What innovations would enhance your boating

DAKA

DAKA

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Over the past generation we have seen Decca make way for GPS to be enhanced with dGPS and colour chart plotters, how much easier can boating get and what innovations would you like to see come about over the next few years ?

I saw this(needs sound up for best effect) yesterday and although there are teething problems it just needs a little more development input and you can have an amphibious motor bike / helicopter/airship stowed in the lazarette .:)
 
I think a big push towards fuel consumption reduction will be a requirement of the industry, taking the lead from trucks. Would a downsized engine, able to keep a boat on the plane, with an electric motor in series to get it up on the plane work?

However, I am not sure that the marine leisure industry has sufficient funds to invest effectively in this area.
 
Rafiki there is a boat in this regard which already followed suit your requests and this is the Greenline Hybrid, available in 30 and 40 feet.
But to be fair an Italian friend of myn bought one and told me the electric motor is one of the most useless things you have. For the rest the boat is very economic to run.
It is selling well too the small one which sold over hundred units in like over a year, altough rumours say the company (SeaWay Group) is not very healthy rite now. I don't know what they could have expected to sell 1000 units....
 
I think Rafiki is talking about something more like KERS on F1 cars, to give a short term boost in power to get the boat on the plane, so that smaller engines could be fitted which would be able to keep it there?

Interesting idea, but I don't think most boats engines are sized to just get the boat on the plane. If that was the target, then there may be other ways to achieve it, variable pitch props or air injection in front of the props for instance.
 
Nick_H said:
air injection in front of the props for instance.
Click to expand...

I've not read anything about that Nick but it sounds really easy to achieve at minimal cost .
I'll get a hose pipe out and task swmbo to the footpump this weekend :) or is there more to it than that ;)
 
DAKA said:
I've not read anything about that Nick
Click to expand...

Nor me, it was just an idea and actually I don't think it would work! The prop would spin faster for sure, but would have less grip in the water so they would cancel each other out. Ah well, back to the drawing board ...
 
I understand where you are coming from now (almost like a clutch effect), it's a really bright solution and could well work at minimal cost, it could also be used to clean the prop of fouling too :)
 
O yes please Lord .

Any device that could detect more than a 6" wash,would then would automatically cut the throttles of any passing gin palace and reduce their speed to less than 5 knots when within 1 nautical mile of any other vessel.:)
 
:D
DAKA said:
Over the past generation we have seen Decca make way for GPS to be enhanced with dGPS and colour chart plotters, how much easier can boating get and what innovations would you like to see come about over the next few years ?

I saw this(needs sound up for best effect) yesterday and although there are teething problems it just needs a little more development input and you can have an amphibious motor bike / helicopter/airship stowed in the lazarette .:)
Click to expand...

I am still hoping that fuel cell technology will improve since our boats are sitting on an almost infinite source of hydrogen and that would make them pretty clean too.

An auto-berthing system would be handy too :D
 
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A reliable petrol outboard for my tender that weighed about 8-10kgs and had say 8-10hp. Like someone else an USonic AF device that worked for all areas. Self polishing/non dulling GRP. A device that stopped the Seagulls ****ping on my boat. :D
 
I think a seagull scarer is a device we would all like - as long as it only scares 'em away and doesn't scare the shite out of 'em.

Anti-wash devices? Hydrofoils would do that, but they are not poplar for some reason.

A low power & low-cost radar system with a simple waterproof daylight screen for use at the helm would be nice. But most of you guys sit indoors for your boating anyway don't you?

I think the big advances need to be in power consmption so gadget battery life can be extended, but once again, probably not important to you guys that run engines all day & genny's all night. :rolleyes:
 
For me the perfect device would sense when a starling has a gut full of blackberries and blow it out of the sky before it got near my boat :mad:
 
Nick_H said:
I think Rafiki is talking about something more like KERS on F1 cars, to give a short term boost in power to get the boat on the plane, so that smaller engines could be fitted which would be able to keep it there?

Interesting idea, but I don't think most boats engines are sized to just get the boat on the plane. If that was the target, then there may be other ways to achieve it, variable pitch props or air injection in front of the props for instance.
Click to expand...

There have been many attempts to improve the efficiency of the props/transmission etc, but none with the real capability to make a significant breakthrough. While the Greenline is an interesting boat for ditchcrawling, and low speed use, it is not a planing boat, and many of us moboers like a bit of speed. There will be further refinements of hull shape, tranmissions, props etc, but Mr Newton did not get many things wrong all those years ago, and the science of accelerating a mass needs a chunk of energy. So I think a downsized diesel engine, optimised to run efficiently in a narrow revs band, assisted by an elec motor to provide the torque to get on the plane is an interesting concept. Same thing happening on trucks but the technology is coming through slowly as it is both expensive, and heavy, thereby detracting from the load capacity of the truck.
 
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DAKA said:
Over the past generation we have seen Decca make way for GPS to be enhanced with dGPS and colour chart plotters, how much easier can boating get and what innovations would you like to see come about over the next few years ?

I saw this(needs sound up for best effect) yesterday and although there are teething problems it just needs a little more development input and you can have an amphibious motor bike / helicopter/airship stowed in the lazarette .:)
Click to expand...

A genuine, just hose down to make it factory fresh clean coating.
 
A wind screen that makes waves look more feminine, so that when SWIMO looks out there are no peeks and we would all use our boats a lot more, ha ha
David
 
With today's advanced computer design, modern manufacturing, metals, composites, etc., could a manufacturer consider making again the "DOWTY SYSTEM" again where water was sucked up and blown from the stern. Thus providing the foward propulsion. Well known in the late 50's, but ahead of their time? Patents must have expired by now. Ideal for shallow water use.
 
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