Carbon lower hull?

haggis

its raining again!
Been some time since I posted on here, but I've recently got the chance to buy an octane that used to belong to my brother. I loved that ski and enjoyed reading about people's fixes for some of the handling issues and performance upgrades etc and would have liked to tried some of them back then but the ski got sold.
Anyway I've read a few threads here again and there was an interesting post by a guy that had a wamiltons lightweight hull with regards to handling fixes and he touched on the weight of the hood being too light and it affects how the ski turns. After reading through that thread it's got me thinking what if I were to pull a mold of the bottom and build a replacement carbon item. What effect could this have? Would a lighter bottom counteract the the now heavier upper deck and allow the ski to turn / carve better? I read somewhere that some older race setup sj had carbon lower hulls was this for a similar reason?
As I thought about it some more would an 08+ or sxr bottom modified to fit help the ski turn better? Who knows but if anyone has any thoughts or input I'd like to hear it.
 

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
Save the headache, buy something else. Splashing the hull, making a good layup on carbon and fitting everything properly will be very costly in time and money. You might break even buying a bullett.
 

RMBC Freeride

Vintage
Site Supporter
Location
Pueblo, CO
That was probably my post that @haggis is referring to. I don't think anyone else on the forums has owned a lightweight Wamiltons Octane hull. I sold it a couple years ago but still have an original Polaris 2002 Octane in the stable.

But I 100% agree with @Vumad, don't waste your time or money reinventing the octane hull. If you have one and enjoy riding it then just ride!

On a side note, I've always wanted to graft an SXR hull underneath the octane deck with the polaris engine of course... I think that would be the ultimate handling mod and a fun buoy running ski!!!
 

haggis

its raining again!
Cheers for the replies, yes I agree with regards to the cost however I'm in the fortunate position of having my own grp/composites workshop and plenty materials to build such a project. For me it's something that I have more interest in doing rather than something like a freestyle/freeride hull, well just now anyway.
Setting aside whether or not it's a waist of time / money, has anyone got any thoughts on what could make it a better handling hull in terms of modifying the original hull as a plug for an eventual mold?
 

RMBC Freeride

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Site Supporter
Location
Pueblo, CO
Two things I'd do:

1 - Narrow the width of the running surface at the back, take a look at an SXR and how narrow the ride surface is in the rear. Then, as you go forward, leave a tubby-shaped wide section in the front. So essentially, trace a set of tubbies on it and then cut away all the material behind the tubbies going toward the rear. Up to you if you want to mould in a set of Tubbies in the front as well. The 2008-up Superjet is shaped this way.

2 - Shape the keel in the front down to a gradually rockered flat shaped surface like a Superjet or SXR. That weird pointy bulbous keel on the octane causes handling problems IMO. Deepen and narrow that entire keel a small bit too - this will get the hull to ride higher in the water and roll to the edges better. But don't get too carried away here or else it will be tippy... can you imagine a tippy Octane???

In conclusion, the Octane rides like a sheet of plywood! Take some cues from the classic shapes of the SXR and Superjet and you cant go wrong. Send me one over the pond when you get it done since money is no object!!! ha ha!
 

haggis

its raining again!
Two things I'd do:

1 - Narrow the width of the running surface at the back, take a look at an SXR and how narrow the ride surface is in the rear. Then, as you go forward, leave a tubby-shaped wide section in the front. So essentially, trace a set of tubbies on it and then cut away all the material behind the tubbies going toward the rear. Up to you if you want to mould in a set of Tubbies in the front as well. The 2008-up Superjet is shaped this way.

2 - Shape the keel in the front down to a gradually rockered flat shaped surface like a Superjet or SXR. That weird pointy bulbous keel on the octane causes handling problems IMO. Deepen and narrow that entire keel a small bit too - this will get the hull to ride higher in the water and roll to the edges better. But don't get too carried away here or else it will be tippy... can you imagine a tippy Octane???

In conclusion, the Octane rides like a sheet of plywood! Take some cues from the classic shapes of the SXR and Superjet and you cant go wrong. Send me one over the pond when you get it done since money is no object!!! ha ha!


I wish Money was no object!!! I'm lucky to be able to absorb the cost of something like this due to the type of work I do but on the flip side I'd struggle to afford a billet motor or something along those lines!!
That's some great info and a gives plenty to think about.
It's an odd shaped bow right enough, I always felt like the nose wanted to push wide as a result of the shape something I found worse when we had a 100mm plate fitted, it just plowed and didn't want to turn at all!!
Finally with regards to the keel, any thoughts on adding a little v like a bullett after flattening out the bow opposed to narrowing and deepening the whole keel?
 

RMBC Freeride

Vintage
Site Supporter
Location
Pueblo, CO
I personally wouldn't recommend the vee shape. Bullett put a ton of design into that hull with a lot of testing I'm sure. Slapping that aggressive design on the poorly designed Octane hull is probably a recipe for more disappointment. But who knows... ?
 
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