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The Qatar number was not a kilo run and limited to a 1 mile course so that number could easily been higher..
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Brownie’s Bites: Al Copeland 1944-2008
“If a whole bunch is okay, then too much is just right.” https://goo.gl/AnNRw8 |
From where it all started in Al's head in 1997 to the boat we ended up with in 2008, the story of the Phenomenon is a long one. I could go on and on with stories about the learning process of this boat, but I won't, I will give you a condensed version. The boat started as a 2 engine 65ft boat in 1997 & Al had his yacht designer make a model of it and had him pull it beside a flat boat to see what would happen to it at high speeds, Al liked the results enough to move forward. We built a model of the boat and took it to Georgia Tech to be tested in their wind tunnel. In the wind tunnel it would blow over at 180mph and after more testing it was determined that 56ft was the biggest we could go and still do what Al wanted to do with the boat. Al wanted to break the propeller speed record of 225mph and go back and break the Miami to New York record. As many times as the engineers told Al that those 2 goals needed 2 different boats he was adamant to have one boat that could do both goals. So the boat was redesigned to 56ft and the wind tunnel model was modified and we went back into the wind tunnel and the change was a success. Now who was going to build this? We reached out to all the builders- Goetz, Mystic, Wright, MTI, Skater, but the one stipulation that Al had was that the builder come here and the boat be built in his hometown of New Orleans. So we ended up bringing in a builder from New Zealand who had worked on the Callan boat and he put together a crew and started building it at Al's old spice plant in New Orleans . As the hull was in the mold being built Al called a meeting and told us that he no longer wanted it to be a 2 engine turbine boat, he wanted it to have 4 engines. But every test,data and design we had was based off of 2 engines so engineers started scrambling to see if 4 engines would even fit. Once the engineers knew they would fit they told Al that with the 4 engines (12,000hp) the boat would be capable of well over 300mph so Al said "Well then why not go for the water speed record too? And I want to be able to survive an impact at that speed also". So now we had to figure out how to make the hull strong enough to withstand an impact and have him survive at 300+ mph. That was it, everything got thicker, longer, wider and of course heavier. The engineers still assuring us that the extra added weight didn't matter because we had so much horsepower. Everything was moving forward, but in Novemebr 2007 Al found out he had a rare aggressive skin cancer, the news was devastating to us all, and the outcome didn't look good. So we just started working around the clock to try to get the boat together so he could get one ride in it, but 5 months later he passed away.
At that time the boat was far from ready and the builder was no longer motivated to finish the project. But Al expressed 2 wishes to his family before his death- for the boat to be finished so it could break the propeller record and for his family to find a cure for the cancer that he had. The family agreed to both wishes and so we moved on and finished the boat. We were never prepared for the obstacles (and trust me, it was a lot) that were about to unfold over the next few years of testing (over 80hrs running) because of the main problem, the weight. With all of Al's changes and add- ons we were now 35,000lbs (11,000lbs over our projected weight). Yes, a lot of money was thrown into trying to overcome our problem because we all had an emotional attachment to the goal. If Al had not passed away I know the outcome would have been different, but we did the best we could with the cards we were dealt and at our top speed of 194mph I don't think that is too bad for a fat cat. -Scott |
Pretty cool in some regards. But the Qatar boat was the relatively less radical solution that really got the job done. The new 4500hp engine config was what made that boat and its records possible.
i like the canard idea and it should be developed on this or other boats imo. |
Originally Posted by Phenomenon
(Post 4598127)
From where it all started in Al's head in 1997 to the boat we ended up with in 2008, the story of the Phenomenon is a long one. I could go on and on with stories about the learning process of this boat, but I won't, I will give you a condensed version. The boat started as a 2 engine 65ft boat in 1997 & Al had his yacht designer make a model of it and had him pull it beside a flat boat to see what would happen to it at high speeds, Al liked the results enough to move forward. We built a model of the boat and took it to Georgia Tech to be tested in their wind tunnel. In the wind tunnel it would blow over at 180mph and after more testing it was determined that 56ft was the biggest we could go and still do what Al wanted to do with the boat. Al wanted to break the propeller speed record of 225mph and go back and break the Miami to New York record. As many times as the engineers told Al that those 2 goals needed 2 different boats he was adamant to have one boat that could do both goals. So the boat was redesigned to 56ft and the wind tunnel model was modified and we went back into the wind tunnel and the change was a success. Now who was going to build this? We reached out to all the builders- Goetz, Mystic, Wright, MTI, Skater, but the one stipulation that Al had was that the builder come here and the boat be built in his hometown of New Orleans. So we ended up bringing in a builder from New Zealand who had worked on the Callan boat and he put together a crew and started building it at Al's old spice plant in New Orleans . As the hull was in the mold being built Al called a meeting and told us that he no longer wanted it to be a 2 engine turbine boat, he wanted it to have 4 engines. But every test,data and design we had was based off of 2 engines so engineers started scrambling to see if 4 engines would even fit. Once the engineers knew they would fit they told Al that with the 4 engines (12,000hp) the boat would be capable of well over 300mph so Al said "Well then why not go for the water speed record too? And I want to be able to survive an impact at that speed also". So now we had to figure out how to make the hull strong enough to withstand an impact and have him survive at 300+ mph. That was it, everything got thicker, longer, wider and of course heavier. The engineers still assuring us that the extra added weight didn't matter because we had so much horsepower. Everything was moving forward, but in Novemebr 2007 Al found out he had a rare aggressive skin cancer, the news was devastating to us all, and the outcome didn't look good. So we just started working around the clock to try to get the boat together so he could get one ride in it, but 5 months later he passed away.
