Pontoon design question for 10' Long Pontoon

Hello to everyone and thanks for allowing me to post this question. I am new to the forum.

I am so curious about the "Zego Sports Boats" from New Zealand. I will post a link to their site so anyone interested can see what this is about.

Basically, it is a micro pontoon boat that is set up for any of 100 uses! The web site and many videos show tons of photos and videos. I am going to post one photo of a front that shows the shape of the pontoon from the front.

The material is 8 mm HDPE, rotomolded.



www.zegosportsboats.com





I am wondering if the main purpose of the ANGLE BOTTOM is to allow the pontoon to "Cut" the water for turning purposes. As general aluminum pontoons are mostly round, some are U shaped but that would appear to be more of a design issue for the top, as the bottom stays round. Most pontoon boats use plain old round tubes, probably because they are cheaper to make round.

They choose not to use a narrow catamaran style, which I assume would provide less buoyancy over 3 meters. The diameter appears to be about 20". I would guess it would just sit lower in the water as a narrow and tall CAT style? As Zego is trying to be a universal pontoon, this shape probably makes sense for a runabout, gravel bars and beaches as well as great stability.

Estimated weight with center and passengers would be about 800-900 lbs.

Also, any thought on the front of the pontoon design? I think mostly a design issue, because as soon as the boat starts to gain speed , the front lifts and there is not much effect?

Anyway, I am just wanting to start a conversation on the general thoughts on the pontoon design that Zego uses, and see if the unique shape provides a big advantage over a traditional round or U shape design. Or maybe even this craft would be better with catamaran style pontoons.

Looking forward to hearing thought and ideas from experts in this field.

Q? Could you thermoform the the pontoon shape in two parts , top and bottom, and fill with foam? Rotomolding is very slow. Advantage is 8mm thick. Thermoforming is a few minutes per part. Definitely not as good as rotomolding, but could be an alternative, there are thermoformers this big, not many, but they are around.

Thank you for any thoughts and ideas.

Mac

 

Link doesn’t work for me.
Without a lot more information, I can’t say a great deal about it, but would caution you that any vessel that small will be extremely sensitive to loading.

 

Is this the question you want answered?
Yes, you could.

Why do you ask?

 

This link should work, hopefully, without the 'www' : - Home - Zego Sportsboats https://zegosportsboats.com/

These are assymmetric hulls with some deadrise (re the angle of the bottom). They should have good directional stability (relatively) when underway, and (unlike a round pontoon hull) some lift will be generated.

I think you pretty much nailed it there - round tubes are much easier to fabricate than welded assymmetric sections.

Do you mean 'U' shaped hull sections re 'catamaran style'?

 

Hi, sorry the link didn't work. I see a link was posted below. Thanks for looking and the reply

 

Well I am comparing to a couple pontoon styles. I think a catamaran style with narrow V would sit much lower in the water that the zego design, and a U shape probably would sit even higher than this , as the U I am thinking of is just round on the bottom with a flat top so it is easy to build on can be filled with foam or have mounts easily added to the top. The Zego design has the slight slant from the outside to a lower point on the inside. This appears to provide less buoyancy than a bure round pontoon, but provides the slight " V" at the bottom to provide a cutting edge for better turning performance. It would seem logical that at rest the Zego would sit a few inches lower in the water than a true round or square pontoon, for the angle. The trade is at speed the turning should be better.

Thank you

 

Thank to all for the inputs on the Zego. What I would like to hear from the experts what their thoughts are about if this product was to be redesigned as pontoons that could be used for this boat. What would you do different?

Or possibly what about just using the pontoons for a flyfishing raft style frame or an electric cruising frame?

Are these good all around pontoons? I know there is not a perfect pontoon for all-around use, and it would be better to have a cat style for one use (sleek sailing) and a river style (inflatable) for another use, etc. But, what is the thought if you only get one pontoon for ocean, river, lake, pond, etc. What is the best "universal" HDPE style?

I think the style could be used for many style of small boats with different tyles of power, from electric, to rowing, to 40 hp.

Thanks

 

Anything long and narrow that doesn't leak.