Pedal Powered Boats

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Guest625101138, Jul 14, 2008.

  1. Tiny Turnip
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Huddersfield, UK

    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    A little film of an outing in my pedal powered cat, including some underwater footage, which may be of interest:

     
  2. neonguy07
    Joined: Apr 2015
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    Location: peoria il

    neonguy07 Junior Member

    wow thats pretty cool setup and love the underwater view that was pretty shallow at times
     
  3. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    Cool vid, Tiny.
     
  4. portacruise
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: USA

    portacruise Senior Member

    Interesting video, thanks for posting.

    The underwater vids seem to show the props delivering power in pulses according to the pedaling cadence. Maybe the old concept of an elliptical sprocket would make things more efficient, is what I am thinking..

    PC
     
  5. Clemens
    Joined: Jan 2010
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    Location: France

    Clemens Junior Member

    Hello, if you are aiming at a more continuous thrust, clip pedals are the clue to it. I am very satisfied with having modified one seacycle leg this way. A real improvement concerning efficiency. No more lost power to support the leg's weight, no more risk of a foot slipping off the pedal.
    A challenge was to find an easy solution to change to clip pedals - since both pedal arms are threaded the same way.
     
  6. Tiny Turnip
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Huddersfield, UK

    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    Thanks, Neonguy and Hoyt!

    Porta, I think you're right - it does look that way, and you definitely get the feel of a power stroke and a pause when pedalling.

    Hi Clemens! good to hear from you! I have actually put double sided pedals on - plain one sided and clips the other (you can just see the clips in some of the shots if you're quick!) but its rare that we're actually on a long run, or looking for high efficiency - just pootling round the bay here...

    This was really just messing about getting to know the little waterproof camera, but the real eye opener for me is the amount of turbulence off the drive legs - it looks like more than from the hulls! I suppose to some extent they are like little tiny hulls pushed way beyond their normal hull speed and generating a load of wave resistance. I wonder if it might be worth fairing them?

    I'm seriously considering a complete rebuild from scratch with some simple ply hulls, because the current build is so heavy. with the dart hulls forming keels, and the weight, its extremely difficult to pull up the beach.
     
  7. Tiny Turnip
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Huddersfield, UK

    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    We knew we'd been buzzed by a drone when pedalling round the north end of Gigha, this summer, and the footage has shown up on youtube. Great footage of Gigha from about 1:35, pedal boat at 2:14. It was a beautiful day.

     
  8. Scheny
    Joined: Feb 2012
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    Location: Vienna/Austria

    Scheny Junior Member

    Wave interference boat 2.0

    Hi guys!
    After years on working on the super small "wave interference" boat the design completly changed to something completely different except for the size. As I was always stuck to not being able to plane, I optimized the boat for so long, that it only needed a little push for that. The boat ended up to be a hybrid being very easy to build as everything is done in stitch&glue.

    Building is already in progress and will reach completion soon.

    You can have a look at:
    http://www.facebook.com/RagingElk

    As this thread is already too long, I made a new one for this boat which can be found in the hybrid subforum:
    http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/hybrid/10-feet-human-electric-powered-runabout-54648.html
     
  9. MLampi
    Joined: Aug 2008
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    Location: Bellevue, WA

    MLampi Junior Member

    Daggerboard prop drive available

    It looks like Harry Howard has gotten out of the boat building business and is now selling drop in pedal drives using an inflatable Sea Eagle hull.

    The prop drive looks like the same one he had been using previously with his Wave Walker boat. It has an internal gearbox using a narrow #35 chain, so no twisting of a chain as is done in the Seacycle or SpinFin.

    $835 is a bit pricey, but it is a high quality drive.

