Fountain Rio 30"

[G Doggett]

Looking good.
Now that the strut is positioned where you want it, why don't you drill thru the bracket for the second bolt.
There is going to be a lot of leverage from that long strut.
I would hate to see all your good work come to grief.
Graham.

[G Doggett]

Heres a shot of the back end of my Fountain showing my home made strut from left over bits of stainless tubing and alloy, with a Speedmaster bush inside.
Forget the rudder, it has since been replaced with twin small Octura rudders.

Also thought you might be interested to see how I have secured the front of the hatch with two long pop rivets epoxied to the hatch locking into holes under the deck. I'll still seal it with tape but I figure there is less chance of it being blown off in a spill.

My Fountain has been gathering dust for months but you have got me motivated to finish it.

Graham.

[SJFE]

I like your brackets. Nice stuff. I am going to mock up a bracket outside of the hull before I attempt to slot and mount from the inside. looking at yours I am less aposed to it now. My rudders are going to be Deep..lol. I may trim them after testing. Just a hair @ a time. Thanks for sharing.

[SJFE]

I am going to pull that Stinger. I'm not convinced it will have the ajustment that will be needed. I believe fabricating a strudder with a standered stand off strut will make for better performence. I am still sticking with twin rudders for now. I will be back to work next week.

[G Doggett]

Why don't you stick with the SV stinger but make your own mounting brackets from angle alloy. That way you will have a small amount of adjustment.
I have found with my DVs that the best allround position for the strut or stinger is parallel with the keel and mounted as low as possible on the transom.
I keep them locked in that position and make adjustments for water conditions by moving the batteries and trim tabs.
I believe if you are having to angle your drive more than a degree or two you are compensating for a problem somewhere else.
Graham.

[SJFE]

Thanks for the suggeation Graham. It would work but I am going in a diffrent direction with the strut. I have a perfectly good SpeedMaster strut I ca use. I am drawing up a single strudder with extention brackets for twin rudders. I just dont thing the AC strut will be the right choice for this hull. Wish I would have realized it before the install. But it took that to make me see what I didn't like about it on this hull.

[Eyekandyboats]

To get nice bends just heat up the tube till red hot every where, and it bends very easily.
cool it down of course before you touch it ! lol

[SJFE]

I am going to heat it tonight + I have the brake line bender. Simple but nice tool. I am going pick one up the next time the MAC tool truck comes to the shop. That is if I use this tubing. I hade another one of my "Ideas" today.

[Eyekandyboats]

good luck .

PS did that chat thing ever take off ?

[SJFE]

That room I created was a test drive of the server. The server seems to be stable. I am in the process of learing how to program the AI, script, bot what every the geeks call it. Once I stop seeing lines of code and start seeing the matrix I think I will have it...lol

[SJFE]

As for the boat I got my carbon kevlar composite panel today. .125 thick!!!!! I am going to have a hell of a time cutting it but it is extreamly light and almost impossible to bend.

[SJFE]

With the demise of the Sport Cat I had a project with out a boat. So my solution was to build a Sport Mono. This hull was at a stage where it's possible. I am going to completely finish it before I post any more pictures or information. I change my mind on the configuration @ least twice a day. I did get a new drive system installed last night. I had to cut out the old motor mount and remove alot of DC..was a huge mess but was with out tragidy.

[SJFE]

95% done

I have hit it hard the last 2 nights. I have to pack it early this evening. Weather is on the way and I'm on stand by. So all I have left is steering, water cooling & wiring. First thing was to patch the cf in the botton where I sanded out the DC. Then I decided on a vertical esc mount. I figure it will be easer to run the wires and keep it out of any water. I cut up the wood servo and receiver mount from the blackjack for my other mounts. The tx mount is CA'ed to the hull. The servo is epoxied in. Back in the stern is the carbon kevlar plate. I needed to extend the transom up just a little for some range of movment or ajustment on the outdrive. I used such a big piece of plate in order to cover the mount holes from the stinger. That motors just in there so I had an idea of spaceing. I will have the motor and esc delivered next week. End to end packs fit along side the gear drive fine. Side by side backs have to be put on edge along with 4s packs. I may not get any more done this week due to weather and the Mrs upcoming off week.

[SJFE]

Last 2 shots

[G Doggett]

Aah the old steerable stern drive trick ! - I like it.
I'm still sticking with the home made 'stinger' and twin Octura rudders on mine, and even with the fat SS1 it is possible to have the battery packs either side of the motor on their sides.
Keep up the good work.
Graham.