surjer

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but thought (electric powered) would be close enough.

I am doing some homework trying to design a power plant for a boat we are going to build. The boat will be a catamaran style boat. Probably around 8foot long and 4foot wide. My guess is it will end up around 250lbs at most. Will want twin motors on it but I am not sure where to start in terms of figuring out what size motors/props to use. I am guessing somewhere in the 1-2hp range should do it? Would need to get the boat up to around 10mph.

What sort of brushless motors / setups should I be looking at?

I fly electric rc but have never done anything with boats. This will be for a work project.

Thanks in advance for any tips on where to start looking.

crispyspa

Wow. Helluva project. I hope you figure out the power details.

I wonder if using an actual trolling motor would work. You'd have the speed control. Make a surface drive system using 1/2' solid rod and impact universal joints. Finding a prop will be the hard part though.

surjer

So currently I am thinking something like this.

2 of these Jet Drive's - http://www.mhz-powerboats.com/Jet/Jet-Power-924.html

and 2 of these motor - http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/pro...?prod=leo-5692

now I need to figure out what ESC's to use. Not sure what the amp draw is going to look like. Battery will be a 12v deep cycle marine battery. (Want to have as long of a run time as possible)...

crispyspa

That's way better than what I was thinking. As long as you're spending money....You may want to look into a couple of swordfish 300a ESCs. They are pricy, but seem to be a good esc. Hard to find though.

Justaddwata

My Feedback: (3)

Are you able to give us an idea what this 250 pound 10mph 8ft boat is going to be used for? Any other design parameters (surface piercing cat etc)?

Hydro Junkie

Something else you may need to consider is that something that big may need to be registered in some areas. I know of a 12ft RC that was built in the past that was required to be registered due to the fact that the owner COULD ride in it and that it had to be trailered.

DJLaPalme

For that size and weight I don't believe a jet type propulsion system will be very efficient. Jet systems are more for speed. As Crispyspa said, a trolling motor is probably the best bet. Mount one in each sponson/ hull and use a large tug type prop from Harbor models and that should do it. Brushless is probably not good for your purposes either. It is also more for speed. I believe anyway. Please keep us informed on how it works out. I know there are remote controlled trolling motors out there too. About $1,000.00 last time I looked. I have no idea on their remote range. Hope this helps. Dennis

surjer

Sorry I missed all the replies. For some reason I am not getting notifications any more. The boat will be used for surveying purposes. Will have multiple sensors on it for various things. It will have to be registered for the type of work we do anyways. After discussing with the team we are going to go ahead and push forward with the jet drives as it will have some serious benifits as to where we can go and not having to worry as much about damaged props. If that turns out to be a flop we will go the trolling motor route. And I will steal the jet drives and build my own hobby boat. haha...

@justaddwata - I am unfamiliar with these terms. ((surface piercing cat etc)). Sorry, I am a complete noob to the water.