photo #5913504

2-23-'24, WBR Live, “Daily Constitution”, “Hillbilly Friday”, Pic on wimkin, There are many forms a 'proof of concept vehicle may be constructed in the next few months, as the warm weather shows up, from powered, free flight models to 3/4(?) scale model of a a cigarette boat to the real thing, big enough to carry a Seal team through a hurricane, if one has the resources. Personally, I would scrounge the yards for a single shock, rear bike swing arm, some sort of rear small stabilizer,a jet ski powered water pump and hardware, with a 10(?)' narrow hull to strap it all into. That size and cost will probably be the most cost effective/safe formats available to find out what the race components need to be. You could go as simple as a “Hold My Beer” type weekend with a powered canoe with the outboard set lower in the water, and a chopped wing/aileron strapped on the flat top, but watch the torque (something we try to remove from the real applications). You could make a RC model from the layabout components of past experiments, but don't make it too small, or the test results can be unreliable (besides the cost for the controls, if not available already). I suppose one could run a direct drive off a motor shaft(s) -preferably- with two engines, rotating in opposite direction/torque, but placing a engine/pump in a vertical torque effect makes things a lot simpler. Besides, the shock absorption in 'leveling out' the large(er) waves (while the main body remains stable), for the size of the craft designed for the size of expected said waves, is probably the whole point of this party barge. This may even work at the size and mass up to a destroyer class (see hurricane comment earlier). It kinda works like the “walk like an Egyptian” wrist movement, keeping the thrust at a consistent level under the water, in a effective pressure, with the airfoil on the main body making enough lift/ground effect and control to keep the body level with -0- water resistance on the hull.