Volvo D6 DPR drive/HuntonXRS37

[peter unwin]

Hi all,
Picked up the carbon fibre exhausts and some cover panels from Carbon Weezel this morning they look amazing. Was hoping to install them on the boat today but it's absolutely throwing it down with rain...... maybe tomorrow.

Peter

 

[deep vee]

carbon goodies

Hi all,
Picked up the carbon fibre exhausts and some cover panels from Carbon Weezel this morning they look amazing. Was hoping to install them on the boat today but it's absolutely throwing it down with rain...... maybe tomorrow.

Peter

very good project peter, just out of interest have you worked out how much weight you have saved by having carbon bits and bobs made instead of using other materials, or is it a case of it will be lighter than anything else anyway, keep up the good work , darren

 

[peter unwin]

very good project peter, just out of interest have you worked out how much weight you have saved by having carbon bits and bobs made instead of using other materials, or is it a case of it will be lighter than anything else anyway, keep up the good work , darren

Hi Darren,
I weighed everything i took out the original build and also all the parts that have gone back in, the overall weight saving is going to be in excess of 600kg. I don't know how much weight using carbon has saved overall but as an example the carbon fibre exhausts weigh 1.8kg each, stainless steel would have weighed around 10kg each. Managed to get the exhausts and water exit pipes in today then it rained and stopped progress.

Peter

 

[peter unwin]

Hi All,
Cheetah's carbon fibre wings are almost ready, i will be designing and manufacturing the mounting structures very soon.

Peter

 

[Scand]

Nice looking wings.
Unwin fabrication?

 

[peter unwin]

Trial fitted the first of Cheetah's lightweight carbon fibre engine covers as well as being nice to look at they are also very functional as they are made in one piece with no holes for lifting eyes any water splashes can't enter the injector pockets, they are 75% lighter than the originals.

Peter

 

[peter unwin]

Hi All,
Finished of the fuel and the fly-by-wire steering system plumbing, also added a few more bits of carbon.

Peter

 

[peter unwin]

Hi All,
Made some billet aluminium parts today to fit the carbon engine covers, also started fabrication of the battery tray. Lightweight wiring Harness is progressing nicely as is the plug for the front wing mounting brackets.

Peter

 

[peter unwin]

Hi all,
Low drag carbon water pickup is finished ready to be installed, carbon nose cone has been cut to shape and trial fitted this fills in the void where the anchor mounting bracket was bolted to the deck.Permanently mounted the batteries and isolator switches, also made and fitted the battery leads.


Peter

 

[Scand]

Had a look the other day and its looks even better in reality than on the pics, amazing attention to detail

 

[peter unwin]

Thanks Pettar,
Just trial fitted cheetah's main wing on carbon cheetah it is fully adjustable in angle of attack and also has adjustment for and aft to change the point of lift. The centre section will have a manually adjustable flap for additional lift, both outer sections will have automated flaps independently controlled.

Peter

 

[Bob Webb]

Excellent surprise to find you down at the marina on Monday, Peter. Thanks for taking the time away from the project for the guided tour and discussions, always enjoy our meetups.

As Petter says the pics do not do justice to the quality of workmanship and detail. The layout is by the far the cleanest I have ever seen and the layout would be I think impossible to improve on. Almost looks too minimalist to be real.
Unfortunate the weather has been so dire earlier in the year or the project would be much further advanced.

That adjustable wingmount and support is excellent. Getting geometries of mechanisms to blend aesthetically is not at all easy;know this from personal experience.
Now realise those boat cover mods are going to give some poor seamstress a few challenges. Would be well kool if the cover included the wings, but I know that ain't gonna happen, hahaha!

Will mail you the loom info for the fly-by-wire connections later today. It would be good if we could tie in to the engine CANbus for developing automated steering sensitivity for sports boats. This can be done with patchplugs later using the programming and monitoring sockets. I would want a disconnect anyway, so if some nav kit or similar goes nutz, the control loom can be isolated so the boat can still be driven(there are a few other options to resolving this scenario also, but they need a little more electronics. The whole purpose of the fly-by-wire steering is to increase safety over traditional marine steering systems so the electronic route would be better).

