Twin Drives/Cat

[Dan]

All,Has anyone done any experimenting with twin drives on a catamaran?Has anyone installed these drives directly behind the sponsons or in the tunnel section?Which did you find to work best?I am doing some research to build an unlimited offshore set-up and am looking for some input.My boat will be between 3 and 4 ft. long and approx. 14 to 18 in. wide.How 'bout it Chris Harris would you be interested in lending some KNOWLEDGE!:confused:I would appreciate any advice you or anyone could lend.Particularly in prop/drive setback and rudder placement.Thanks ahead of time. :D

[Chris Harris]

Hey Dan,

What kind of power are you going to be using???

I've found that running the drives out of the tunnel works best for me. Running them out of the rear of the sponsons makes them tricky to setup. From what I've seen on some boats it makes them hard to turn. On my current boat I'm running twin
Hughey single gear drives with Kyosho long can motors. I use X437/3 props both running in the same direction. Eventhough they both run the same direction the boat stills turns both ways
really well. I beleive in dual rudders for a boat that has to turn both directions. Especially for larger cats that need that extra turning power. The props on my current boat are set back 2" from the transom and the rudders pivot point is 3-3/4" behind the transom and are set directly behind the props.

My new boat will make use of counter rotating props for even better handling. This will be important in getting a boat that's almost 40" to turn quickly.

Hope this helps.

Chris

[Dan]

Chris,Thanks for the flip.I was at Chris Fines shop yesterday and we talked for about an hour or so about where to mount the drives you know like how far ,how close,up ,down etc. etc.I'll be using twin transmissions for sure.The motor choice is up in the air rite now though.The tunnel width is approx. 7 in. wide where the sponsons meet the ride surface.Would you mount the drives a certain distance inside the tunnel or the edge of the tunnel/sponson?Cavitation would make me ask this.I don't want to drill the holes more than once if I can help it.Chris thanks for your help,I owe you a pepsi (LOL) or is it coca-cola?:p Sound familiar?Thanks again.Anyone else feel free to give an opinion or advice.Thanks All!

Dan

[Steven Vaccaro]

Check out this article by Donnie.
http://www.rumrunnerracing.com/articles/rum_runner_offshore_cat.htm
I dont know if this will help?
StevenV

[Dan]

Page',Thanks for the reply. It lends some insight as to where to place the props and rudders.thanks for the link to the article.Not to sound greedy but if there's any more out there willing to lend some info thanks ahead of time.

[Steven Vaccaro]

I am glad I could help! Usually I just ask the questions or read the other posts.
StevenV