I'm considering building a turbine cat boat. 38-42 foot range. This boat would be built for Poker Runs and pleasure cruising. Possibly some long distance runs, Bahamas etc. I've always been intrigued by the power to weight ratio and longevity of the engines. Looking for opinions good or bad.

the cool factor is nice, getting some knowedge on the maintance
would be important. They are tuff around docks only cause of
the spool up time. Another issue is the fuel type.
I would consider doing it myself if I could find a 400-500hp
engine.

http://www.barnstormers.com/engJ0000.html

I was thinking of installing two small motors for docking and cruising at idle speeds. The turbine would run off diesel fuel.

Turbines are a great way to go. If plan on boating with out insurance, you can not beat it.

You should call Howard Arneson.

Also, sign up at http://www.extremeboatsmag.com/ for a free trail subscription and read my article about the turbine powered skater called JetSet.

Jetset uses a 40hp water jet kicker on a hydrolic jack plate to get around the docks with the turbines off.

I saw 195 on this boat.

hey its hard to get insurance on 120mph plus boats anyway. I also think its going to get harder and harder in the near future to get coverage on high perfomance boats

I've seen Fusco's at the New York city Poker Run in 2000, nobody was even close. I want a little better system than the outboard if possible for docking. I know it works fine but I'd like something a little cleaner look if possible.

You need to talk to Jafo. He's a jet mechanich and can tell you all about the maintenance on turbine motors.

jet set is cool ebcasue of teh speeds she can make BUT the outboard setup is aparently outdated. Neat solution but they can attached them to shifttable drives now.

e-mail this guy: [email protected]

he was sellgin soem stuff in eth classifieds and is pretty knowledgeabel about turbines. Hell they offer lightwieght 300hp packages that would be comprable to like an HP500 (price and performance) setup

I heard that some other boats have come up with a way to reverse the turbines for reverse power. Like I said, talk to Howard. 415 485 0788