Pedal Powered Boats

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

  1. Skyak
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    Skyak Senior Member

    Absolutely. There was a promotional video where a guy cranks around in one acting impressed. I have never before seen such a huge wake from a human powered craft.
     
  2. Andrew Kirk
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    Andrew Kirk Pedal boater.

    sail20221.jpg The pedal boat season has started, for me at least. Not the greatest video ever produced but at least I'm chugging along at walking pace. I hasn't developed any leaks over the winter and my little trip has got me keen to get out again. With hard pedalling I can reach hull speed and two thirds hull speed is a comfortable cruise. View attachment 177009
     
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  3. bajansailor
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Last edited: Jun 23, 2022
  4. clmanges
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    clmanges Senior Member

    That's pretty clever! Mostly made of cut-up bicycle parts, and it boogies right along.

    I stopped and started the playback trying to figure out the whole drive mechanism, but there's a big middle section that's hidden; has to be a long chain down in the bottom of the boat, and I think it must have three separate chains. It occurred to me that he can drive it in reverse, too.

    Makes me wonder if those could be replaced with some sort of direct lever drive, like push-rods; might be lighter. Perhaps it could even be set up so that both paddles could be pulled up out of the water to let the boat glide freely, or have independent control of each paddle.
     
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  5. bajansailor
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

    Yes, she is certainly boogieing along very nicely, with apparently minimal effort by the pedaller.
    When I watched it again in stops and starts, I noted this website mentioned www.benkilner.com which forwards on to
    Get Up Give Back 2022 - Mental Health Matters https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/get-up-give-back-2022---mental-health-matters-62

    Here is a quote :
    "The boat aka Jamima Paddleduck was made in three days from two sheets of marine ply and two bikes plus extra bits and bobs. The chain driven peddle to paddle drive system may well be a world first."

    "Follow the journey as it happens on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube."
    Log into Facebook https://www.facebook.com/oakhouseholdings
    Login • Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ben.kilner/

    And here is the YouTube link re the design and construction of the boat - Part 1 of a 3 part series was only posted this morning.
     
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  6. alan craig
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    alan craig Senior Member

    This one is essentially same mechanism as Jamima paddleduck reduced to ultimate simplicity:
     
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  7. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member

    The Chinees had similar systems 3300 years ago. Hero of Alexandria also built a walking automaton using this linkage. It's been around a while. The first proper powered slider crank we know of was by Al Jazeri around 1150 CE. He used it for a water driven lift pump.

    This particular linkage variety is called an inverted slider crank.
    [​IMG]
     
  8. clmanges
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    clmanges Senior Member

  9. mitchgrunes
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    mitchgrunes Senior Member

    I admit I haven't read this entire thread, just the last few pages. So I apologize if these questions have already been answered:

    1. Are there any commercially made peddle powered craft that are capable of going faster than rowed or paddled craft for long distances? If so, why aren't they the fastest boats in the Blackburn Challenge?

    2. Are there any hybrids - e.g., boats that can be rowed or paddled at the same time they are peddled? Could that be efficient?
     
  10. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    I suspect there are lots of reasons they are not making them, the main one being that it's not possible to make money from it, and too easy to copy and costly to defend it. Also my guess is the inefficient looking Pontoon design suggests certain conditions must be met before it works well. Plus the seat back angle not the kind of thing you normally see, may be inefficient; Center of balancing to different height and weight of Peddlers may be critical?
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2022
  11. portacruise
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    portacruise Senior Member

    PC- Seems like I recall that there are exercise machines that are based on two different muscle groups working the hybrid concept . My guess hybrids have certainly been tried, but that you don't squeeze out much more total energy by having two different muscle groups involved. Also there may be an aerobic or other physiological limit that makes the combination of the two muscle groups both stay below their most efficient energy delivery....
     
  12. jehardiman
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    jehardiman Senior Member

    1) In the Blackburn specifically there is no class for open HPV's
    2) Maximum power expenditure, as Portacruise postulates, has a real aerobic limit long term. Collegiate sliding seat rowers are able to expend much more power short term and about the same power long term as a pro bicyclist. So while hybrid could offer short term gains, realistically long term power is about the aerobics of the propulsor.

    EDIT: BTW, you really should read the whole thread. Rick Willoughby who no longer posts in this thread or on the forums does a lot of the hard lifting for anyone interested in HPV's. See this; Rick Willoughby releases V15 Design documentation – OpenWaterbike Project https://openwaterbike.com/news/rick-willoughby-releases-v15-design-document
     
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  13. Andrew Kirk
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    Andrew Kirk Pedal boater.

  14. clmanges
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    clmanges Senior Member

    I hope he continues with this; I'd like to see a Mk II.

    This propulsion design has at least one definite strength; he was moving through some dense weeds that would have hopelessly jammed up a propeller.

    Any thoughts on how big this can be scaled up to? Also, he mentioned improvements to the paddle shape; I though maybe a leaf blade might be better.
     

  15. mitchgrunes
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    mitchgrunes Senior Member

    It's obvious that Jackson Kayaks's fishing kayaks, including those with pedal drives, like Hobie's MirageDrive boats, are not fast boats, compared to some shown in this thread. And they aren't super-cheap, compared to Hobie's.


    But does anyone know roughly how the Jackson Flex Drive Mark IV itself compares to other pre-made drives?

    (It's hard to tell from Jackson's web site. There are no technical specs listed.)

    Does the the Jackson Flex Drive appear to be a relabeled drive made by someone else?

    How would you guess they compare in efficiency to the Hobie designs?
     
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