RUTAT - measured the draft

[chathamsolutions]

Tom and I exchanged our annual holiday greetings a little later than normal this season. He asked me to pass along to the Crew:

I managed to spend almost the entire summer at the lake which was pretty great as usual. I only had to fly out for 4 days to deal with a client. Other than that it was the usual slalom skiing and fishing. Got me a new stick - D3 X5 Pro Carbon. Man, these new skis are light and fast! The kids did mostly slalom and some wake and knee boarding. And you will get a kick out of this. Not sure if you recall the draft argument on the Net, but I finally was bored out of my mind one day after a double set and decided to test Doug's /Malibu's measurements on the draw of a Response. I was able to use the boat railway since it is a fixed depth etc. My wife thinks I'm nuts of course doing all this measuring under water. With about 1/3 tank of gas (we all know the "accuracy" of Malibu gas gauges!!) the Response LX draw 17 1/2"! LMAO. So no one wins! I'm pretty sure it would ride u higher under power, but I'm not about to take it into 16" water to see if Big Bob Alkema was fibbing in the brochure. So if anyone asks... LOL Speaking of the railway, I'm not sure why I waited so long to get that thing functional. Less than 3 minutes and the Purple Dragon (AKA "Barney Boat") is in or out of the Shuswap. We had a few killer storms (literally) and for one huge one that sunk several neighbour's boats, I fortunately had pulled the beast up for waxing. It works amazingly well with (so far) not one single issue. I attached a small picture; not sure you ever saw one with the boat on the dolly (BTW, that is the neighbour's cottage, not mine). If I wasn't so lazy <G>, I'd make them and sell them since the commercial ones are crazy expensive and nowhere near as good as my design.

Typical Tom. He's doing well, up to his same antics and STILL in a Malibu.

So Doug, what do you think of the measurement issue?

[chathamsolutions]

For those of you that remember, he also said this:

p.s. I still laugh when I hear Dire Straits - "I Want My MTV".

[88Skier]

Jack and Doug need to sign on for this one. Seems to me they are probably close enough to be more right IIRC. So whats the deal with Rutat? How come he's never signed on? I enjoyed his banter. What happenned?

[SunriseH2OSkier]

He always said he could walk away from the site any time he wanted. Not sure any of us believed it was possible. He proved us wrong for sure!

[doughickey]

Oh no..... the test is back on.

Tom is working REAL hard for a "draw". Knowing Tom, if it was a draw, he'd be pushing for a "win".

Regardless..... I'll do a real measurement come spring/summer. Now that it's critical.

We'll see.

[Madmanacrossthewater]

You know it's TR when the gas gauge issue comes up (in the first paragraph).

Good to hear from the old some beach.

I need his life.

[skicrave]

He managed NOT to mention the HDS box though, so it looks like he definitely has made some progress.

Thanks for sharing that Andy, it's great to hear life is going well for Tom. Be sure to pass along that we all miss him the next time you guys exchange correspondence.

[VinRLX]

He asked me to pass along to the Crew:

I was able to use the boat railway since it is a fixed depth etc. . . My wife thinks I'm nuts of course. . . the Response LX draw 17 1/2"! LMAO. So no one wins!

Typical Tom.

Ohhhhhhh, poor Tommy Boy®. He still doesn't get it. The boat has to be floating to get an accurate measurement--sitting on his caboose doesn't count!

Personally, I'll wait for Doug's numbers.

[Faceplant409]

He asked me to pass along to the Crew:

I was able to use the boat railway since it is a fixed depth etc. . . My wife thinks I'm nuts of course. . . the Response LX draw 17 1/2"! LMAO. So no one wins!

Typical Tom.

Ohhhhhhh, poor Tommy Boy®. He still doesn't get it. The boat has to be floating to get an accurate measurement--sitting on his caboose doesn't count!

Personally, I'll wait for Doug's numbers.

Maybe he measured from the water line on the transom to the bottom of the rudder while on the Choo-Choo-Train-tracks...???

[doughickey]

Ok, maybe not nice to challenge good 'ol Rutat since he's been gone for years, but he's full of crap with 17 1/2" draft.

I pulled my boat from the water today..... attached are 3 photos....... the draft in a Response with 1/2 tank of gas is 22 1/2". (If I recall, my original prediction was 22") Sorry about the scum line on my transom.... that's 3 weeks of in-water sitting..... with 1/2 tank of gas, no rear seat, nobody sitting in it. All taken from the (yuck) scum line.)

Here's where the numbers come from: (See the pictures)

1/ It's 7 3/8" from the waterline to the lower edge of the transom.

2/ In a Response, the normal V shape of the bottom is flattened out right at the transom. If you extend the V shape to approx where I measured depth of the prop, you need to add another 3/4".

3/ I measured from the bottom of the hull to the lower edge of the prop (13" X 12" OJ). It is 14 3/8". (Note, measured vertically.... not at the prop-shaft angle.)

