Aeroboat by Clayton Reeves

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by DCockey, Aug 3, 2014.

  1. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

    £3 million to £3.5 million, 50 foot speed boat concept to be powered by a rebuilt Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine.

    Currently there are some well executed renderings.

    I first saw this by following a link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/travel/41511/aeroboat-the-best-of-britain-yacht.html on Ike's Boat Building News blog
    http://newboatbuildersnews.blogspot.com/

    THE AEROBOAT'S SPECIFICATIONS
    Length overall: 14.64m
    Beam: 2.98m
    Max draft: 1.14m
    Weight: 7700kg
    Passengers: Seven (max)
    Power: 1,600-2,100hp
    Maximum speed: 75-95 knots (86-109mph)

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...conditioned-Merlin-engine-taken-Spitfire.html

    Press release

    FUTURISTIC DAY-BOAT POWERED BY ROLLS-ROYCE MERLIN V12 ENGINE AT SALUTE TO STYLE

    - The Aeroboat: a blend of high technology, British engineering and glorious history
    - A scale model of this sophisticated, sleek powerboat will be displayed alongside an original Merlin V12 engine
    - Salute to Style: a celebration of speed on water, air and road

    A unique mixture of historic British engineering and cutting-edge design is to be displayed at summer garden party Salute to Style at The Hurlingham Club on 16-19 July: yacht design studio Claydon Reeves is showing their newly-produced model of the Aeroboat alongside the Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engine destined to power the craft.

    A stylish and entirely British project, every single one of the 12 Aeroboat super-yachts destined for production will be powered by a reconditioned, fuel-injected Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engine, with documented provenance, detuned to 1,100hp and giving a potential speed range of 75-95kts.

    Inspired by the sleek lines of the famous Spitfire fighter, from the stern and sweeping tail echoing the wing's trailing edge to the authentic air intake scoop, the Aeroboat's throttle and switchgear design is aircraft-inspired and the shock-mounted forward seats are a nod to the Spitfire's own landing gear.

    Like many of the unique classic cars and historic racers displayed during bijoux event Salute to Style at The Hurlingham Club, the Aeroboat is built to customer specifications: behind its retro style influence, the boat is a contemporary, high-tech beautiful creation in carbon fibre, Kevlar and lightweight wood veneer, all British-sourced. Every element of its interior design, from the cockpit to the trim, engine specifications and exterior finishes, can be configured to suit its owner.

    At Salute to Style, the Aeroboat and the Merlin V12 engine join a range of prestigious automotive machinery, from Mille Miglia and Le Mans racers to prime examples of worldwide craftsmanship in motoring history, in an elegant celebration of speed on water, air and road.
    http://www.autoblog.com/2014/05/21/aeroboat-rolls-royce-merlin-v12-speedboat/
     
  2. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

  3. AndySGray
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    AndySGray Senior Member

    Spiffing idea old chap (One only needs to find a spare 3.5 million, maybe down the back of one's settee :p)
     
  4. SukiSolo
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    SukiSolo Senior Member

  5. designbymaro
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    designbymaro Yacht Designer

  6. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

    Apparently you misunderstood my remark. The word "design" is used cover a wide range of activities associated with boats, vehicles and other products. I was differentiating between the more aesthetic related activities compared with the more technical activities.

    I used to work for a very large automaker leading the engineering portion of new vehicle programs. We worked extremely closely with the design studios on a daily basis, generally as soon as the sketching started. My direction to the engineers was always to determine what it took to do what the studio designers wanted and the associated implications and trade-offs, not to say it couldn't be done. And if the studio designers' idea was just not feasible then the engineers would work with the studio designers to try to find an alternative. Frequently once the studio designers and their management understood what was required to execute something which was pushing the boundaries they would decide it wasn't worth the trade-offs.

    There can be a huge difference between creating renderings of a concept, and actually turning a concept into a real boat/auto/etc with all the constraints which appear along the way.
     
  7. SukiSolo
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    SukiSolo Senior Member

    Somewhere in the the middle of this ground between industrial design and engineering is where I seem to have ended up. The important aspect is the fundamental creativity where good design can flourish, and new ideas become reality.

    As for the original concept, which David thoughtfully and correctly calls 'well executed renderings', for me personally, it smacks a little of fin de ciecle exuberance. Perhaps only those who caused the financial crisis of 2007/8 can actually afford one of the dozen postulated for build.
     
  8. Ad Hoc
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    Ad Hoc Naval Architect

    I don't see any condescension in his post at all. It is a factual statement, that there is more than one discipline that is called "design" and David was merely clarifying that "design" in the article is not of the technical side. It is a term that is widely misunderstood, especially on this forum. May be you feel threatened or paranoid by such a statement?

    Unfortunately that is where you shoot yourself in the foot. You're now making the assumption that only a "designer" (a non-technical) has the ability to 'design' something beyond a given/known boundary. Oh dear...i see where the paranoia comes from now sadly...

    The hubris of ignorance is a wonderful thing :eek:

    I think he did in spectacular fashion....
     
  9. rwatson
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    rwatson Senior Member

    "There can be a huge difference between creating renderings of a concept, and actually turning a concept into a real boat/auto/etc with all the constraints which appear along the way"

    Soooooo true !!

    I remember seeing a documentary about the development of the RR water cooled engines for 'Pylon racing'.

    The goal was to have it run at the top of the green on the test rig, for I think 6 hours straight.

    The engineers were putting their stop watches away about an hour from the end of the test then - WHAM!. Con rods sticking out of the block everywhere.

    Realism at its worst.
     
  10. Jeremy Harris
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    Jeremy Harris Senior Member

    There has always been a potential conflict area between artistic design and engineering reality. The people who produce artistic designs often have little or no regard for what might be a realistic product in engineering terms; equally engineers frequently tend to assume function must always take precedence over form

    The best products are those where designers and engineers understand and respect each other's contributions, and make joint compromises to achieve the design goal.

    The worst are those where either engineering takes precedence, with no regard for design, or where design takes precedence with no regard for engineering.

    My own favourite example of a product where design ignored engineering and functional good practice were the door handles in a new house we bought back in 1993. They looked very nice, polished brass cylinders, with a smooth surface and very minimalist look. Within a week we were cursing them. If your hands were even slightly moist the handles were impossible to turn, meaning that we had to walk around the house with paper towels to be able to get enough grip on the handles to be able to open the doors.................

    Sadly I've seen far too many flashy boat designs here than are nothing more than artistic renderings of impossible boats.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2014
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  11. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

    Interestingly, I've been joking about doing this very thing with my Congresscritter's office couch since, some years ago, Congress up and found a hundred million they had lost.
     
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  12. AndySGray
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    AndySGray Senior Member

    Ah, but it isn't lost if someone knows where it is....;)

    I think you'd be more successful with the Piñata approach - hang then in a tree and hit repeatedly with a big stick 'till they break and large chunks of hard earned taxpayers cash start falling to the ground...:D


    "Wish I had enough money to buy an Elephant!"
    "Why on earth do you want an Elephant?" :confused:
    "I don't - I just wish I had enough money to be able to buy one." :D
    (courtesy the two Ronnies)
     
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