[MHml] Horsepower

[TLam45387 at aol.com]

Bill,

Noodle around in places like Key West and you should find quite a few 
cattlemarans of about the Gold Coast dimensions using sleds on the aft beam with dual 
90 Hp four strokes.   The GC "Stars and Stripes" was one such.   I know of 
one GC 53 out of Naples on the West Coast of Florida with a single 90 and this 
was inadequate to power into 30 knots true in flat water while our SW 26 cat 
with Yamaha 9.9 high thrust would make 5 knots under same conditions.   GC Capt. 
wanted more power but what he needed just to keep moving was more prop area 
and diameter.   I would sort of guess 300 outboard HP will give 15 knots on 
Afterburner.   Removing such a beast would require a crane.

You might also consider something like the America's cup RIB inflatables as a 
pusher attached bow up at the aft beam with a ball and socket attachment.    
Dual XXX HP push-oriented outboards or even inboard diesels are available on 
these babies.   Also this might be that long resisted chase boat.   You can 
reward outstanding crew work with the helm of the chase boat for the next race.   
Invert the "Burner" and a big RIB could pop it right side up in a flash 
before the sandwiches got wet.    Heart attack aboard and the ride to shore might 
restart a stopped heart.   Good photo boat too!

All the Best,

Tom


> 
> How do I go about figuring out how much horsepower I need to push
> Afterburner to 20+ knots?
> Transits would go by so much faster.  :-)
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://steamradio.com/pipermail/multihulls/attachments/20070202/28121bb6/attachment.htm