Drilling fiberglass hull

[stangguy73]

Hello, I finally got my Impulse 31. I have begun to modify it. I am adding the dual rudder kit. My question is I need to drill the hull in 2 locations since I will be adding a separate cooling line for my Seaking 180 esc. What should I use to drill the fiberglass for the tube entry in the rear of the boat and for the bulkhead fitting for the cooling system exit on the side? I have never drilled a fiberglass hull before and I don't want to crack the hull.

Thanks

[kfxguy]

You do realize that one rudder already scrubs about 8-10mph? You don't need dual rudder on this boat. So basically what your doing is adding more drag, losing speed, losing run time, and stressing your electronics even more. Why? That boat works great the way it is with a few adjustments. I can sharpen a rudder, thin it a little and reshape the bottom and pick up a solid 6mph....this tells me a rudder is like an anchor in the water and any drag you can get rid of helps the boat go faster. I personally would never consider this novelty but if your hell bent on it....

Tape up the area. Drill with a small bit first. I mean small. 1/16 or so. Then go up a drill size at a time. A tapered bit is even better.

[TheShaddix]

I had an impulse before with a dual rudder kit. It lost about the same speed kfxguy mentioned. It was doing 45-48 before, became 38-40 after. Definitely added a lot of stability though. The boat didn't chine walk or hop, it was fun for sure with this setup, but it did heat things up more, and if you really want to add this kit, you'll need more power to compensate. I'd definitely never do it again as the rudder is like an air brake on an airplane, all you're doing is slowing it down. The boat already turns really well.

[Mxkid261]

Definitely pointless to do a dual rudder setup unless you think it looks cool or something. My buddy has an impulse stock with just a prop change and it flies on 6s, with no stability issues. As travis stated adding another rudder would be like dragging around a lead weight behind the thing

[ls1fst98]

If you're trying to get more water flow for cooling do a through hull or transom mounted pickup. Through hull being the better option