At that time the boat was far from ready and the builder was no longer motivated to finish the project. But Al expressed 2 wishes to his family before his death- for the boat to be finished so it could break the propeller record and for his family to find a cure for the cancer that he had. The family agreed to both wishes and so we moved on and finished the boat. We were never prepared for the obstacles (and trust me, it was a lot) that were about to unfold over the next few years of testing (over 80hrs running) because of the main problem, the weight. With all of Al's changes and add- ons we were now 35,000lbs (11,000lbs over our projected weight). Yes, a lot of money was thrown into trying to overcome our problem because we all had an emotional attachment to the goal. If Al had not passed away I know the outcome would have been different, but we did the best we could with the cards we were dealt and at our top speed of 194mph I don't think that is too bad for a fat cat. -Scott |
Love reading the history behind it all, that is one heavy boat!
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It is great to read what really happened. Sometimes we forget that without others dreams and money, we would not be driving machines with the designs and speeds we now see. Al was a visionary in this sport and could afford to push the envelope. When you look back at this sport and the different boats he raced many would have said he wasted money at that time as well but I don't think anyone would argue with his successes.
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Thank you so much Scott for taking the time to educate all of us about the project. I would love to see them make a movie, or at least write a book about Al's life.
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Originally Posted by Phenomenon
(Post 4598127)
From where it all started in Al's head in 1997 to the boat we ended up with in 2008, the story of the Phenomenon is a long one. I could go on and on with stories about the learning process of this boat, but I won't, I will give you a condensed version. The boat started as a 2 engine 65ft boat in 1997 & Al had his yacht designer make a model of it and had him pull it beside a flat boat to see what would happen to it at high speeds, Al liked the results enough to move forward. We built a model of the boat and took it to Georgia Tech to be tested in their wind tunnel. In the wind tunnel it would blow over at 180mph and after more testing it was determined that 56ft was the biggest we could go and still do what Al wanted to do with the boat. Al wanted to break the propeller speed record of 225mph and go back and break the Miami to New York record. As many times as the engineers told Al that those 2 goals needed 2 different boats he was adamant to have one boat that could do both goals. So the boat was redesigned to 56ft and the wind tunnel model was modified and we went back into the wind tunnel and the change was a success. Now who was going to build this? We reached out to all the builders- Goetz, Mystic, Wright, MTI, Skater, but the one stipulation that Al had was that the builder come here and the boat be built in his hometown of New Orleans. So we ended up bringing in a builder from New Zealand who had worked on the Callan boat and he put together a crew and started building it at Al's old spice plant in New Orleans . As the hull was in the mold being built Al called a meeting and told us that he no longer wanted it to be a 2 engine turbine boat, he wanted it to have 4 engines. But every test,data and design we had was based off of 2 engines so engineers started scrambling to see if 4 engines would even fit. Once the engineers knew they would fit they told Al that with the 4 engines (12,000hp) the boat would be capable of well over 300mph so Al said "Well then why not go for the water speed record too? And I want to be able to survive an impact at that speed also". So now we had to figure out how to make the hull strong enough to withstand an impact and have him survive at 300+ mph. That was it, everything got thicker, longer, wider and of course heavier. The engineers still assuring us that the extra added weight didn't matter because we had so much horsepower. Everything was moving forward, but in Novemebr 2007 Al found out he had a rare aggressive skin cancer, the news was devastating to us all, and the outcome didn't look good. So we just started working around the clock to try to get the boat together so he could get one ride in it, but 5 months later he passed away.
At that time the boat was far from ready and the builder was no longer motivated to finish the project. But Al expressed 2 wishes to his family before his death- for the boat to be finished so it could break the propeller record and for his family to find a cure for the cancer that he had. The family agreed to both wishes and so we moved on and finished the boat. We were never prepared for the obstacles (and trust me, it was a lot) that were about to unfold over the next few years of testing (over 80hrs running) because of the main problem, the weight. With all of Al's changes and add- ons we were now 35,000lbs (11,000lbs over our projected weight). Yes, a lot of money was thrown into trying to overcome our problem because we all had an emotional attachment to the goal. If Al had not passed away I know the outcome would have been different, but we did the best we could with the cards we were dealt and at our top speed of 194mph I don't think that is too bad for a fat cat. -Scott Very well said!!! Gerry |
Boating is just one of those things that bites some of us hard. For some it is a cruise on a perfect summer afternoon, for some that spirited run on a crisp morning, some of we somewhat more enthusiastic folks it is posting that number on the GPS that is a tenth more than ever before. In this case it was simply a man believing he could better his wildest dream. Is that what we all do every day, what we all aspire to in life? In this case the money is far beyond what most of us can relate to, but the end is the same. God bless Al Copeland and his ability to dream BIG!!!
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