    Michael Lampi

    http://www.hydrocycles.com/index.php/order
     
  10. Mark Coulter
    Joined: Dec 2008
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    Location: Saltspring Island BC Canada

    Mark Coulter New Member

  11. Mark Coulter
    Joined: Dec 2008
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    Location: Saltspring Island BC Canada

    Mark Coulter New Member

    Spinfin Pedal Drive

    The SpinFin, originally built by Bob Stuart, is resuming production. It's now available in two versions: the original model for kayaks and similar boats and a new 14" longer version for cats and deeper draft hulls.
    More info can be found by emailing spinfin1@outlook.com
     
  12. robpedalboat
    Joined: May 2016
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    Location: london

    robpedalboat New Member

    pedal power

    hello ive been reading threads for a while now but only just joined. i live aboard my forty foot pedal powered boat recently it was filmed and put up on u tube under robs pedal boat. weeds are a problem in the summer so i want to build a new boat with a new propulsion system and it seems this is where a lot of knowledgable people are meeting and discussing all sorts of fascinating stuff. an athlete can output 1/4 hp for ten minutes but 2hp barely moves it . it is very hard work and im an ex cycle courier.....
     
  13. Tiny Turnip
    Joined: Mar 2008
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    Location: Huddersfield, UK

    Tiny Turnip Senior Member

    Hi Rob

    Welcome to the forum.

    You are doing very well to pedal a rig that size at the speed you do!

    Perhaps the most knowledgeable and committed pedal boat designer is Rick Willoughby, no longer on this forum. He does have a website, and facebook presence as Rick Will.

    In terms of the weed problem, Rick has designed, and will supply a folding prop, or instructions for making one. These are folded at rest, and the act of spinning them draws the blades out, so to de-weed you just stop pedalling, the blades fold back, and the weed should fall off in the stream as the boat glides forward. He has also done a lot of work with props you can lift out of the water easily for stubborn weeds.

    http://www.rickwill.bigpondhosting.com/Propeller.htm

    I don’t know what kind of prop you are currently using, but generally, high aspect ratio props, usually two blades, are suitable for pedal power. Many people use a correctly sized model aircraft prop.

    In terms of a redesign, I would say definitely go smaller if you possibly can.

    The hull, ideally wants to be narrow, and up to about 25 feet long for best efficiency. I appreciate that if you are living aboard, your needs for load carrying are likely to be much higher than most pedal boats. A catamaran design might be a way forward, giving you a large, stable platform with skinny hulls.

    If you want to make way in any sort of a breeze, then reducing the height and complexity of your superstructure is a must. Wind blowing on a large superstructure will very easily overpower human power.

    The Escargot design by Phillip Theil may be of interest, and a straight forward build. It does have a rather large wetted area, and still a fair amount of windage, so for pretty sheltered conditions only, but should still be much easier to pedal than your current boat.

    http://thistinyhouse.com/2012/pedal-powered-shanty-boat/
    http://shantyboatliving.com/2012/escargot-canal-boats-germany-2/
    http://www.gruene-flotte.de/index.php?hauptrubrik=100

    If you go this route, I would definitely look to Rick Will in terms of the drive and prop design.

    Hope there’s a starter here. I am no sort of naval architect or boat designer, but I have cobbled together my own pedal powered catamaran which I am pretty happy with.

    Adrian
     
  14. portacruise
    Joined: Jun 2009
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    Location: USA

    portacruise Senior Member

    Rob, there is some specific useful information on this list for the topics you write about, if you haven't seen it already. Several pages on either side of page 90 may be of interest. Post #1362 makes mention of a system that could propel 8 tons at 2.4 knots for 30 minutes. There is also some mention dealing with weeds, #1339 and others. Some of the picture links may be gone though.

    Also thought this link might be interesting, using various sources for propulsion energy: http://smalltrimarans.com/blog/one-of-a-kind-microship-trimaran/

    PC
     

  15. David Cooper
    Joined: Jan 2015
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    Location: Scotland

    David Cooper Senior Member

    Some of the long threads on this forum could seriously do with a contents list (covering the most important content) repeated on every tenth page with additions each time to cover the latest ten. Such lists could be generated as a team effort with different people doing a different set of ten pages. Others could then recommend the addition of any important bits that have been missed so that they could be edited into the latest version, or they could just appear in the list the next time a new one is posted.
     
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