These Turbo-Jet engines push a 12,000 pound Lear-24 through the air at 614 mph at altitude
but much slower at sea level. The completed boat will weigh in around 8,000 lbs. empty and
approximately 15,000 lbs. full of fuel and gear. Projected top speed is in the 250 mph range at
this point. We are conducting computerized fluid dynamic "CFD" studies with a Company out of
Ohio "TOTALSIM US" to do the performance calculations as well as design in some pretty
unique safety features of the upper deck on the boat before it is built. The boat will be built by
Doug Wright Power Boats out of Melbourne Florida and constructed of mainly carbon fiber
materials. It will feature an enclosed 6 passenger air conditioned cockpit and all of the safety
features you would expect in this caliber of a competition boat. The interior will be custom
designed and installed by Waves And Wheels out of Osage Beach, MO. The boat will also
incorporate a pair of 400 hp Mercury V-10 outboards for docking and slow cruising at speeds up
to 60+ mph. The outboards will not steer but will be fixed in the straight forward position.
Steering will be achieved by a single rudder in the center of the boat like your typical BPM
driven race boats. Docking will be done with differential thrust from the Mercury engines.
When operating on Jet Thrust the Mercury engines will be raised straight up out of the water
with special Porta Products engine jack plates that Scott Porta will design so that the outboards
can be tucked in behind fairings once raised up. No part of the outboards will be touching the
water while under full jet power.
Phase I, of the project started as a concept in early 2019. The study began with reviewing all of
the attempts over the years to power a vessel using straight thrust. There have been a few
successful attempts since the 50's to use several types of straight thrust power to achieve world
speed records on the water. The top speed for this type of setup holds the world water speed
record of 317.58 mph set by Ken Warby in 1978 and to this day has not been broken. Keeping in
mind that my study is not to compete for the top world water speed record, but the study of
the setups and how they performed. In conclusion of the study, we found that it is realistic to
achieve the speeds and fuel mileage we are looking for with turbo-jet engines while eliminating
a number of weak links and reducing maintenance time and costs. Move forward!
Phase II. December 2021. Procure a pair of operational General Electric J-85/CJ-610 engines.
Larsen Motorsports "Elaine & Chris Larsen" are the top contenders in the Jet Car Racing
Business and were who I acquired the engines from along with an endless amount of engine
knowledge to get me on the right path. Once the engines were test run at his facility I brought
them back to my shop to begin building a test trailer for R & D of the control, monitoring and
fuel systems. These engines demand a very pure high rate of fuel flow and for that we called on
the best I could find in the business. "FASSRIDE.COM" Their system provides the purest fuel
possible! We found FASS Fuel Systems removes 99.6% of the water/condensation along with
what FASS stands for, "Fuel Air Separation System", which improves performance along with
improving fuel nozzle life and lower maintenance by removing tiny air bubbles before the fuel
enters the engine. We incorporated 2 of their Competition Series 540GPH Fuel Systems to feed
the engines and after-burners. The goal for the control systems was to have a clean dash and
cockpit with only minimal mechanical switches. All other switches would be operational
through Maretron touch screens throughout the dash and cockpit which would also display
engine parameters using Maretron Converters and Noland Engineering RS-11 Converters to
the NMEA outputs. Fast forward one year later, the test trailer and controls are finished and
thrust testing has begun. Before the Jets are installed on the 42' Cat all systems will be fully
operational and tested thoroughly.
Phase III. January 2023. Preliminary work has begun with Naethan Eagles at "TOTALSIM US" a
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) consulting and solutions firm who will be working on
airflow over and around the top of the boat for stability and making sure there is clean airflow
feeding the Jet Engines. They are also working on some safety concepts using aerodynamic
spoilers and flaps to keep the boat as stable as possible at speed as well as slowing it down
controllably as quick as possible since there will be very little hydrodynamic drag not having
drives and props in the water.
Phase IV. Using the final concept from phase III, Doug Wright Power Boats will build the molds
and complete the layup of the boat including windshields and 4 fuel tanks. Jet A fuel tanks will
be 400 gallons on each side and centered over the CG line of the boat. Gas tanks for the
outboard's will be 75 gallons on each side just aft of the Jet A tanks.
Phase V. The boat will be painted with a base color then brought to my shop where we will rig
the Jet Engines, Outboard's and control systems. Water testing will begin and once completed
the boat will go to Waves and Wheels where Justin Wagner and his team will do their magic on
the interior and sound system then lastly dawn her colors and display the title sponsors name.
Capt. John R.L. Hice
Gulf Coast Marine Service, Inc.
2426 Magnolia Drive
Panama City Beach, Fl. 32408
850-258-4423
www.gulfcoastmarineservice.com
