Are cats really that dangerous?
05-13-2008, 08:17 AM
#191
Registered
no........... for many reasons:
1. A single engine cat installation fills the tunnel exit adding compression and disturbing natural airflow. This engine placement will also tend to "trip" the hull upon re-entry after going airborne, perhaps increasing the tendency of the craft to stuff. The lone partial exception to this rule may be the above mentioned Champ boats which have such streamlined lower units and small propellers (see my avatar and prop pix below) that there is not as much disturbance or drag..... but there is still more than a dual application would create.0
T2x
1. A single engine cat installation fills the tunnel exit adding compression and disturbing natural airflow. This engine placement will also tend to "trip" the hull upon re-entry after going airborne, perhaps increasing the tendency of the craft to stuff. The lone partial exception to this rule may be the above mentioned Champ boats which have such streamlined lower units and small propellers (see my avatar and prop pix below) that there is not as much disturbance or drag..... but there is still more than a dual application would create.0
T2x
05-13-2008, 08:18 AM
#192
Registered
05-13-2008, 08:39 AM
#194
Registered
I'm glad we're past the arguing stage. We're into the group hug, slapping each other on the back, remember the good ole' days stage. A question was asked that wasn't answered. Can a cat turn like a vee? I agree totally that a Champ boat will out turn a 47 Apache. What about size for size, weight for weight?
I've never been in a cat and am curious.
05-13-2008, 08:46 AM
#195
Allergic to Nonsense
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I was never quite sure what Larry Smith designed......... since, to be honest, I could never tell the difference between Scarabs and Cigarettes.
05-13-2008, 09:07 AM
#197
Charter Mod
Charter Member
Man that's the best picture of any boat I've ever had. The guy who shot it is a friend of Zastro's, and offered to print a fullsize for me but stopped returning messages for some reason.
That's the only copy I have and it is too small to enlarge. I was gonna pay too! 
I would rather Mark Smith or someone who ran the run give you the wave size. Seems everyone has their own version of how big water is, so I'd like you to have an unbiased opinion!
05-13-2008, 09:13 AM
#198
Charter Mod
Charter Member
no........... for many reasons:
1. A single engine cat installation fills the tunnel exit adding compression and disturbing natural airflow. This engine placement will also tend to "trip" the hull upon re-entry after going airborne, perhaps increasing the tendency of the craft to stuff. The lone partial exception to this rule may be the above mentioned Champ boats which have such streamlined lower units and small propellers (see my avatar and prop pix below) that there is not as much disturbance or drag..... but there is still more than a dual application would create.
2. Twin engines allow for counter rotation and, if you spin them out, following the laws of nature and physics as God intended, you will achieve neutral torque and balance from the prop rotation.
3. In twin engine installations the sponsons protect the center section or upper drive components from random blasts of water at speed thereby adding durability to the drives. (when we raced triple outboard cats the center engine durability was always lower than the outboard mounted motors). Again you also reduce drag since most, if not all, of the gearcases' frontal area is "hidden" by the sponsons.
Of course these are just my humble opinions, based on decades of testing and development, rather than the "facts" that are readily available at Poker Run Cocktail parties and in West Coast Cat ads........... or from "State of the Art" Apache fans......
T2x
1. A single engine cat installation fills the tunnel exit adding compression and disturbing natural airflow. This engine placement will also tend to "trip" the hull upon re-entry after going airborne, perhaps increasing the tendency of the craft to stuff. The lone partial exception to this rule may be the above mentioned Champ boats which have such streamlined lower units and small propellers (see my avatar and prop pix below) that there is not as much disturbance or drag..... but there is still more than a dual application would create.
2. Twin engines allow for counter rotation and, if you spin them out, following the laws of nature and physics as God intended, you will achieve neutral torque and balance from the prop rotation.
3. In twin engine installations the sponsons protect the center section or upper drive components from random blasts of water at speed thereby adding durability to the drives. (when we raced triple outboard cats the center engine durability was always lower than the outboard mounted motors). Again you also reduce drag since most, if not all, of the gearcases' frontal area is "hidden" by the sponsons.
Of course these are just my humble opinions, based on decades of testing and development, rather than the "facts" that are readily available at Poker Run Cocktail parties and in West Coast Cat ads........... or from "State of the Art" Apache fans......
T2x
05-13-2008, 09:20 AM
#199
VIP Member
VIP Member
Man that's the best picture of any boat I've ever had. The guy who shot it is a friend of Zastro's, and offered to print a fullsize for me but stopped returning messages for some reason. That's the only copy I have and it is too small to enlarge. I was gonna pay too!
I would rather Mark Smith or someone who ran the run give you the wave size. Seems everyone has their own version of how big water is, so I'd like you to have an unbiased opinion!
That's the only copy I have and it is too small to enlarge. I was gonna pay too! I would rather Mark Smith or someone who ran the run give you the wave size. Seems everyone has their own version of how big water is, so I'd like you to have an unbiased opinion!
__________________
Happily retired and living in Heavens waiting room.
Happily retired and living in Heavens waiting room.
05-13-2008, 09:24 AM
#200
Registered
Look closer Mikey. I have but two prop blades and part of a skeg in the water. Thats it. No bullet in the water at all.
Hey Rich, notice how the center pod is much shorter than the sponsons? It runs on the outsides only once at speed unlike an American Offshore 26 or Talon 25 etc which ride on the center and use the sponsons as training wheels
