SS930

Bill,

I applaude your efforts, it would appear you have come up with a spectacular product. With that said, I have a couple of questions...

First, while your loss numbers are impresive, loss is also expenential with rpm and your ratings are at a staggering 7000rpm. Very few engines spin these numbers. Would you mind sharring the same data at say 6000 rpm, which is closer to what most users would see in real world usage? My guess is the delta on those losses drops significantly.

Second, you mention your drive has a lot more parts. While your testing has shown them to be very robust, more parts also means more things to go wrong in the future. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but maybe ten years from now. As you've stated, you have a lot of very expensive and custom parts in these drives. God forbid you get run over by a beer truck tomorrow, but in the event you do... where does that leave the customer 5 or 10 years from now when he needs one of those exotic parts??? I'm no huge fan of Merc, but at least I know I can get parts for a #6 20 years from now.


Again, fantastic work and very impressive product!

Tim Bostic

Hey Bill,
Love the video.... It is very interesting to see that view of the drive, prop, and water.
I'll be designing a newer version of our Hyperdrive Offshore prop later this Spring for the #6 propshaft.
It will be available in 3, 4, & 5 blade configurations.
Thanks,
Tim Bostic

SINGLETGT

I have nothing to add but wow that was a cool video! Never knew a surface drive was really RIGHT on the surface!

omerta one

In a staggered setup rear engine forward one inch and potential vertical adjustment. in my case there's not much room to move to move forward and would likely require moving both; the port engine has no room to move forward or down without impacting bulkhead step.

smiklos@sunprint

iTrader: (1)

Bill is that the starboard drive in video?
Thanks
Steve

bauberlen

Steve,
I believe it's the stbd. drive. The prop rotation looks like it's turning inboard, also you can see the water rising up from the tunnel which is on the right of the drive.

smiklos@sunprint

iTrader: (1)

Thanks! Great camera view. I have 32 B Skater with Bravo's stock 525's on Imco SC drives. So far the drive wear has been good, but I know the drives are going to be my most common failure item.

Your drive is really a well thought out package and your auto endurance racing background I am sure played a role in it's design.

In the future I may be looking at your drive or Imco SCX. I have raced Bravo boats for years so I will see how long these last me.
Thanks
Steve

ricardo mann

Are thees drives out there ? has it happened ? the web site seems ok but not updated and no actual installation photos considering the time line . This is the best of all the attempts i have seen on the WWW and a lot of European and Uk boat shows i have been to in years.It would be a terrible shame if it turns out to be a non runner .

Ricardo Mann

SS930

I know several 32' Spectre's are running them (I believe one or more are owned by the creator), but there aren't many others around that I know of. Too bad, the drive looks very promissing! I could be wrong, but I suspect cost has kept sales volume low.

bauberlen

We are still very much building and selling drives. We have them running on Skaters, Spectres, cigarettes, Dcb, velocities, Donzi, Conquest, Nordic, and many others, we have about 35 drives currently running. They are all still in the field and all are still running perfectly. We have never in all our years of being in business had a customer pay 1 dollar in repairs from failure. The drive is more expensive, but it is a very complex piece compared to all other drives in the industry. We will guarantee it lasts, and we will guarantee its faster then any other drive on the market. No other drive company will even make a warranty of any kind.

If you need references I can put you in contact with existing customers.

If you need any help please feel free to call.

Bill Auberlen
805-320-5631