WOW!
Ran this boat for the first time today. The boat is balanced .5 inch behind the sponson heal. Running my hull design, inspired by the ML310, NR 5p with reduced volume head button and flat top piston. 65 percent fuel, and brand new old stock Rossi pipe and a sholund 442 back cut. Ryan's plastic tanks, one on each side of the motor. ZIPP super 21 mount fits perfectly to the hull.
Initial set up was strut at about 3/16 deep from flat. Started way rich,.. I ran a few laps and the boat seemed a bit wet. Leaned down a bit, got better but hull still wet. I thought maybe the hull needed to air a bit so I lower raised the strut 1/8. Big difference,, now I was getting somewhere. I brought the boat in, checked the plug, still a bit rich. I raised the strut another 1/8. Tossed it back in,.. NOW I had throttle response and some air under the hull. The venting design of the hull is working very well. When the hull would start to lift it would dance side to side bit and settle back down, where many hulls would blow off. I leaned a few more clicks. POWWOW, now it's really working. I'm totally thrilled with the design. The tanks fill from the non TF side. This keeps the torque lift on that sponson at bay most of the run. I saw a touch of lift as the tanks emptied. The boat has only flat running surfaces. In other sp21 I had, there were curved surfaces. I think that this caused some of the hop in the corners as the curved surfaces pulled on the sponsons. I never saw any corner hop at all, well after I got the strut depth anyway.
I'm no longer hesitant to have anyone buy the kit. The changes I made were changes to make the build even easier but no changes to the running geometry. (And fix a few of my own errors).
The cowl I'm running is a wicked vacuum formed cowl made by Paul Renna. I was concerned about heat from the pipe. I vented in the intake scoop and let the air exit in a vent over the pipe. No problems at all. The 060 PC cowl is thick, stiff, and it takes almost NO prep to paint. This is the clear PC not the white ABS some guys are using. To me this is a major improvement over the fiberglass only because of what it takes to finish the cowl. Of course fiber glass will repair more easily. The ML boat works 310 cowls are also a direct fit.
This kit will be available direct from ML boat works. This is the best as we will have a single source for kits and cowls. If the demand is there PC cowls will be available also.
thanks to everyone that gave me input on the hull. I am very happy with the boat. This is the first time that I ever had a boat that was straight away a good runner.
I will continue to test props and TFs I'm most used to riggers so the drifting corners takes a bit more prediction in driving. I would like to see a little more carving but this is a trait of a sport boat,.. But I think I can get a bit more carve in it,..
Anyway. Thanks again for all your help. The business part, sales and orders will go through ML. I take no cash profit from any of my design work, cowls or hulls,.. Just some parts for my personal boats from time to time. More fun for me without the money aspect. I will be adding a 40 boat with the similar design theory, super fast and easy build, super strong and light. Sounds impossible huh,.. Not at all!
The build is very easy. The hardest part being wrapping the sponsons of course. Other than that it's stupid easy. No jig needed. Build on a flat surface.
Purchase with confidence. This new kit builds super fast, and sets up super easy,.. And is wicked fast. (Not at fast yours yet Mr Roach, but maybe you can build one)
