Pedal Powered Boats

So this is a pic off Rick's blog, just cropped a bit. What is that in the water coming off the outrigger beam? Is this no longer a "free shaft"? It appears that it is a stabilizer?

And how long of a shaft is that down to the prop? The total length of the system doesn't appear to be all that much, so it should fit between my forward and rear beams?



edit: added this pic of model #2 (with the wave piercing anti pitch pole bows)

 

Dennis:

Hope this helps.

Porta

 

a close up of Rick's V15:
His new system addresses the freewheeling concern I had.
I don't think I'd need reverse
but if so I might be able to adapt that later if need be.


Here's the drive in the full extended positon


Here is is folded with the drive out past the hull:


Note: the seat will be separate and be able to be used in various places on the boat.
It might even be part of a wing to hang off the boat since I won't have trap wires.
I'll be in this a lot so it's got to be comfy!

All in all the drive system is pretty small looking
and should prove to stay out of the way.
The drive shaft will raise out of the water for sailing,
or for beaching and other shallow waters.

There is a difference between the V15 and "Bad Kitty",
Rick is sitting much closer to the water,
I'll be at least 2 feet above the water's surface.
I can overcome this by the chain drive section being longer
and getting the gearbox down towards the water.
This will allow the drive shaft to have a straighter run into the water.

 

Yes, well thought out Dennis, and probably better/cheaper than a spinfin type- you can make it yourself! You can also use a longer flex shaft to reach the water and it will still run horizontal with a sharper bend (without lowering the unit), but clearing weeds from the prop will take longer if the prop is behind your sitting position. Another possibility I use is a quick release at the angle drive to remove the flex shaft assembly completely- sometimes comes in handy in case shaft needs to be replaced/removed/switched lengths or for extended storage. I use lightweight fiberglass/CF shafts and attach a small fairing "float" in front & behind of my free running prop, so it has maximum efficiency and will float if broken or lost.

Porta

 

Thanks, Porta. It's nice to have the pieces coming together, I've been giving this boat a lot of thought for awhile now!

I like this idea of a quick disconnect and I think you're right about this being lighter and cheaper, both of which are wonderful!

 

Do you think a bean bag chair would work? It could have a net behind it with lines running forward to keep the chair from sliding back, Kinda like a Crazy Creek camping chair .

I've used a bean bag chair before in a boat, I was a cameraman for a hunting and fishing tv show and we were in the back of a cigarette boat rigged for king fishing tournaments , it was a fast and bumpy ride but I was quite comfy and my camera was kept pretty safe in my lap. They are light, can be used almost anywhere and conform to any shape. I wonder if I can get it in Signal Orange and have it Coast Guard approved?!

 

Spidennis,

Nice pictures, no discussion. What kind of a "blog" has no words? If I missed something please tell me where. The question was - why did Rick go away from the extremely minimal/ light weight boat to one with so much superstructure?

 

Up:

What exactly are the parts of superstructure you are referring to? The box of the seat back/crank support? The braces to the outriggers?
The weight of this new boat may not be that much more than some of the minimal ones, as Rick has probably refined his techniques perhaps reducing thickness where it is not needed. Or maybe he used a lighter formula of carbon fiber.... Crank/ chain/shaft look to be lighter than previous gearbox models.

Compared to the previous open water models, this latest V15 is a river boat, where wind is not much of a factor on the boxy up projections. There are also logjams/weed tangles etc. and some portaging involved from what I read, so ruggedness/folding is probably quite important. Overhead loading/unloading was Ricks biggest concern as regards weight, but I think he may be using a trailer now. What surprises me is the speed, which must be because of the new prop/drive train......


P.

 

I don't know why, I'm just happy that Rick at least put this up. He was really active on this forum/thread and then just went dark. Don't know the reason for that either. I am thinking about trying to contact Rick in the near future though. I think I like what I got going so it's about time to be getting into the details and build something and start testing and training.

 

I would guess aerodynamics by the looks of it.

Perhaps rigidity too.

-Tom

 

V15

Ok guys, I'm building a boat to Ricks V15 design. The same as in the pic of the red boat a few posts back. Difference with mine is it is 5m long, this is due to the maximum size I can store under cover. The original V15 had a large wave piercing bow and large fairing aft of the back of the seat. This layout had a lot of windage and in sidewinds was hard to handle. The newer design has a lot less "superstructure", the bow sheds water well and the fairing aft of the seat makes a difference when going into a head wind. The first V15 had dipping rudders and an inline shaft, the new one has the rudder as part of the hull. The shaft on the side allows for a shorter length which gives less of a "dead spot" and a lot more power can be applied, also easier for clearing weed.
The boat might look like it has a lot of structure above the deck but this gives a cleaner layout with less weight. The gearbox support, seat, outrigger support, fairing is all one piece. Less weight than with all the different pieces built and added seperatley. With mine I am using the 1:3.3 involute gearbox and an inline shaft with folding prop, this setup works well on my current boat so am staying with it.
With the weight issue Ricks V15-58 weghs about 20kg all up, boat, drive and outriggers. I don't think mine will be as light as that but will be better than my existing boat which weighs 31kg.

 

built in rudder huh? kinda like the Epic 18x kayak? Interesting. keep the hull length but got the benefits of a rudder.

I've got a lot of questions concerning the components of this system. 1:3.3 ? I haven't seen that ratio here. And are you using miterpak? then there's the bike gears. how does your's compare to rick's? what's he doing differently? a folding prop? custom I bet!

edit:
so I'm thinking this for a gearbox? http://www.mitrpak.com/product_datasheet.php?product_id=27
and the gear ratio can be experimented with in the bicycle gearing?
then I got to find a prop ..... and a shaft .......

 

From Rick W. Jan 1, 2011 PM:

"I have a couple of these boxes and have used them before. They are designated DZ2. They have similar rating to an R-082 Mitrpak box but have slightly thicker shaft. They weigh 1kg.


With my present method of construction I have been adding more than 1kg in fairing the hull. If I were to vacuum bag over a male mould with a silicone bag I will get fairer finish. It would save a lot of effort and reduce weight.


As it is the boat is quite easy to carry with stabilisers attached. They fold up over the seat once the brace is unclipped"

"The reason I can get higher speed from this boat is the low torsional compliance of the drive train. I am spinning a lower pitch prop at 7X cadence. The prop is on an 8mm diameter spring steel shaft that is only 1.4m long. The drive dynamics are much improved over my V15-6m boat with the aft mounted prop on the CF shaft."

Hand drill gearboxes have been used in pedal boats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB13MWTbCuo

The gears are high quality, but they use brass bushings AFAIK, might be Ok for non-racing use:

http://www.traditionalwoodworker.co...ll-with-Chest-Plate-1_2/productinfo/500-0344/

Porta

 

I find this boat pretty darn amazing,
and closer to what I got going on vs the V15 in terms of weight and size.
It moves along nicely!
If I can get that kind of performance I'll be happy.

 

that is one monster hand drill!