Is Roy Ayers still with HTM?

[wavejumppin]

For the people in the know, Is Roy still designing boats for HTM?

[MIKEHTMSR24]

I spoke with Roy last week over the phone @ HTM.
Don't be scared it's just a black cat!

[wavejumppin]

Thanks Mike! I didn't know. He seems like a cool guy. Does he own a part of the company or not?

[MIKEHTMSR24]

Don't know. I hope HTM toughs it out and Roy stays aboard.

[wavejumppin]

Me too. I was really getting interested in the 30 footer or maybe even the 28' that they were going to build. They sent me some pictures of a 30' but I really want to see one in person.

[Brad Zastrow]

Don't you think you should wait and find out what happened to the 30' prototype that crashed? What if it is a design flaw? I mean if the boat crashed and it ripped an engine out at a mere 80mph as reported, scary stuff.

[step up]

JUST SO YOU KNOW,IF A DUAL MOTOR CAT BRAKES ONE OF THE DRIVE'S UNDER SPEED THE BOAT WOULD FLIP,REGARDLESS OF WHO BUILT IT..OR IF A POWER STEERING BELT BRAKES ON ONE MOTOR AND THE BOAT IS RUNNING UNDER ACCELERATION THE BOAT WOULD FLIP TO THE SIDE OF WHICH THE MOTOR WAS RUNNING.WATCH OFF SHORE RACING

[Brad Zastrow]

Been there done that. I have two cats now, a 30' 115mph and a 35' 150 mph. I have blown motors (4), lost skegs (3), and have even torn the lower unit off a twin once. I have lost the steering system on a boat at 100mph. I mean it disconnected from the drives. That was the worst thing I could imagine. The boat twitched and coasted to a stop. I am not convinced losing a motor or a drive will flip the boat. I also go to offshore races and have seen some pretty horrible crashes and always the boats have the motors in the boat afterwords. Like I said, been there done that.

[RiverDave]

Originally posted by step up:
JUST SO YOU KNOW,IF A DUAL MOTOR CAT BRAKES ONE OF THE DRIVE'S UNDER SPEED THE BOAT WOULD FLIP,REGARDLESS OF WHO BUILT IT..OR IF A POWER STEERING BELT BRAKES ON ONE MOTOR AND THE BOAT IS RUNNING UNDER ACCELERATION THE BOAT WOULD FLIP TO THE SIDE OF WHICH THE MOTOR WAS RUNNING.
I think I would reword that to say that there is a "possibillity" of it happening, but not EVERY boat will flip if they lose a motor.
There is a whole lot of factors involved there, A couple of them being
What's the ratio of Hydrodynamic Lift to AeroDynamic lift at speed? <--- MAJOR FACTOR # 1
Was the boat "balanced?" fore/aft, port/starboard?
Driver?
To little or too much Tunnel Compression? very similar to #1
X Dimension on the drives
Drives turning in or out? <--- MAJOR FACTOR #2
You can't just say.. "well if you lose a motor in a cat your going to end up in the drink."
RD

[MrHavasuCat]

I lost a gearcase in my twin 0/B mach 26 at about 90 mph and the boat continued to track straight. I was able to keep it on plane and drive it to the marina on one motor.

[DMB]

Thank You.

[RumRunner]

I've been in twin engine, cats that have lost motors, and drives, and never flipped. I can see that it could happen, but for the boat to tear up ? I hope all of the other builders can learn something from this if/when the facts come out.

[carreradude]

i was at a local shop out here in valencia (i wont name the person or shop) but the owner was aying that that morning steve had come in to get a flam arrester and new pullys to try and get more boost, and i think they got some bigger props too. So maybe they were pulling a little to much boost and they siezed. I dont know thats just what i think.
My heart goes out to the families.
the 30 HTM I was able to ride in at the river last year was awesome it is a very well built boat. They handle great.

[havasu boat builder]

first off, let's find out what happened...............second let's find out the speed........design flaw? If you can coax 150 out of any boat, that is not the design. If it was structural, at what speed?(if it was structural). You have to remember that we are dealing with uncharted territory with a production boat(steve only built one kind, fast and able).......the best built boats in the world will go down under the right conditions.........dropped motor, stuff, or lifting.............water is worse the concrete.........ask any drag boat racer........it takes a heeluva bottom at 30 feet to get the results they did, no matter the HP