Turbine jetboat?

[Craig]

Any of you AZ guys know of a turbine powered jetboat runniing around the Phoenix area We we're hanging out in Humbug at Lake Pleasant, tunes blasting. A 70-80's looking 18-21 foot jetboat cruised past out off of our bow. We looked and there were two ~8" pipes sticking out of the hatch. A firend looked at me and asked, "What's that?" I said, "Probably bullsh*t"
Then the song on the stereo ended and we heard the unmistakable sound of a turbine running We looked again and the passengers were all wearing headset as well. They were too far away at this point for me to get a good picture. I hoped to see him on the lake later or at the dock, but didn't.

[cola]

He runs @ Parker & Havasu also. Seen it the last couple of years.
Nice little boat

[shockwaveharry]

I saw a purple 21ish foot day cruiser at Windsor in Havasu a couple three weekends ago. Had a small turbine in front of a jet.

[Slick]

That belongs to a guy that posts on here once in a while. He goes by Yates9. I think he lives in Mesa or Chandler.
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data...010103-med.JPG
http://www.hotboatpics.com/pics/data...010097-med.JPG

[bigkatboat]

Yates Wong; ywong@m-dot.com Design engineer, turbine power, aero certified, and marine experince. He can help you with purchase and installations.

[yates9]

Did it look something like this? We were out this weekend again
doing some more testing. Lot nicer this weekend than last
weekend! This boat is going to be out in the market for-sale
soon, since my next project is coming up. Contact me if
interested....
Heres an Short Video:
Tempe Town Lake Christmas Parade 2003 (http://members.cox.net/yates9/parade1.mpg)
Yates9@yahoo.com
Yates...
http://members.cox.net/goodshd/DSCF0017.JPG
http://members.cox.net/goodshd/DSCF0016.JPG

[jackpunx]

Yates,,
You got to tell us more about it.. I was interested in a larger one.. But a little out of my budget and they cant get insured.. Im not big on having a 200k boat that I cant insure.. How loud ,fast, quick and expensive are these boats? and where do you put all the fuel.. I understand that they go through about 80gal an hr.. If I could get one for a lot less.. I would have one.
thanks in advance

[Craig]

Yup, that's the boat Saw you going out of Humbug Sunday. I'm in Peoria as well, if you ever go out again, drop a line, I'd love to see that close up

[Slick]

It's pretty cool. You should of seen the heads turn and fingers point when he was idling through Bluewater at OP6 last October. Major Pimp Factor.

[yates9]

Hey JP,
I hear ya on $200k boats. When I was on the drawing board on powering this boat, I had to keep in mind I needed to set it up where someone else would be able to operate, maintain, and afford it without having to be an pilot or have Jay Leno's salary. There are a lot of mythes about turbine engines, and a lot of them are not completely true. Here is a breakdown on THIS particular turbine boat, keeping in mind it is not all turbine boats.
1970's Daycrusier (Heavy layup)
6 Seater (2 front, 4 back)
Closed bow
Berkeley Jet pump
Allison 250 turboshaft engine (320 HP weighs 130 lbs)
2 39 Gallon aluminum fuel tanks (~78Gal Total)
Jet A fuel, Kerosene, or #2 Diesel / Gasoline mix
Fuel consumption about 16 GPH AVG, 35 GPH at max power
Jet A cost ~$2.50 a gallon (right now) (~$190 to fill up)
Engine accel from Idle to full power in about 3-4 seconds (low inertia engine)
85 decibles at about 50 feet when idling
Dry sump external oil tank (~2 Gallons Turbine oil $7-10 qt)
Oil consumption, next to nill
The best thing of it is the experience of starting, driving, and watching the boat run. The sound, the smell of Jet A, smooth running of the turbines with no vibrations makes the experience once in a lifetime! Cost per hour of operation for this particular setup is not unreasonable, and the attention meter seems to always get pegged! It's not the fastest boat, but we have taken it up to 53 MPH. On an smaller and lighter hull with this same engine, it could do better. My last ride was an 18' Jet, and it just didn't have enough room to comfortable, and carry enough fuel for long enough trip. I can usually fit in one full day of running, sometimes a 2 day weekend at Havasu without refilling. Jet fuel isn't availible at marinas last time I checked! A lot of boats out on the lake are above the $50k bracket. Even though this boat is powered by an turbine engine, it is still below a $50k bracket. Although, finding an insurance policy for it may be a challange. The other downfall to turbines, is that it doesn't like to be started up, and shut down just to move couple feet. Once the engine is lit, its better to keep it running than shutting it off, and back on again. Planning ahead on where to go, where to stop helps there. If you guys have any questions at all, ask away. I pop up here and there at the lakes locally, and at distance. I'm sure I'll see some of you guys out there at the lake.
Yates...