BananaSharks cruising..

voovar · 14 May 2003, 14:27

comfortable at high speed..

Alan · 14 May 2003, 15:01

Thats a r/c model!!

voovar · 14 May 2003, 15:14

and? its still got outboard trim/lift, speed rails, vented hull steps (hence the scoop on the cockpit), and a 12oz capacity bowtank for when its rough.. surely thats realistic enough?

Garygee · 14 May 2003, 20:51

Hi folks

1.4HP for 3.5 cc, wish my diesel had that power to weight ratio

Regards Gary

Mike Garside · 14 May 2003, 20:52

Quote:

Originally posted by voovar
... and a 12oz capacity bowtank for when its rough

Now there's somethin'!

I bashed my brains out, and my neck and knees on way up to Fowey from Plym on Sunday morning. It was one of those typical Plymouth Sound mussy bits of sea. All lumps and bumps.

Then from Fowey to Falmouth, with the wind on the nose, I decided to experiment. I gave the trim tabs full 20 degrees of lift, trimmed the leg in tight and shot bow loads of spray left and right. Boy! It was seriously less painful. The deep-V bow did the contact work and left out the flat middle and aft bits.

Next project is to work out how to squeeze in a half ton of water in the bow of Magellan Alpha to get some serious bow depression and wave punching comfort. Any ideas, folks?

voovar · 14 May 2003, 21:12

funny you should say that... while getting battered in the smooth riding 'Shark im sure i heard kitten say 'why doesn't he trim it in and give it some?' ..'because he's in doubt?'.. (andmoany other old phrases)

But then thinking of the following variables.. one weekendaway = 150 cans of beer = roughly 150kg.. cans + gaffer tape = fairly easy to mould shape.. hey presto! one 'bow tank'.. (my calculations dont allow for a rough trip home though)...

Mike Garside · 15 May 2003, 07:04

Quote:

Originally posted by voovar
150 cans of beer = roughly 150kg.. cans + gaffer tape = fairly easy to mould shape.. hey presto! one 'bow tank'..

Hmmm...certainly creative thinking. Thanks. I shall ponder some more.

voovar · 16 May 2003, 10:30

this principle equally lends itself to the elusive 'perfect wake' when wakeboarding - simply place the aforementioned beer ballast as close to the transom as possible..
As the days play continues, you shoudnt notice the wake becoming smaller and smaller - provided the beer is equally shared between driver, spotter and riders.
Safety tip - dont throw the used cans overboard, they could cause a nasty injury to any wakeboarders should they hit them. Instead use the empty cans and gaffer tape to fashion a handy propguard, thus saving a fortune on novelty accessories.

Alan Priddy · 16 May 2003, 13:20

Hi Mike, I am back from my travels. Be VERY carefull putting too much weight in the bow of the boat. What will happen is the front of the boat will stop a split second before the outdrive realises what has happened and will break both gimble points on the transom plate. Trust me I know. You have to calculate what is better, a smooth ride or being rescued by the RNLI and big repair bill. A better idea is to lobby for more mooring facilities with pubs outside all around the coast. Touch base with you soon
Alan P

PS will be down your way with a suprise around the 4./ 5th August.

Mike Garside · 16 May 2003, 15:08

Thanks, Alan. Point noted. Actually, by lifting the back end with full flaps, so to speak, the ride is so much better that this might be the way to go rather than adding ballast. The boat is pretty heavy as it always was and, as you suggest, more weight might over-egg the cake.

Nonetheless I may try out a couple of big plastic cans of water just to see if it has any effect on the ride. On the way back from Cardiff back in March last year we had the bow stuffed with half a dozen of those big cans filled with fuel to try and make it back in one hit. We were burning 2.5L per mile then. It was, as you might remember, kinda ruff at the time. One of the cans gave up the ghost and we arrived in St Mawes with a thin trickle of diesel still running from the self bailers in the transom.

Still, with all that oil on troubled waters, it would have been a nice ride for a wake boarder. You want to give that idea of mine a try some time, Mr Voovar.

PS Should be around these parts early Aug. I'll keep an eye open for you. Cheers.

TIPS · 03 June 2003, 19:07

thats kewl, did u make it yourself ? where can u buy them ?

Mark

thewavehumper · 03 June 2003, 22:34

Brilliant model, great photo

voovar · 04 June 2003, 15:09

thanks! the model is a 1:9 scale version of the full size raceboat.. the hull was produced from scratch by Kitten @ BananaShark Racing (not bad for an 'unskilled' awesome bloke), and i made the 'racedeck' cockpit and scoop for the vented steps. You can buy a barehull with standard deck from Nimriff models in plymouth for £120.. then all you need is a ThunderTiger outboard (like gold dust to get hold of), some radio gear, fuel tank, fuel filter, fuel pipe, step venting pipes, sealed radio box, bowtank, modified speed rails on the hull, adjustable steering servo mounting (to allow for engine trim), engine mounting plates, and lots of hours tinkering to get a similar BananaShark to the one in the photo.
Sounds a lot, but once its howling up and down its suddenly worth it! go to www.bananasharkracing.com and click on the model link to see more info and photossss.

in addition, a friendly kevin is always useful to have when building the model bananasharks- they dont come with instructions!

thewavehumper · 04 June 2003, 21:41

What sea state is it good for, or would that be pond State.

Cracking website by the way. I'm impressed

voovar · 04 June 2003, 21:54

so long as you react quickly on the throttle its more than capable of clattering happily over 12" chop with the 15oz bowtank full.. same as the fullsized 'Shark will kick all arses in a big sea provided you have the yee-ha of cookee or the insanity of basham.. its not just a model boat- it takes effort and practice to drive quickly just like the fullsize one. I should know, ive crashed/flipped/run over other boats with it hahahah

voovar · 04 June 2003, 22:07

howling round too fast for the camera.. the red tube on the outboard is a rough weather snorkel that stops water going down thecarb!

voovar · 04 June 2003, 22:11

here u can see close up.. scoop behind the cockpit that feeds air to the hull steps, bowtank filling seal at the nose, and aerial for the onboard gps

(so you can see how fast it went when you bring it in hehehehhe)

kevin stop tittering- we know youre awesome.

and thanks for the website compliment - i designed it (thats my dayjob.. www.uxmal.co.uk)

Jonny Fuller · 05 June 2003, 20:26

Quote:

Originally posted by voovar
same as the fullsized 'Shark will kick all arses in a big sea

???????????????????????? I agree the banana has a good reputation in a big following sea thanks to bags of recovery, but i think that statement is a bit over generalised. I'm starting to see where all the rib "supernatural" seakeeping myths gestate from now!

voovar · 05 June 2003, 22:10

if you take an infinite number of monkeys, typewriters, batboats, xr2s that actually run all day (ok so were getting supernatural now) and a bananashark and turn the sea up a bit..
chances are it'll win.
turn the sea down.. you might win.
im not saying its a spaceshuttle, a lifeboat, or an invisible racing falcon thats faster than knight riders pontiac.
sure it has limits - you cant carry much tobacco - dry compartment is very small), and it can be a nitemare trying to park it in town, but for rough weather itll still be giving it hell when batboats are shedding wings and everyone else is talking a good race in the bar..

Jonny Fuller · 05 June 2003, 22:32