I'm glad this forum is out there. My Dauntless is outfitted with two Mabuchi 550s, Dumas brass props, Novak EVX and gel cell batts. It has great scale speed and runtime is at least an hour, I've never run the batteries completely down. I'm looking to go faster, though. I'll post some pics of her shortly.
Does anyone know if the 'real' Dauntless still exists?
Below I've retyped an old, undated article/review about the original Dauntless. I also have a couple detailed scans from the actual plans if anyone is interested in how the original was built.
Some of those wartime pipe dreams of what the postwar motorboat would be like seem to have taken crete form in Dauntless, a 66-foot aluminum commuter designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by the Jakobson Shipyard, of Oyster Bay, L.I., for Laurance S. Rockefeller, who has used her for commuting on the Hudson River, between Tarrytown and New York, during the past year.
Built of corrosion resistant aluminum alloys, with wood used only in the deckhouse joinerwork, she was designed to make the maximum speed practicable with a pair of Packard PT-boat engines of the 4-M2500 type, developing 1350 hp. each at 2400 r.p.m. In actual speed trials she was clocked at 40.9 knots, the light weight made possible by the aluminum construction, without loss of strength, being a factor in her performance.
Though primarily a commuter, she has living accommodations for four in the owner’s party as well as a crew of three. She has the last word in electrical equipment. Two 10 kw. U.S. Motors generators provide 110-volt current for an Edison electric stove, Frigidaire refrigerator and deep freeze, electric pressure hot water system, toilets, direction finder, radiophone, bilge pump and many other items of equipment. There is even a separate pantry, with electric hot plate and refrigerator, in the owner’s quarters aft, opposite the stateroom.
Dauntless has tank capacity for 2000 gallons of gasoline, to satisfy the appetites of her 2700 horses. She isn’t exactly the average man’s idea of a nice little power cruiser, but she’s an interesting example of what can be done. High speed trials in rough water have proved that the aluminum construction stands up under the terrific stresses involved with a big boat of this speed. She is handled from the open bridge, and also has an open cockpit aft. The owner’s big stateroom and quarters are aft, and the sunken deckhouse forward of the bridge makes a luxurious lounge.