Hot Rod

Not good design. The reverse bow on a "superfast" boat is an invitation to bad things. Stuffing a bow at low speed is bad enough, having a bow designed to auger in at 80+ seems to me like recklessness.

Yes, I agree.
I think this front engined Firebird should keep its four wheels and stay on land.

Scotty is a 3-step hydroplane that campaigned for a single year due to ill handling, poor rough water performance, and inability to finish higher than 2nd (once) in the entire season of racing it ran. Moreover, it has a near-vertical yet slightly forward stem, with a sloped deck. The gunwale is still flared out just above the waterline before returning to the inward curve, ensuring some buoyancy up top when the bow goes under.

If your intent is to have a yacht tender that is fit to run 40-50MPH (far from "super fast") only on lakes and rivers, then either you haven't got a yacht tender, or you haven't got a super fast boat.

I guess I should ask what you consider super fast, and if you've any experience actually running at high speeds - whether on flat inland waters or offshore. Have you such experience?

The boat is pretty, but for its stated intended goals it really should be re-thought.

Polite, friendly critique....
This is potentially a 100 mph open cockpit wave piercer. Decapitation of the occupants may not instill customer loyalty.

Hi,

Or any repeat business for that matter.......

Kurt,

The boat is beautiful, like many of the designs you & Bo have put forward on YF, but... a high speed, reverse bow boat is an accident waiting to happen. At the very least, someone's going to taste hospital food. Setting aside the inherent danger, it will likely be a wet boat at any speed. In offshore conditions, it will become a coffin.

I lost 3 friends in the late 80's due to high speed stuffs. Mark Lavin, Dick Fullem and Mike Poppa were all killed when they stuffed offshore race cats at speeds in excess of 80-90 mph. I'm not immune either. I stuffed a 24' Skater at approx. 70-80 mph when a wave tripped my transom during a jump at the Lee County Regatta. I walked away (swam actually), but I was lucky. This is the reason that canopies and restraining harnesses are now mandatory in offshore racing.

Ugly-bow syndrome is fine for big boats, but for high speed apps, let's keep the pointy part above the surface.

Orion,
It wasn't until I looked at Firebird 29 a few times that I caught the sponson. That's a hyro-plane isn't it? Even as such she needs an airfoil and skeg. Very artistic, but please don't ever build or worse run it. Kind of reminds me of a little hrdro-plane a friend built as a kid. Too much motor to float so we reved, dropped from a harness and she was off for her one & only. That was just a fun (stupid) thing kids did with big old motors and near dead boats back then. Amazing we survived.
Nice art.

Merc 75H on an 8 foot minimax. Guess I'm not the only one.

I didn't realize we had so many other (now or former) go-fasts on here!

My old man figured we might as well learn how on small boats with big engines the way he did... the current 'yacht' is a 20' kevlar Allison he left to myself and my brothers with a worked Merc 2.4 Bridgeport Offshore. Can't be slow in a following sea or sit at idle for too long as it tends to, umm, take on a bit of water over the transom.

I stuffed that at about 50 a few years ago in 2' lake waves and still have occasional neck twinges. Since then, I won't take it out in anything over about a 6"-8" chop. God forbid running 115-118 and taking a bad wave.