2011 - Volume #35, Issue #3, Page #32
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Wave-Skipping "Pontoon Boat"
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The unusual craft measures 11 ft. wide by 24 ft. long and is powered by a 200 hp Mercury engine. Two 16-ft. pontoons support the center frame while two 24-ft. pontoons support the outside wings. Eight heavy-duty automotive air shocks - 2 at each corner - control height of the main hull, while automobile coil springs provide shock reduction. The boat's wings are tipped with torpedo-style tubes that are longer than the boat's center hull. The design allows the wings to bridge wave crests as they run through the centerline of the waves.
Wiltse says the design of the boat allows the driver to race smoothly through rough water. "Once I get up to about 30 mph, the boat actually lifts thanks to the 12 1/2-ft. wide area beneath the pontoon's tapered wings, which catch the air and push up. As a result, the boat doesn't dip up and down between waves but instead calmly glides from wave to wave."
According to Wiltse, his pontoon boat has amazing stability. "I can walk right out to the edge of the pontoon and jump up and down, but the pontoon won't even move," says Wiltse. "In tests I've found that I can drink a cup of coffee without spilling while riding through 4-ft. high waves. In fact, it would be really hard for anyone to get seasick on this boat."
Wiltse says he's willing to build boat for others, or convert existing pontoons.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Garry Wiltse, D.I.M.E. Tool & Die, 31576 E. Tourist Road, Drummond Island, Mich. 49726 (ph 906 493-6897; dimetool@alphacomm.net; www.dimetool.webs.com).
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