50 feet long and 150 mph... sustained!!

202 MPH ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBmJ2cuFTcE

That youtube vid looked like a fun ride, but completely irresponsible. Any malfunction could have been fatal for a lot more than just the occupants. That river needed to be closed. We just had a boat flip in Patchogue doing 150mph. The 2 guys on board were killed, but spectator boats were within 100 ' around the course. It could have been so much worse. As exciting as these are they need to be in the open ocean.

Turbine Powered RIB

Wonder if they ever got this turbine powered RIB running??

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/12004-post40.html

Yes it was a tragic accident. The boat was a 39MTI with 1550 Sterlings, WAY overpowered.

The race courses have been brought inshore for better spectator viewing and that's not going to change. However, two "old school" races are being run; the Long Beach to Catalina and the Miami to Bimini Don Aronow Memorial race, both about 100 miles long. The racers love doing them too.

The first year I was in Lauderdale they held hydroplane races in front of Bahia Mar. Spectator boats could hang down at the south end of the course or at the north end, just south of the Las Olas bridge which is where I anchored. Man was that exciting. Boats screaming at you doing, (I believe) close to 165mph then whipping into the turn. Someone realized that it was a recipe for disaster and the next year the spectators were pushed to the north side of the bridge. The following year it was stopped altogether.
Boat racing is a fun sport to participate in or to watch. Unfortunately there is just no way to stop an out of control boat from reaching the spectators in such a course. The Long Beach to Catalina and the Miami to Bimini Don Aronow Memorial races are perfect for the drivers and the sponcers. They know they're risking their lives, but they don't want to hurt anyone who just came to watch. Finding good, safe locations for these races is difficult, but that has to be the way it's done. Luckily we now have enough helicopters following these races to get most of the thrills on the TV.

+1
Just before I hired on in 1977, Bertram Yacht had built a prototype 46 with Ford gas turbine engines, and the story I heard was, yes, there was a heat problem, in particular with the exhaust causing the creosote to smolder on a dock piling. Although the Test Center was a good quarter-mile down the road from the admin building, the whine of those turbines was quite audible.
In any event, the plug was pulled on the turbine program.

We recently built exhaust systems for a customer who is placing 4, T-55 turbines on a 65 footer. That's 7500hp each!! Should be one interesting ride.

Just goes to prove the saying "just cause they're rich doesn't mean they're smart". So far this summer I've passed (4) 30 foot plus logs....THAT I KNOW OF. Hate to find one of those while doing 80mph.

The highest hp figure I can find for the T55 is 3750, which is 1000 more than the T55s in the new Miss Geico raceboat.

I have a feeling that customer is going to regret putting FOUR T55s in his boat. Twin diesels and a turbine in between them I can understand but not this setup. His fuel burn is going to be astronomical.