I have a couple ideas/questions, some may be OBE depending on where you are the the process.

1. Add large cockpit drains a few inches above the floor to get most of the water out quickly. Say 6"x12", six inches above the floor above the existing drains. Maybe end them in the step in the bustle. We've had to go back and add additional drains to boats because the 3" dia ones didn't cut it.

2. Lock-out or restraint system for the suspension seats to limit or eliminate travel when the gas system fails. This could be as simple as a pin to fix the seat to the base, or some type of elastic restraint to give you some dampening. Are these stock seats or are you modifying them?

3. Is there a back-up for the engine hatch supports? Are the primary ones gas?

4. Some type of gloves and kevlar sleeves to protect against cuts when changing props.

5. Do you have plans to make bulkheads watertight? Will you be sealing penetrations?

6. What are your plans for non-skid and grab rails on the deck?

7. What system are you using to record g forces on the boat and on yourself? Where on the boat are measuring?

Good luck to you and Chris with your project. Brad

I think I'm just going to camp out at Saugatuck Brewing Company, enjoy some great brews and watch for this monster to roll out of the shop...
Is this beast going to be tested on Lake Michigan? I'd love to see it run out there.

Ok, on to the rigging. If you thought we were at Nerd level 2.0 already then we will be at Nerd level 5.0 by the end of today.

When your getting fuel for the boat the gas cap can be dropped in the water and lost or it will have a chain that lets it sit just at the right length to scratch the paint good, and then you lean the fuel nozzle on it too much and it breaks the little chain and falls in the water. And the flange around it is usually just a little bit to small where the fuel nozzle will sit right past the edge on the paint. On a normal boat that is not much of a problem putting in a few hundred gallons but it will take us awhile to put in 1400 gallons. So we designed and machined one with a locking cap that I will not loose and with a bigger flange to not mess up the paint.

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If I'm ever lucky enough to have a custom built offshore powerboat, I'll get a 'Nerd level 5.0' to build it.
You really are covering all bases every step of the way. Brilliant planning and work, thanks for the postings.

RR

We went with the pintle trailer so that if we have any truck problems we have better chances of finding a different truck to haul the boat. Also, it gives us more room in the bed of the truck to haul gear and parts.

Usually there is alot of room from the deck to the top of the tank where you can cut the hole for the fuel fill pretty much anywhere and run the hose to the tank. On my boat the tank goes up almost to the bottom of the deck and the fill from the top will be touching the one on the tank so they will need to line up perfectly. I could have just drilled some holes and got it close, but I wanted to see it I could get it exact. You could not see both at the same time to be able to measure where it needed to go so I measured to points all around the boat from the fill on the top of the tank, then spent an hour learning how to use the scientific function calculator on the iphone and re-learning geometry. I did lots of math and triangulated where it should be then did it again from different points to check myself. Then drilled one hole and it was pretty close. Wasted a few hours but wanted to see if I could figure it out.

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After a little bit of destructive, drop testing, I found the battery that I wanted to use. Its reasonably light for its cranking amps, Has stainless top posts, and can handle 10 g loads at different angles. There are not battery boxes that fit it tight so we designed and machined our own.

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thats great! (as is this thread) i get fixated on details like that once in a while. I needed to drill some holes in the corner of a Cig deck hatch that could not directly be mapped. This was my solution :D

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...nch-holes.html

We wanted steps between the back seats to be able to easily get out of the cockpit. They needed to be open to get to the cockpit drains. We started out with one that has some openings machined in it to get traction. Then changed the design a little to have longer steps and a rudder insert to get traction on.

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