Hunter
08-03-2002, 09:51 PM
I went up to the Korean War Memorial in Seoul a while back and saw the boat (picture attached). I didn’t think about it at the time but after studying the photo, I’m convinced this was the precursor to many high performance boat designs/features.
The placard in the foreground indicates that is an exact replica built from old manuscripts, carvings, and pottery art.
It’s hard to see in the photo but this boat has a tremendously wide pad requiring a vast amount of torque for its time. Note the squared off transom, though; this boat was designed to get up and run.
I’m absolutely convinced that the main source of power was a unit built by Mercury. Why else would it have that cheesy sail on the top? By the way, I’ve become so horrified by Jay Smith’s stories of locator pin-less engines that I’ve come up with a similar solution. Rather than suffer the shame of being towed back to the ramp at Keystone by a pontoon boat doing 2.5 mph, I’ve mounted a “tremendous ski rope pylon” that I can attach my boat cover to and spinnaker my butt back to the dock as long as I stay upwind.
Sadly, I didn’t get a look inside but as the boat has no proper outboard, stern drive or rudder for that matter, one must conclude it utilizes jet propulsion exiting from the mouth of that menacing looking face mounted on the lower part of the stern. The dragon-like feature on the top of the stern has to be a massive exhaust system. My only conclusion is that was a gas turbine jet pump powered boat.
Some of the design features have yet to be re-incorporated into modern boats. Tired of sandy-assed strangers plopping their butts down on your shiny gelcoated bow? Mount a few hundred iron spikes! Lake lice giving you a headache? Mount up 20 or so small blackpowder cannons. It’s sure nice to have fiberglass and modern adhesives instead of those iron strapping plates, though.
Wished I were in country for The Rumble.
The placard in the foreground indicates that is an exact replica built from old manuscripts, carvings, and pottery art.
It’s hard to see in the photo but this boat has a tremendously wide pad requiring a vast amount of torque for its time. Note the squared off transom, though; this boat was designed to get up and run.
I’m absolutely convinced that the main source of power was a unit built by Mercury. Why else would it have that cheesy sail on the top? By the way, I’ve become so horrified by Jay Smith’s stories of locator pin-less engines that I’ve come up with a similar solution. Rather than suffer the shame of being towed back to the ramp at Keystone by a pontoon boat doing 2.5 mph, I’ve mounted a “tremendous ski rope pylon” that I can attach my boat cover to and spinnaker my butt back to the dock as long as I stay upwind.
Sadly, I didn’t get a look inside but as the boat has no proper outboard, stern drive or rudder for that matter, one must conclude it utilizes jet propulsion exiting from the mouth of that menacing looking face mounted on the lower part of the stern. The dragon-like feature on the top of the stern has to be a massive exhaust system. My only conclusion is that was a gas turbine jet pump powered boat.
Some of the design features have yet to be re-incorporated into modern boats. Tired of sandy-assed strangers plopping their butts down on your shiny gelcoated bow? Mount a few hundred iron spikes! Lake lice giving you a headache? Mount up 20 or so small blackpowder cannons. It’s sure nice to have fiberglass and modern adhesives instead of those iron strapping plates, though.
Wished I were in country for The Rumble.