boat is actually 1/2" longer than a Van Houten Shaman(but, then who would measure a very successful 7.5 tunnel ^_^ )?

The boat will race in the NAMBA B OPC(Stock) Class. It will be interesting to see how well it performs in race conditions this Sunday.

JD

 

[Marty Slater]

we will be waiting for the race report very nice uncal Dunny

Marty

 

[rich blattler]

Nice looking tunnel JD. I still enjoy digging through my old boat modeler mags to read your articles.

Rich

 

[ozbryan]

Great looking boat

 

[Jim Mamaril]

Ok Jerry I'll bring mine out and we can play this Sunday.

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Ok Jerry I'll bring mine out and we can play this Sunday.

See ya on Sunday.

JD

 

[Slideblues]

Im a sucker for that profile in yellow

Nice work Jerry !

Gene

 

[Aldana]

Looks awesome! I hope to see it in action soon congratulations Mr. Dunlap

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

First the good news - the new boat won it's first heat of competition. Granted the water conditions were terrible and there was more surviving than actual racing, but the boat did finish first. It appears to be a fairly decent rough water boat. But, tunnel boat racing in rough water conditions isn't all that great.

Now the bad news - the stub shaft stripped out of the lower unit after that first heat and I didn't have a spare lower unit at the lake.

Next opportunity to race the boat will be Saturday, April 6, at the Northwest Outboard and Sport Hydro Championships in Centralia, WA.

JD

 

[dion smith]

Congratulations!!

 

[Kris Flynn]

Love the profile Jerry, any shots of the rear or underside

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Love the profile Jerry, any shots of the rear or underside

Hi Chris,

Once I get some paint over the left sponson that I bluepinted to match the right sponson, I'll post some photos of the rear and underside. The boat has been an interesting journey.

JD

 

[Ronald van Essen]

First the good news - the new boat won it's first heat of competition. Granted the water conditions were terrible and there was more surviving than actual racing, but the boat did finish first. It appears to be a fairly decent rough water boat. But, tunnel boat racing in rough water conditions isn't all that great.

Now the bad news - the stub shaft stripped out of the lower unit after that first heat and I didn't have a spare lower unit at the lake.

Next opportunity to race the boat will be Saturday, April 6, at the Northwest Outboard and Sport Hydro Championships in Centralia, WA.

JD

Well done Jerry.

To finish first, you first have to finish. Especially in rough water conditions.

You must be a great designer, that the new boat won its maiden run. Job well done

Ronald

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

First the good news - the new boat won it's first heat of competition. Granted the water conditions were terrible and there was more surviving than actual racing, but the boat did finish first. It appears to be a fairly decent rough water boat. But, tunnel boat racing in rough water conditions isn't all that great.

Now the bad news - the stub shaft stripped out of the lower unit after that first heat and I didn't have a spare lower unit at the lake.

Next opportunity to race the boat will be Saturday, April 6, at the Northwest Outboard and Sport Hydro Championships in Centralia, WA.

JD

Well done Jerry.

To finish first, you first have to finish. Especially in rough water conditions.

You must be a great designer, that the new boat won its maiden run. Job well done

Ronald

Hi Ronald,

Having run model tunnel boats in less than idea racing conditions since 1976 is probably more of a factor.

JD

 

[Jerry Dunlap]

Here's a couple of photos showing the back and bottom of my boat. Sponson angle is 16 degrees. The distance from the back edge of the sponson sheeting to the 1/16" step is 16". The sponson width is 1 3/4".

The next opportunity to race the boat will be on April 6.

JD

 

[57fairlane500]

Looks good Jerry, bring it up to Twin Lakes this Saturday. We are going to have good weather.