Itching to see that boat back in the water.

 

[peter unwin]

Hi All,
At last we have some decent weather so i have been able to make some really goood progress exhaust tailpipes are now bonded in and cut to shape, just require a carbon fibre trim flange to finish them of. Wing supports have had a couple of coats of two-pack, water pickup is permanently fitted. Carbon nose cone has been ground to shape and is ready for bonding together. have also done a bit more lightning work.

Peter

 

[Ian H]

Peter,
Are you doing away with the Bow anchor all together or have i missed something ?
If its not on the bow where are you having an Anchor ?

 

[peter unwin]

Peter,
Are you doing away with the Bow anchor all together or have i missed something ?
If its not on the bow where are you having an Anchor ?

Hi Ian,
Yes bow anchor is gone forever along with 25 metres of chain, windlass, mounting bracket, battery leads and switch gear, to be replaced by an aluminium fortress folding anchor mounted in the cockpit, total weight saving 250lbs most of which was right in the bow.

Peter

 

[peter unwin]

Lots more progress on the wings and their mounting system.

Peter

 

[PerformanceDodge]

Hi Ian,
Yes bow anchor is gone forever along with 25 metres of chain, windlass, mounting bracket, battery leads and switch gear, to be replaced by an aluminium fortress folding anchor mounted in the cockpit, total weight saving 250lbs most of which was right in the bow.

Peter

That's a huge weight saving. Just out of curiosity, presumably you still have to have a heavy chain with an aluminum anchor for it to work effectively ?

 

[peter unwin]

That's a huge weight saving. Just out of curiosity, presumably you still have to have a heavy chain with an aluminum anchor for it to work effectively ?

Hi Freddy,
Although fortress recommend chain we have used an FX11 that only weighs 7lbs on our boat in the states with no chain and fantastic results, it sets very easily i through it out from the cockpit while going forwards and use the momentum from the boat to make the anchor set with the end of the rope tied to a side cleat just in front of the windscreen. Using a side cleat stops the boat swinging on the anchor and is much more comfortable, when we need to go fire up the motor and drive straight back over the anchor to flip it then just pull the rope back in. I will be using the FX16 on the Hunton as it is heavier and i will also try it without chain first.

Peter

 

[PerformanceDodge]

Hi Freddy,
Although fortress recommend chain we have used an FX11 that only weighs 7lbs on our boat in the states with no chain and fantastic results, it sets very easily i through it out from the cockpit while going forwards and use the momentum from the boat to make the anchor set with the end of the rope tied to a side cleat just in front of the windscreen. Using a side cleat stops the boat swinging on the anchor and is much more comfortable, when we need to go fire up the motor and drive straight back over the anchor to flip it then just pull the rope back in. I will be using the FX16 on the Hunton as it is heavier and i will also try it without chain first.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Would be interested to know how you get on with no chain. The reason that I was interested was that for my boat I have built an an anchor locket under the floor and although it would be easy to secure a anchor there with a wing nut or some arrangement, I don't fancy the idea of lengths of chain crashing about.

My understanding was that as the chain is heavier than the rope the chain tends to lay horizontal and pull the anchor shaft parallel to the bottom so the blades dig in.

Thinking about it now you have given me another Idea. I could make a vertical stainless tube with a welded bottom and a slot running vertical that the eye end of the anchor slides down into with the chain so the chain sits in the cylinder and some form of cap, or could even use 6" plastic soil pipe and fittings. May be 6 feet of chain would better than none.

Excellent work there by the way.

Regards David

 

[peter unwin]

Hi All,
Just finished the re-work of the bow thruster installed the new battery and variable speed controller, have used buzz bars for all connections, time consuming but much lighter and neater than conventional battery leads, also made and installed mounting brackets for the dry sump pumps and filters will be piping them up soon.

Peter