” A New Definition of Speed“
Credits: Dan Jones
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to the test drive video, guys. We’re going to go from here, Jumpinpin, back to the Gold Coast. Got a little bit of navigation, a lot of speed. Join me, let’s go have some fun.
Alright, guys, so we’re going to do a little bit of a speed test, and I’m going to obviously bring you along for a test drive. We didn’t film coming down the river, because there’s a bit of navigating to do. And on a boat like this, the speeds we can do, you really should concentrate on what you’re doing, and that’s exactly what we did.
So, we’re going to do both directions, up and down, because of the tide. I am going to put my safety strop on for this one because that is a wise thing to do on a boat with this capability.
First thing first, focus your attention in here on the throttles. So we have gear select, we have throttles, bow down, bow up for my trim tabs. So it’s all a little bit race race, and then I’ve also got trim here. However, I’m going to be using both trim because we’re in flat water, and I’m not doing any hard turns. So I’m going to use my thumb for that operation.
Can you see the tide is ripping? So we should get a higher speed number going with the tide as opposed to going against. I’m actually going to flip my hat backwards for this one. I really need a haircut, so yes, I know many of you told me that already. I will get there. Let’s do this.
TEST DRIVE
Alrighty, so I’m actually going to lean on the bolsters for now, and then I’m going to knuckle down into a lower race position. No boats around me, let’s get accelerating.
So I’ve got revs RPM, fuel flow, I got speed. I don’t have a card in this GPS, but I do know this part of the river, or the broadwater, I should say. So I know where I’m going. Let’s do this.
“The construction on this thing is great, you can drop off a wave on this thing and you don’t feel a rattle whatsoever.”
4,000 revs. I’ll just sit it on that for a little bit. The acceleration is blisteringly fast that you really, really feel the pickup there. I’ve got 34 L an hour fuel flow. I got 3,500 revs dropping down from 40 and 38 knots. Alright, just doing some navigation here, green on the left, red on the right. Let’s accelerate. Oh yeah, feel the pickup! 4,500 revs, no trim tab, really moving here, guys. 51 knots, 52, 53. Little engine trim up. I got to cut that off in a second. 55 knots. The waves are going to be coming now, so I will ease that off. 55, not a problem with these twin 300s. Little bit of glare on the windscreen here, to be honest, so I would think about cutting out this white just here [helm panel] on a hot sunny day by painting that a darker colour.
Now let’s just slow things down a little bit. We’re going into a wave zone. This is called Wave Break Island, and there is onshore wind today and waves. 34 knots feels like 15 on this boat. We’re ripping along. I got some confused water with inshore incoming wind and outgoing tide, so it’s going to be noticeable. When you are operating this throttle. See my hands, you might do it like this, you might do it like that. And when you are elevating yourself up or down, that’s the transition to have good control of the throttle.
I’m now going to take my speed below 30 knots before I hit these waves. One, two, and I’m just going to cruise through this confused water, which you can see coming up. That’s tide and wind doing that, and I’m just going to come through that at about 27, no trim tab. I haven’t really done anything on the trim tab. I got one marker coming up ahead, which I got to leave on my starboard side. I probably could have skipped across that at speed, but for the purpose of the video, I’m just trying to keep things under control.
Got jet skis, surfers, big wave there, another big one, another big one. I just came off the power for that. We just got to get through this little wave zone here. These are all short and sharp. The boat, when you’re going through these waves, feels incredibly solid. The construction on this thing is great, you can drop off a wave on this thing and you don’t feel a rattle whatsoever.
Now I got some boat wash from port, leaving the wave action zone and just going through these waves. One, two. I know that none of this has come over the bow, and we’ll get back to our cruising speed. Straight back up. Got one tinny here. I’m actually going to let him cross, and then I’ll get over to my side of the channel.
The acceleration is the noticeable thing here, guys. This thing is lively. This is a beast, and this thing is really quick. Look, we’re straight back up to 40 knots at 42L consumption. I’ll give it another little blat here, and in a second, I’m up doing 47 knots, consumption 78 L. That is heaps of fun! I probably shouldn’t be going that fast here in the channel, so I’ll pack it straight back below 40. Don’t report me! [Nick laughs]
“This thing is lively. This is a beast”
So at a cruising speed of 34 knots there, 30L consumption, just feels like you’re going for a Sunday cruise, to be honest, on this boat. So now we’re going to slow down at this end of the beach. I’m going to turn around. Got jet skis on starboard, got a wake surfer on port, swimmers in the water. No one behind me, so I’m going to come off the plane here now. Leave all these jet skis on starboard. I’ll do a slow turn before I then accelerate. This time we’re going to be going with the tide for the first little bit, but then we’re going to be going into the tide.
