Easy to service engine bay
when you let go an unexpected expletive beginning with "f."
As readers will have gathered by now, jet boats have drivers
not skippers. Clearly no skipper in his right mind would con a
boat at 70 to 90 kilometres an hour within inches of rocks, trees
or river banks where at every twist or turn the unexpected might
happen. So drivers they are, and I have to say from my recent
observations most jet boat drivers are very competent. Yes, there
are still a few cowboys who gained their skills from boy racing,
but the industry is slowly sorting these out with better education.
The Thunder Jet boats are at the forefront of water jet
technology, powered by twin LS3 Vortec 6.2L V8 Kodiak
marine engines, coupled to twin Hamilton HJ213 water jets,
making them one powerful power pack. Kodiak engines are now
distributed by Waimanu Marine & Engine Co.
Introduced by General Motors as a marine specific base engine
for original equipment manufacturing marinising houses in late
2009, the LS3 engine was first available in automotive form as
the ZO6 Corvette engine in 2008.
Kodiak Equipment was early on the uptake to offer it as fully
marinised bolt-in package for jet drive or inboard applications.
It is the only all aluminium new production V8 gasoline marine
engine available to the general public and has proven very popular
for its great power-to-weight ratio and impressive efficiency. Now
with sixth generation Delphi marine electronic fuel injection micro
processor and sequential fuel injection on top of a relatively simple
but modern pushrod engine architecture, it is a pretty nice package
rated at 418hp (312kW) @ 5400rpm and 424lb-ft, which sounds
relatively high it is the fact that there is still over 300hp and 400lbft torque available at 3700rpm. This along with good servicing and
maintenance and the prospect that these engines should achieve up
to 4000 hours service life, is what makes them so attractive when
matched to an appropriate jet unit.
Thunder Jet creating thrills
Constructed in marine alloy using 10mm frames and stringers
with a 10mm keel bar and wear plate, 6mm bottom, 4mm sides
and 3mm top sides and roll arch. Being purpose built, the jet
boat's design with a 10 degree dead rise offers high efficiency,
outstanding maneuverability and shallow draft capability ideal
for both lake and river jet boating.
If the famous 360 degree "Hamilton" turns (spins) executed by
your driver don't leave you breathless, the scenery will.
Operating from its kiosk near Steamer Wharf in Queenstown
Bay, the Thunder Jet experience offers visitors a high-speed one
hour, 44km adventure, leaving from Queenstown Bay, travelling
across the peaceful Lake Wakatipu under the Kawarau bridge
and ancient dam resulting from a failed gold rush project. The
jet boat twists and turns its way through the beautiful braided
Kawarau River, travelling up to 90 kilometres per hour in just
centimetres of water, while hugging the shore to the Smith Falls
before returning to base.
We asked Neville were there still any problems associated
with other operators on the river? Neville was both candid and
respectful as he responded. "The wave of success is ahead, look
back and worry about the competitors and that's where you
end up." How very true!
S P E C I F I C AT I O N S
LOA
Beam
Draft
Deadrise
Builder
Power
Propulsion
Fuel tank size
7.5m
3.1m
300mm at rest – 100mm on the plane
10 degrees
McKenzie Marine
Twin Kodiak LS3 6.2l V8 418hp marine diesels
Twin Hamilton HJ213 water jets
300 litres
VIP 93
VIP.S93
3
10 Professional Skipper May/June 2013
