Custom/Hybrid Superfreak : Sinker or floater ?

[Freakie]

For some reason these pics wont render in my build thread so here they are as seperate thread

She floats really, really well.. hood removed and rolled upside down....fully loaded, riva pipe, heavy battery, no fuel tank and 6 kgs of extra weight (just because) She stayed inverted for about 15 minutes by which time I then had to turn her over a number of times to get all the trapped air out ....last picture she was at that level for about another 30 minutes.

FLOATS extremely well......had out and drained a teaspoon of water from the left drain....great job TEM !!!!

 

[JetManiac]

Well it is interesting that the scupper did not let air out like many think would happen. My freak has been tossed around in the surf like a rag doll and no water problem after being upside down for awhile before someone towed me back to the ski. Not only didnt sink but started right up.

 

[Freakie]

Well it is interesting that the scupper did not let air out like many think would happen. My freak has been tossed around in the surf like a rag doll and no water problem after being upside down for awhile before someone towed me back to the ski. Not only didnt sink but started right up.

I should have mentioned that I blocked the scupper off both sides with removeable threaded plastic caps...air trapped in the pipe=more bouyancy....scuppers a bad idea in the surf. way too many go bad at the worst of times.....i have two bilges.......in addition the front foothold is attached as a unit, It is carbon kevlar over molded poystyrene.....and I have SN foam in the front....call me OCD.

 

[air blair]

Thats actually floating real tail high. Amazing. Nobody wants to loose their boat. How do u get chlorine out of the crank area. Lol

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[MCrider]

He stated in his other thread this was a dummy motor/pipe.

 

[Berky]

Andre , Thanks for the sink test, I still think it's a good idea to add nose foam or a float bag on the Superfreak Bad Ass in big surf like you will have in South Africa .

 

[Freakie]

Hi Tem......def. agreed....I already have two inflatable air bladders which are used by the white water river rowing guys ....will find a place to stick them and inflate before I ride. The motor was a blown one with not much I can use on it, so it came in handy for the test.

The thing that amazed me was that the xmetal pole, which is heavy, made the ski float upside down in a very stable way......which then traps a hell of a lot of air in the engine compartment, which can only escape via the scupper if you have one, or via the bilge outlets, but only when the ski is then pulled onto its side.

 

[sportfish258]

How in the world did the hood pop off with the worlds best hood latch system ..... :cheer: Refer to the first picture .

 

[Freakie]

hey sportfish........well spotted........you made a great part right there !!!!!!,. great job..... I dont think the hood will ever come off, unless the brap strap gets loose somehow.....( I read that somewhere on the X. it happened.....my overriding fear though is in a worst case scenario is getting seperated from the ski in big surf, and its upside down and getting flipped repeatedly by incoming rollers.....how long before the nose drops and down she goes.......well now I know for sure........wont happen !

 

[Christian_83]

Nice test there, we should all do this to your ski's/hull's ! (if we had a pool! Cool to see theory put to work, like the phrase a picture or 6 says more than thousand words.

 

[623pwr]

Glad it floats, looks good. I know with my ski the hood popped off as I was carving and crashed. It was my own fault, I didn't secure the hood well enough. Once the engine bay filled the nose dropped but the tray was out of the water 3 - 5" or so, thankfully I had foam. I'll have to look for into those bladders. Nice looking ski, thanks for the sink test! Nice to see some good feedback.

 

[madness maker]

very nice, thanks for taking the time to answer the question i always wondered.. how or if ours would float if it ever got into to a sinking situation. i have the noses packed almost solid, from the waterbox forward with foam from automotive bumper supports. if i recall my hood doesnt float very well, but i have very small pole cushion pads on them. making me consider adding some addl. foam somewhere on the hood.

 

[Freakrider]

I packed mine with swim noodles, especially because I run with drain plugs removed. You can get 4 to 7 noodles inside the hull depending on how OCD you are. Needless to say, yours will float even a little better in saltwater. Wonder how a test with the two drain plugs in rear removed would go ?

 

[Matt_E]

Glad it floats, looks good. I know with my ski the hood popped off as I was carving and crashed. It was my own fault, I didn't secure the hood well enough. Once the engine bay filled the nose dropped but the tray was out of the water 3 - 5" or so, thankfully I had foam. I'll have to look for into those bladders. Nice looking ski, thanks for the sink test! Nice to see some good feedback.

The Superfreak in this thread has zero foam.

 

[Freakie]

The Superfreak in this thread has zero foam.

Tks for noting that Matt........also why I really wanted to test my hull.....Tem built it very well.....those air tight chambers are rock solid and no foam to suck up any water and add riding weight down the line....it works !

 

[623pwr]

I think I still would put the foam in, knowing my luck I'd some how break the air tight chamber if I could afford a sweet ski like that. Thanks for the knowledge, sounds like a nice set up.

 

[Matt_E]

I think I still would put the foam in, knowing my luck I'd some how break the air tight chamber if I could afford a sweet ski like that. Thanks for the knowledge, sounds like a nice set up.

You'd break the chambers open just to put foam in? It will leak more after you do that then before.
In over four years of Superfreaks, I have yet to hear of one sinking because it didn't have foam.
You understand the only way to 'break open' these chambers and sink the ski is to catastrophically break the hull in half? Maybe get run over by a boat.

 

[623pwr]

Cool, no offense I was just making fun of myself. I tend to break the unbreakable with out doing anything, so I would of just had it built with it in if it was available, thanks for the correction. Definitely worth the cash if they are that solid.

 

[Sanoman]

Nice test! Maybe there is something to these "No Foam" ski after all..........lol

 

[air blair]

I had no idea there was bladder air chambers in them. Would be sweet to add helium to em

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