Hi everyone,

We are the distributor for JetCat turbine engines for the Americas. My factory has been working on a practical turbine engine for boats and it is finally available. I am a jet plane modeler but this product will definitely get me interested in trying a boat. There are several good lakes in my area that would be suitable. In Germany, turbine powered boats are becoming quite popular but I am not sure how well they will be received here. Scale helicopters are also popular in Germany but not too many in the USA.

The engines are expensive $4695.00 but the cool factor is definitely there. According to the factory, they can take ingestion of fresh water without too much possibility of any damage. The engine electronics are sealed and the signal cables from the engine are sealed. The power is 10+ hp with options for 28K and 32K RPM outputs speeds. The gear box has ports for water cooling and a “standard” output drive connector.

When I was in Germany, I saw the engine running in a V hull that was about 2 meters long. Not sure what is available for kits in the USA for this size engine but maybe some of you could give me some suggestions.

www.jetcatusa.com/images/spm5.jpg

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Pardon the BAD choice of words here .... But that gives me an instant Model Boater hard on !!

Given the funds, I would be all over one of those just for the BLING factor alone.
COOL is just not a big enough word ... Thats REALLY COOL !!

Unfortunately our organized model boating venues, APBA / IMPBA / NAMBA don't allow turbines. It would be an expensive toy for a hobby boater only, and thats really sad.

Best of luck marketing them .... BTW, Need a tester

I looked at the rules for the IMPBA and I did not see a exclusion for this type of power. Again, I really know nothing about boat racing but this is what I read in the general rules.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MODEL POWER BOATS
A. The boat shall have positive buoyancy when open compartments are filled with water.
B. The method of propulsion shall be the type that functions by contact with the water. Inertia reaction devices such as rockets or jets are prohibited, as main source of propulsion.
C. An engine throttle control will be required of all boats entered in racing or record trials.

This unit drives a prop with throttle control just like any reciprocating engine would. It does not use inertia reaction

OK, it is REALLY, REALLY COOL

Turbines have been run in demonstrations in NAMBA. Currently the ruling is that turbine classes are not defined in the NAMBA rule book, so they will not be covered by NAMBA's liability insurance.

Lohring Miller