My name is Richard C. Miller. I'm 64 yrs old and live in Ft. Lauderdale Fla. I first got interested in turbine boats in 1970 or 71 when I saw a simple sketch in the projects page in the back of "Scientific American" Magazine. It was a 6" child's toy. I had been churning this idea in my mind for over 30 yrs. Then in 1995 I started cutting the hull so I could start a working platform for the several Ideas I had on how to make this turbine work. It sat till June of this year when I retired and finally had time to work on it full time. This is version 2. The first version only had one propeller, but was not strong enough to pull the boat forward. The wind only blew it backward; It also had a transmission to turn the propeller 3 times faster than the turbine. I added a second propeller and drive shaft, and then put on racing propellers. I increased the transmission to 5 to 1 ratio.
I am waiting for winds strong enough to do some testing to find if my efforts were worth while. The hull length is 36" (.923 mtrs) The turbine is 30" Dia. (.769 mtrs.)
Almost all the working parts are of brass with the exception of the drive shafts which are 3/16" stainless steel. Pretty much I duplicated your bathtub test before I saw any of your work.
It is my intention to go as far as modifying a "HobieCat" boat. If they are not popular in the U.K., they are a high speed catamaran 14' to 22' (12.92 to 20.31 mtrs.)
If I get good results, I may want to mass produce them if I can get a financial backer. I have a magnificant set of drawings for a sellable model. Of course, the drawings are done before all the testing is finished.
Yesterday (9-14-03) my daughter who is better at computers than I, said I should open up a search engine and enter "Wind turbine boats". I felt sure I was going to find nothing. My mind was severely rattled when I found your website! I couldn't believe somebody had actually done so much research on the project that I had been working on for the last 8 years. WOW!
This superstructure will be torn down right after I get a chance to test the version in this picture. I have already started the machining on a version that will allow the turbine to swivel around 360 deg. (which ever way the wind turns it) by using 2 sets of beveled gears to deliver power to the 5-1 transmission and 2 racing propellers.
In the above picture you can see the green gears of the 5-1 transmission with the 2 st. steel shafts going to the props.
I wish I could give you some results of the test, but that will come toward the end of the week when that powerful hurricane will brush by us in the Atlantic, and give us some high winds. (I had not noticed the rudder was turned backwards when I took the pictures).
I am confident I will get good performance with this set up. If I have left out any details, please e-mail me back; I would enjoy having some dialogue with you.
Very sincerely yours; Richard
e-mail to:fnsnclr@gmail.com