Add them up.... => 22 1/2"!!!

Edited July 15, 2008 by doughickey

[doughickey]

Third picture.

[99response]

Have Andy send Tom a bill for the bet....

[VinRLX]

And HERE is a review of old history.

Edited July 15, 2008 by VinRLX

[Malibudude]

Would be interested in a typical load of people, gear, gas etc draft measurement to compare.

[MalibuNation]

I "so" miss arguing with the boy.

[chathamsolutions]

email sent...

[VinRLX]

email sent...

[chathamsolutions]

email reply:

...

Things are going well; I've worked about two months this year and have some things lined up for the fall so my pseudo-semiretirement plan seems to be working. Family is all well and the kids are growing like weeds. Did a LOT of skiing this summer. Kids are into wakeskating and slalom and we still have the 99 RLX. Only problem I had in the last 3-4 years was a loose cannon plug this summer. May look into the LXI with an Illusion tower is Malibu cleans up its QC issues and ditches the HDS. Next year? Maybe the slower US economy will take care of that? Hopefully you are doing OK. We've looked a few pieces of property in the San Diego area, but I think the market still is a ways from bottom.

Any way, when I got you email, I took another kick at the cat. With the boat tied to the dock I measured just under 17" for the draft -- that is with a gas gauge that said just under a quarter full (whatever that means ). I added 120 liters of gas ( the gauge said FULL, whatever that means) and the draft increased almost 3 inches (according to platform height above water)! All I can say is Doug ought to get his big hiney off the back of the boat when he measures his draft. LOL Seriously, IIRC, he has a 98 so maybe it is different? Any way, it really does not matter in the big scheme of things, does it? FWIW, I've been in a Response LXCB in Galveston Bay (Houston) in less than 2 feet of water and we were fine, at speed or at rest. My guess is that Malibu changed the spec on the advice of their lawyers. And I still have no intention of testing my RLX in <2 ft of water.

...

OK, so now what? Doug, are you really that fat?

[doughickey]

email reply:

...

Things are going well; I've worked about two months this year and have some things lined up for the fall so my pseudo-semiretirement plan seems to be working. Family is all well and the kids are growing like weeds. Did a LOT of skiing this summer. Kids are into wakeskating and slalom and we still have the 99 RLX. Only problem I had in the last 3-4 years was a loose cannon plug this summer. May look into the LXI with an Illusion tower is Malibu cleans up its QC issues and ditches the HDS. Next year? Maybe the slower US economy will take care of that? Hopefully you are doing OK. We've looked a few pieces of property in the San Diego area, but I think the market still is a ways from bottom.

Any way, when I got you email, I took another kick at the cat. With the boat tied to the dock I measured just under 17" for the draft -- that is with a gas gauge that said just under a quarter full (whatever that means ). I added 120 liters of gas ( the gauge said FULL, whatever that means) and the draft increased almost 3 inches (according to platform height above water)! All I can say is Doug ought to get his big hiney off the back of the boat when he measures his draft. LOL Seriously, IIRC, he has a 98 so maybe it is different? Any way, it really does not matter in the big scheme of things, does it? FWIW, I've been in a Response LXCB in Galveston Bay (Houston) in less than 2 feet of water and we were fine, at speed or at rest. My guess is that Malibu changed the spec on the advice of their lawyers. And I still have no intention of testing my RLX in <2 ft of water.

...

OK, so now what?

Doug, are you really that fat?

Hmmmm.... Tom must be using VERY heavy gasoline:

Gas is a bit lighter than water. 120 L of water would weigh (at 2.2 pounds per litre) 264 pounds.

1 cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds..... so that gas displaces (per Archimedes principal) only 4.2 cubic feet of water.

That means the hull sinks down into the water deep enough to displace 4.2 cubic feet.

Assuming the hull width is 6 feet (at the bottom)...... and about 10 running feet are in the water, that equals 60 square feet of hull sinking into the water.

So, 4.2 cubic feet divided by 60 square feet is .0705 feet of depth.

Multiply .0705 times 12 inches per foot = .8 inch.

NOT 3 inches.

Let's try it Tom's way:

If the hull sinks 3 inches.... that's 1/4 of a foot. Multiply by the 60 square feet of hull surface touching the water = 15 cubic feet of boat deeper in the water. 15 cubic feet of water weighs 936 pounds.

Darn heavy gas!

Tom just can't admit his hull is closer to 22" of draft.

Anyhow, hope he's doing fine.

Edited August 29, 2008 by doughickey

[SunriseH2OSkier]

Oh Traaaciiieee....

[VinRLX]

Oh Traaaciiieee....

Oh come on, Jerry. Are you referring to the horse emoticon again? In this case I would agree with you--butt only if it said "Tommy Boy®" across the horse's aft.