You guys know I been playing with boat desgin a long time . I came up with a prototype of the gt extreme almost 20 years ago. It was made of kevlar and is still in service.

I have settled on a 17x52 incher that is being made out of a space age combo of kevlar and polyprolene and a propreitary fabric. Same stuff they are makeing bullet proof vest out of plus the new fabric and a special resin

It is tough, a sample plate with stood 20 hits at 50 yards from my 17hmr ( 20gr hornady v-max). It is truley bullet proof !!! It is light at only 183 lbs.

Only 2 problems, it does't hold paint well, but is straw colored, It reacts with flotation foam so you will need a commerical fishing lic to buy.

Intial runs with battery and 6 gal of gas pushed by a stage 4 23hp gdsd

43.8 mph, it ran flat but I had to slow down in the turns.

I am going to move the gas tank and battery to the front to counter bal the
weight of a stock 35hp, with proper gears and reworked cleaver style prop , the computer has it running 57mph light and 53mph with a 3 man load ( give or take 5 mph)


The special resin takes 25 to 30 days to setup so I will only produce 12 boats a year. Cost depending on lay out, about 15K. Think about it you still get 40 + out of a stock GDSD, the money you save on stage 3 and replacement motors will cover the extra cost of the hull in no time. Your grand children will run this hull . I have two orders and will take on 10 more for the next 12 month's at that price.


PM for trest drive if you a interested.

JD

pics?

How do you think they will handle logs and jumping beaver dams? Can you add steelflex to the bottom?

Alright already, show us some pics.

We need pics and video. I am all about something lightweight so it is easier to remove off of a sandbar. Can the interior be laid out per customer specs?

I've been around airboats both aluminum and fiberglass my entire life and I just curious.... even though it held up to the rifle shot could it take more force over a larger area on the hull?

I guess only time will tell... Fiberglass airboats stay cracked.

I am doing the edit on the video right now. I have a system designed into the hull that makes for extra lift and a presurerized system to spray a wetting agent (that is friendly to the envirement) reduceing friction in the mud.

I do not want to show these points on the net until I have conformation on my app for the patients. It may take me a hour or so to get it edited.

The vidoe has me passing this guy in a old bass boat running wide open pushed by a 75 hp out board. The expression on his face is priceless.


No need for steel flex, the spraysystem works better, surface prep and special primers to get it to stick would added to much to the cost of the hull for minimal performance gains.

JD

Nice.... I will continue to follow your work..

Where are you located?

If I keep stopping to answer question, I will never get the video done, post your questions and I will get to them in a hour or so. I got someone to help me post the video when it is done check back later tonight.

JD

Be sure to edit out the part where I screamed like a bitch in that turn

Dam I got up this morning and found out the video has't posted . All I can say is I am sorry , you boys have been had! Hope you enjoyed 4-1 as much as I did.

JD

ass

Well done!

you sure your aprils fools joke wasnt an april fools joke???

I pulled a double april fools, my sec screwed something up yesterday and I told her after she left work. She was all freaking out trying to figure out how she screwed up the project, and after 10 min or so I told her april fools. Then an hour or so later I told her the april fools was an april fools, and that she really did screw it up, so fix it next week. lol

I no longer feel bad for thinkin you're full of shit.

Good one....I am a composite engineer and have designed one on the computer but my numbers were not nearly as "good" as yours were and I was thinking that something was fishy... The boat I designed would be about 480 lb for a 20x60. It was made primarily out of Polypropylene fiber with faces of fiberglass (so paint would stick!).

The core was PVC so it would not rot in moisture and is tougher then PU foam. Anyway I used to make ballistic panels for the USMC out of composites and I am still not sure that my design could take repeated impacts from beaver dams and logs etc...so only a real test of a hull would prove anything. I don't want to spend the money right now for such a test.

Problem is something might stop a bullet but repeated impacts will start micro cracks in the epoxy and after awhile de-lamination. So for now...I am sticking with aluminum. I will probably try the composite solution eventually but probably not before next April 1st

Diagonal wood strips, vacuum bagged and sheathed in multidirectional carbon fiber. Done!!!

Cat 5 Composites.

CAT 5...

Almost everything he said (Kevlar, vacume bag, no wood, etc.) but it don't go that fast.

Old pic before the camo and steering.

Couldn't remember who it was that had one on here. Thanks for postin it.


FYI, SETX Performance has Cat 5 also.

There are cores that are far more resistant to impact then wood. Take for example some of the foam that is PVC/SAN that is 15-20 pounds per cubic foot. Those higher density foams are extreemly impact resistant. I have hit them with a hammer as hard as I could with only minor damage. I just stay away from polyurethane foam since it will rot compared to the higher end plastics. Also in the lower densities polyurethane is to "friable" and easily becomes delaminated from the face laminate.

The only thing about these high density foams is they are more expensive then wood. The strength is great though and they do not have grain like wood so they will not split/warp.

JD's comment about carbon fiber is so true. I had a boss that insisted on carbon fiber for a project because it soundedd exotic...but even though it is very strong and stiff it is NOT tough at all...and shatters very nicely when stressed wrong. Great for areas that need stiffness but are not getting high impacts in the wrong mode.

JD I am interested in your boat design so I sent a PM to you.

Thanks.

There's one at SETX that is just like the one in the pic, except it has dry storage in the center bench, as well as both rear seat pods.

A dude in boothville builds a really nice fiberglass hull

Very interesting topic.

It was ran at the SETX run with the 40" shaft MB on it. I'd put carb & duals on the motor the night before. Did pretty good, but I never did get a chance to run it or see it runnin wide open.

It's kind of cool knowing that somebody is enjoying my idea and that they are out there after all these years. If I remenber right ,this goes back to before beavertail copied the gd. about 25 years ago.

JD

The more I think about this, the more it bugs me. Do ya remember your Navy contractor's 1st name by any chance? Doubt if it's the same guy, but sure is a close story.

JD my uncle bought a little kevlar hull for a small longtail from seabreeze years back. I still have it down at my father in laws. Nice lil hull and it had a life time warranty. Too bad they still are not around to patch it for free

My boat is very custom. The stock model has a big box seat in the middle and no Kevlar. When they do a poling platform, it mounts to the aft boxes. They run better with some weight in the bow.

One buddy has a PD on his and a few are run with long tails.

This is my boat during layup. Sure is hard to drill through.

I went pass cat 5 today.

It is my hull. What is real cool, they are building it like it was concieved (great minds think alike). They had a couple in the shop with long tails and a flatstyle fishing boat just out the mold. These guy's are top shelf. I have not seen better layup work ever, and attention to detail is 105%. What I know about composite work and kevlar is old school. The stuff they have avaible is way advance to what , I played with back in 95.


Their build weighs about 400 lbs with floation,I am guessing that is about 150 lbs less than a similar size al. boat with the same aminitys. It is a pretty boat when done right, and they do it right.



Now if I can just sell one or two of the 3 boats I own I can make room for one.

JD