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John Cooper | all galleries >> Baby Bootlegger >> Number Two ( named Tritao in May 2012) > 12. Maiden voyage of Tritao
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22-MAY-2012 BEC

12. Maiden voyage of Tritao

Cockle Pond, Haslar. view map

First outing on the water.
The large container on the deck is a flotation device in case the boat capsizes or takes on water.
The boat weighs 14lb, the device will support 16lb.
Considering I totally designed this boat myself it worked perfectly.
It reached about 4 mph which is a reasonable scale speed.
It had an 8 foot turning circle at full speed.
And I tried to capsize it by turning hard right and left on a bit of choppy water, it was quite stable.
It ran so far away I could hardly see it on the water, turned it round and came straight back.
Only 3 problems.
1 Steered a bit to the right when running. Easy to fix, adjust steering controls.
2 Some water got in through the back deck where it is fixed to the removable top.
Will redesign and rebuild that.
3 The electric motors got hot, very, very hot. Burnt a finger on one 20 minutes after turning
them off. Will have to look at using water cooling coils on them.
Battery life was good, kept going long after I was ready to stop.


other sizes: small medium large auto
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John Cooper27-May-2012 20:10
Bob, I had thought of that, but the idea has one huge problem, I would need two holes in the deck. Inlet and exhaust.
I do not want any hole of any kind in the boat.
I put the boats out on the water whatever the state of the water, waves across the deck are part of the fun.
So it has to be water cooling, I know that means some holes in the hull, but good workmanship should keep the boat safe and floating.
sunnybob 27-May-2012 17:16
what about a small computer fan to air cool the motors? with the top sealed like that you could do with a ducted vent.
Dave Beedon26-May-2012 02:17
Congratulations!
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