Future boat?

Ive been watching Future Cars on Discovery alot and was wondering what direction you see boats going , maybe on Ehtanol or Hydrogen or maybe even Electric?

It could possibly be heading in that direction, but not for a pretty hefty number of years. They will really need to learn how to fine tune them. Because i think if you make the switch from gas motors the "out of the hole" speed is going to cut down a lot and performance will probably decrease. Its a very interesting direction though. So i guess we will see soon.

one feature i thought that would catch on is the bagless ballast. I'm not sure the name but one of the boat mfg has a boat that just fills the hull up with water.

-I hope malibu adds a pickle fork design.

Doesnt Calabria's system just open up to let in water. When emptying open up the drain and floor it and its empty in under 45 seconds?

One thing about electric motors is that they have essentially 100% of their torque starting at 0 rpm. I think an electric powered boat would theoretically pull very hard out of the hole. That said, the technology and market for it are a long way off.

I wanna say Epic has the bagless balast.

kevin that is what i was thinking of. Calabrias PureVert Wake System
"The PureVert Wake System is a killer way to fill up ballast fast. There aren't any pumps to wait for. Just 700 pounds of water rushing into the hull - in a good way."

and then i think it drains by th eboat moving as well not pumps.

owc

A double hull is a great idea.

If the water is not really in the boat then it doesn't add to the coast guard weight limit.

Ideally, the water would conditionally enter the "hull" when on plane (rather quickly) and exit the boat when on idle. This way you don't pay gas to haul it around when you don't need it.

So, figure out that system. No pumps.

(Message edited by greatdane on March 12, 2007)

MB uses built in tanks underneath the floor, in the hull.. calabria uses a similar idea as well, although the way that they allow the water in is very different.. i know theres others, i just cant remember

Biodiesel would be sweet, and should pull hard out of the hole. It would smell like french fries behind the boat though.

What type of royalties is Calabria charing on their pure vert system? I can't believe other manufacturers arent moving to this type of system.

Someone enlighten me why others are not doing this?

Biodiesel would be sweet...too bad diesel motors in wakeboats are VERY hard to find.

Dane, I am going to use that system in a new (to me) boat I have on the way. It fills the tanks with a scoop while under way and because the tanks are above the floor they should drain back through the scoop when stopped. Critical points are how fast the tanks will fill and to make sure the over flows will keep up with the scoops so the tanks don't rupture once they are full. If I can develop the system i will let you know by email just for a FYI.

Darren, use a hydraulic hull scoop that activates at X speed if the switch is flipped. The trick would be getting the fit and seal for running closed when you don't want the load. You can use large lines to flow in and a float to auto close valves in the lines or the scoop when a specified level is reached. Ram Air of the hydro world.