CAT hulled inflatable????

[james croft]

I used a Zodiac Futura with speed tubes for law enforcement patrol for many years in challenging white water work. I used a jet drive outboard. That boat could go anywhere I wanted it to go and most of them were places I should not have been. The boat was awesome. I had a small boat, forget the length, but it had very little room in it. Two divers and gear would fill the boat up. I used 25 HP jet motors on them for whitewater work. I ran the boat upriver through rapids that no one believed the boat could navigate. I believe the boat was also known as a fast-roller. When my Futura finally fell apart I tried to get another but was told they did not make them in the size I wanted anymore. I now have an Archilles. It does not do what my fast-roller did. It is a little wider and a lot heavier. My Archilles has an aluminum floor. The Zodiac had an inflatable floor and one guy could tote it when you removed the motor and tank. I would buy another Futura. Keep it stored out of the sun and it will last a long time.

 

[james croft]

Forgot to mention the speed tubes were long cylindrical tubes underneath the main sponsons. On plane the Zodiac rose up on them and helped make sharp turns. The special forces F-470 Zodiacs also had similar tubes. I've used them as well and they help the boat perform well. Those F-470 boats are pretty expensive and can be hard to obtain and being black will burn the heck out of you during the summer.

 

[fishoutawater]

Anybody ever considered using a Waverunner, or Seadoo type drive system and hull for a RIB? Ie. no prop, less danger to divers, very fast...I dunno, just tossin' that out there. Patent it, get rich, buy me a trip to Fiji...

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Anybody ever considered using a Waverunner, or Seadoo type drive system and hull for a RIB? Ie. no prop, less danger to divers, very fast...I dunno, just tossin' that out there. Patent it, get rich, buy me a trip to Fiji...

Pretty much what James Croft said above, the jet drive outboard.

 

[fishoutawater]

No, I'm thinking James was talking about outboards with jet drives. Different animal than a Waverunner. I have a Yamaha XLT1200 with 155hp, does about sixty, and I've wondered how hard could it be to design some floats and an expandable deck around it to be able to haul divers around with it.

 

[ShakaZulu]

Used to race those things in SA, not good for diving, need a bigger one..........yellow one at the bottom of the page.

http://www.makoinflatablesusa.com/gallery.html

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

No, I'm thinking James was talking about outboards with jet drives. Different animal than a Waverunner. I have a Yamaha XLT1200 with 155hp, does about sixty, and I've wondered how hard could it be to design some floats and an expandable deck around it to be able to haul divers around with it.

Yeah, you are right. I focused on your mention of safety and neglected your mention of speed.

About a year ago I was doing some on-line research into boat plans for the home builder and ran across several sites that mentioned grafting jetski motors and drives onto other hulls. Sorry, don't have a link and don't have the time to search it out right now. 'Course, while at least one of the ones I read about worked well, none were nearly as fast as the original donor.

I also ran across plans for a home-built RIB using big ugly flexible sewer pipe. You know, the black corrugated stuff? However, I think it was on Ken Hankinson's site, which now links to Glen-L, who says that Hankinson is retired and unreachable. And, no, Glen-L is not supporting his designs...

So, with an old jetski, a little web research, and some sewer pipe, we should be able to redneck just what you are looking for. Whatayathnk?

Or, how 'bout just buying one of those hulls that you dock your jetski into? Ever seen one of those? Turns the Jetski into a boat?

 

[james croft]

The ones I used were usually Mercury outboards. I think they were about 40 HP engines but put out 25 HP at the jet as they aren't as efficient as a prop job. Shoots out a heck of a rooster tail. In the hands of a trained professional it could knock off a bikini top at 30 feet.

 

[fishoutawater]

Yeah O2B, I have seen those docking station thingies, but they take almost as much storage room as a full size pontoon boat. Might as well buy a pontoon boat.
Going a little bit farther with my bizzare concept though, what if: You could have a pontoon boat that would fit in a one car garage, like a waverunner. Inflatable pontoons, with a floor with inflatable trusses, that zip around the hull of a waverunner, and is filled with air via on board air pump.
Good idea? Or should I stop drinking Starbucks?

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I posted this link on the "best scuba car" thread, but it seems to fit here, as well.

I've just gotta have a Gibbs Humdinga!!