Now, I sat on the full speed for a second or two there, guys, because I could see waves up ahead, and I didn’t really want to go hitting them at 55 knots. So we might be able to go a little bit faster in optimum conditions, but I’m just working with what I have available to me on the day.
This is Monday, by the way. All these people, they don’t work. This is Queensland. Welcome to Queensland. All these kids, they don’t…Maybe it’s school holidays? It is school holidays. Okay, all right, I’ll let them off.
Okay, jet ski up ahead, more jet skis on port. I’ll just do a slow cruise for now. I’m going to keep an eye on that wake surfer. I think he’s staying close to the beach and show my intentions to this guy. He’ll get out of the way, and we’ll just cruise sensibly.
Okay, so even at 21 knots, bow raise is minimal. You could sit down, no problems. The reason I’m not, this glare is a bit of a problem, so I would actually do something about that colour there. I’d throw some carpet or paint it or put a bit of cloth in there, or even a beach towel would do something to resolve that. I see that being just a little bit of an annoyance on a hot summer’s day.
And coming through from 21, let’s get it up to 27. We’ll go wider. That guy on the jet ski is behind me. Just show everyone how busy it is. This is the Gold Coast, guys.
Alright, get back on track. We’ll increase our speed. We got the wave zone coming up again. Obviously, if I need to transition to operate the trim tabs, that’s going to be my right hand. So before you do that and take your hand off the throttle, you just want to make sure you look ahead a little bit to ensure that you don’t have any surprises with waves or people.
I’m going to be going out like this. When I hit the swell, I’m then going to take it on my starboard half quarter. Let’s come through with a little bit of speed, 35 knots. 35 really feels like 40. This boat’s cruise speed. Couple of waves coming. Now I’m slowing that down to 33, and now I’m going to come off a bit of the speed there watching the wash. Just make sure you guys can see up ahead. See how it’s still reasonably dry. I’m going to stick to the right-hand side of the channel. And now I’ve got waves coming behind me, and I’m going to have green on the right, red on the left. Jet skis all around, cutting in between this one and those jet skis are leaving the channel, so we’re going to be good.
Okay, I’m just going to maintain this speed when I get into the main part of the channel. Going through some waves at 28 knots, fuel consumption is 28L. This boat is slippery.
From everything that I’m noticing right now, guys, it’s really a driver’s boat. You know, if you are somebody who is a bit of a Lamborghini in your mindset, whether that’s on the road or on the water, this is what you’re going to achieve or that’s what you’re going to feel on something like this Hydrolift.
Okay, exiting these waves, one, two. Let’s start to increase our speed. Green on the right, red on the left. We still have a few more waves and increasing 34 knots, trim tabs retracted, raising my engine trim a little bit, increasing speed. 40 knots, 68L a side, increasing speed. Jet skis on starboard, but they don’t appear to be coming into the channel.
Okay, couple more waves there. 44 knots feels flat. I think it’s safe to go fast, increasing speed. Lively light at the helm. 44, we’re going into the tide this time. 46, 50, little bit of heel. I got a slight right-hand turn here. I’m going to catch up to these guys in a second. 48, 49, 50 knots, and coming off the gas. I don’t want to go past these guys too quickly. And there we go.
So let’s go over here, and I’m going to talk to you guys about this performance. We’ll just go somewhere a little bit calm because that’s incredible. Just take away all the busyness of the Gold Coast and all the traffic we had to deal with, that’s just one of those things that I suspect.
So I suspect if you are the sort of person that is attracted to this boat, I suspect that you’re going to be a really talented boat driver. If you’re not, consider learning a little bit more before you do those sorts of speeds ’cause this thing, it’s an absolute weapon. It is a bit of a Lambo of the water, and it’s quite lively. So once you hit that 45 knot plus and some waves, the boat is going to start to feel a little bit lively. You may need to apply some trim. You’re going to have to look at your directional stability, and you’re going to be really having to scan forward quite a way to ensure that you are clear of dangers well ahead as opposed to what maybe you were used to on your last boat.
“This thing is an absolute weapon. It’s a bit like a Lamborghini of the water.”
SUMMARY
So if you are that person, if you are a very talented boat driver or if you desire to be, and if you just want to have the most fun that you could possibly have on a sports boat, which let’s face it looks freaking cool, and then get to your destination and enjoy yourself with, I really feel no more than six people. This is probably going to be most of the time a couple’s boat. Yes, you could take a few more if you choose, but it’s desig in that Lambo experience for you and maybe your partner and a few extras who want to join from time to time. I think that’s what this boat is doing for you.
So if you’re up for it, links in the description down below. I hope you enjoyed that, guys. Subscribe, like, share with all your mates. I really appreciate every comment you leave, and let me know what you think of this thing. Is it too much for you, or is this something that you desire, you dream for your future boat life? Thanks, guys. See you on the next one.
