Speed Boat on skis

Hello Tom, I think you drew my attention to that NZ development a few years ago which actually dated back to the early 1900s, not long after the Wright brothers took to the air. I have had it a bit easier with light aluminium hull materials and powerful outboards!
We designed a die to extrude our skis in two halves which we then weld down the length of them (top & bottom) and can have baffles inserted within to allow petrol/fuel storage in the relative safety of being outside the hull and underwater most of the time. If you visited our website you would have seen reference to the ski fuel tanks.
Our skis are not flexible as they are the "spines" of the boat and are extruded out of the toughest alloy available for marine usage. I think what you are describing would be good in semi sheltered waters.
Should any viewers know the right people, we are interested to talk to boat builders and/or business developers in the USA and Europe to get our design into the market place in those countries. Thanks, Trevor.

 

I definitely like the idea of having volatile fuels out side of the hull and a safe Remote Fuel System is a must for me.
My interest is in shallow water boating where foils, cushion craft and such protrusions are bit of a problem, as was well shown by the operation of foil ferries in New Zealand and other parts of the World.

I have decided that for shallow water work getting into the air just a few feet when required and a boat can not do that for me.

 

New Boat Looks Terrific Trevor. I Can See A Niche Market In The Water Taxi / Ferry Industry With The High Speed Low Wake Design. Hope You Have Great Success After All Your Hard Work.

 

Have you considered "KickStarter"? . Their rule is 5% IF !!!! they reach the requested amount required for your budget, I would say 600.000 dollar, otherwise it does not cost you anything. However you have to offer something in return , like "for every 300 dollar a trip from Brisbane to Sidney or for every 300 dollar 1 share (provided you increase your shareholding and keep 51%)"
You have to work something out what let people make parting with their money and whereby you can build a business up , which is also attractive to you. What we don't know is , whether Kick Starter or a similar website is only for the American market. Good luck.
Bert

 

Yes I can imagine the trouble trying to get funding. Especially in such a competitive market as boat design. But your design has to appeal to the industry's I already mentioned. Berts suggestion is a good one to Investigate. What about a small ally fishing version say around 4.5 mt open with tiller steer. Terrific for barra fishing up north and it would sit upright on the skis between tides. Low wake and high speed perfect for long runs on the big rivers.

 

Am I wrong in thinking this is basically a sheltered water craft ? The underbelly looks uncomfortably close to the water to me.

 

Yes thats what I see it as. Ideal for fast travel on rivers and harbours. I would not like to go to sea in it.

 

Thank you kindly for your constructive inputs, Brendan and Bert.
I would loved to have utilised Kickstarter as it has been a very powerful funds raiser for American startups, but, sadly, it was not available to the likes of Australia at the time because of legislation in countries outside the USA prohibiting it. I think Australia is finally relinquishing and will allow equity crowdfunding in our spring sitting of parliament.
Mr Efficiency your observation is good, but not quite on the money. The design handles open water very well on a size-for-size basis and can manage awkward chops at higher speeds than monohulls and cats that I know of. You will see an example of its sea handling on our website, www.seaski.com.au, in the Gallery section which has a video entitled "Sea Ski - Amateur Video" that shows the 2t prototype at 35 knots in seas that were rougher than appears the case (1.5m on the day).
Another good feature of the skis at sea is that they considerable dampen vertical forces when drifting or at slow speeds (skis submerged), so pitching and rolling are not nearly as violent as can be the case for monos and, to a lesser extent, cats.
Trevor

 

Trevor, that will be too late. Other people will copy you. Could you consider a "office" in the States. All what you have to do is then to transfer the money. The Australian law should not be able to prevent that, because you as an entity can have a branch who received the "orders in the form of money', you are selling something. The boat trip from Sidney to the other side is out, but shares should be possible or time-sharing in a boat of yours, or can a private person not sell some shares in his business or time-sharing to foreigners? . Bert

 

Yep. That can be cool, though. Somewhere in the gallery is a yellow catamaran people mover that I've thought might make a nice cruiser that my comment was something to the effect of: it's a shame I can't convince Texas to issue a NCC-1701/7 hull number for it.

 

Thanks again for the suggestions, Bert.
We will look into that, but I am a bit more persuaded towards trying to encourage one or more boat builders or businesses in the USA to partner us in exercising the patents. And we are taking the same approach to the 14 European countries we have under patent.
We plan a very affordable financial commitment as the entry point with further returns coming from a small percentage on the sale price.
Personally, I am too old to try empire building. Also, established businesses bring to the table existing marketing networks, local knowledge and manufacturing infrastructure.
I hope I am not wrong about this - Trevor (www.seaski.com.au).

 

What does you patent cover?

 

I agree with you, however, I always have a backup plan in the event.
I have been watching your video's. Is there a way to make a video, while being on rough sea, let say 1 meter waves? That will impress potential investors more. Bert

 

That is commercially sensitive information and can be expensive to obtain.

Someone would need to find from, obtaining copies of the Claims made in relation
to an Invention where the Patentee Claims to new or novel or Improvement
apply.

 

Hello Bert, with reference to your suggestion of a video showing performance in rougher conditions, does my earlier pointer above do the trick? It is the 2-tonne prototype and not the 3-t production boat, of course, but the bigger boat handles conditions slightly better. My friends are working people and finding one with a boat, free time and the "right" sea conditions can be problematic, especially as we have had the boat on a hard stand for the past few months while playing with modifications and then testing each at a time.

Hi David. As Tom points out information can be sensitive, but a little internet search will bring up the patent. It really relates to the ski construction its self and its usage to support a boat. However, something that is not in the patents is a lot of knowledge of how to apply the adaption for best outcomes. We also developed an extrusion die in Australia to extrude the skis, and have CNC plans for the cut aluminium (aluminum, USA) plate to build to survey. All-in-all, we have the solution ready to go without having to spend considerable time "getting it right".
Thanks for the interest and all suggestions - Trevor