Possible alternative to jet drive
Clearly, the Jetpac jet driven outboard is not
practical. They're huge, heavy, and I believe they may
actually cost $20,000. Earlier, I made grandiose
claims of my intention of putting a jet drive on a
Triumph. That was before I realized that - what I
don't know about jet drives could fill many books! My
thought originally was - an indestructable hull needs
to be matched up with a motor that is also
indestructable. "A chain is only as strong as it's
weakest link", and to me - the weak link on a Triumph
boat is the lower unit of the outboard hanging below
the hull.
Here's what I have come to learn so far: only
certain hull designs are conducive to being matched up
with a jet drive outboard. These designs include: a
flat hull, a "radius" hull, a hull with a delta pad,
etc.. Other designs may "sort of" work, but they may
cause the motor to suck in air, as opposed to water.
With a jet drive - you get 1/3 less power vs.prop,
they can't steer well at low throttle, fuel economy
suffers, etc.. I love jet driven boats, but I am
abandoning that pursuit now regarding a Triumph boat
application.
If avoiding crab pots is your goal - you could check
out the product at the address below, but I am
unfamiliar with it:
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http://www.smalloutboards.com/j5598.htm
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Regarding the appropriate choice for an outboard -
one worthy of being matched up with a Triumph boat
hull - I am curious what others on this site might
think of putting a jack plate (possibly a "porta
bracket") with an outboard (with a low-water pickup)
on the back of a 190 Bay? With the stepped hull - I am
thinking this has possibilities. The site address for
porta brackets is
below:
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http://www.portaproducts.com/bracket.html
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A site address for Bob's Machine Shop - a company that
can, apparently, modify a lower unit to place the
water intake much lower on the outboard - is below:
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(scroll to "nose cones")
http://www.bobsmachine.com/
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Pictures of a porta bracket (ones that illustrate what
is possible- in terms of getting the outboard up
higher) can be seen on the site address below:
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(scroll down to first photo
http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/t...art=1&posts=10
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Would a porta bracket work on a 190 Bay?