Below:  Sportspal -- notice sponsons are fatter, offering more flotation than Radisson sponsons. They also cost more.

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Our sponsons on an experimental solar boat (2 sets on each side):

"Jim,

The Sponsons absolutely made the difference in how well our boat looked. I'm attaching several photos for you to see it. For us the sponsons provided four functions. They prevented splash from hitting the pilot, added extra flotation (though it was not needed according to our buoyancy calculations), dressed the mating point between the hull and the top surface, and they made a nice rubrail.

I have to be honest with you, I could not be happier! Dr. Foroudastan admitted to having doubts about how they would appear, as did a couple of team members. However, ... All apprehension faded away once they were in place.

Our attachment method was with 2-part 5-minute epoxy. We did a three-foot section at a time, keeping hands on it until the tack was sufficient to keep it in place (approx 15 mins). In the end, the bond was so strong that, according to our materials test, the sponson would rip before the bond would break.

You, your website, and your products are all top-notch and first class. Your speedy service and generous discount are well appreciated and I sincerly look forward to the opportunity to do business with you again. I would recommend sailboatstogo.comwithout any hesitation.

As for the attached photos:

Our boat was of a vacuum formed carbon-fiber construction. The top surface was made from the Pink Panther foam boards you would find at a big-box do-it-yourself hardware store. The boards were shaped by hand, laminated with a single layer of fiberglass using epoxy resin (polyester resin is not compatible with all foam). A build primer was applied and sanded down to a final 1000 grit wet sand, and then both went to the paint booth.

The drive-train consists of two golf-cart-type motors with approximately 35 hp available for the sprint run and roughly 1 hp available for the endurance run (the solar panels are only installed for the endurance run, they are removed to reduce weight in the sprint run). Our out drive is an Arneson-type surface drive, designed and machined right in our machine shop. It is trimmed by an electric actuator that uses a string-type potentiometer to sense the position. Steering is achieved through a standard steering push-pull steering cable.

The helm is made of a clear acrylic sheet that was created in a 2-D CAD drawing and cut using a CNC laser cutter. The back was painted black before the instrumentation was added. Our electrical system features dual 240 watt solar panels (480 watt total is the maximum allowed by the rules), dual helm-mounted charge controllers with bypass circuits, dual Altrex 600 Amp motor controllers.

The solar panels are supported by RAM mounts, which also hold the top surface down. Hanger bolts were threaded into the back side of the RAM bases to allow them to perform this dual function. A dog leash attached to a bow eye provides the safety lanyard and hitch for the panels, and a common through-hull connectors completes the easy-on-easy-off solar panel mount system.

The tech report was 42 pages, so suffice it to say that there is a lot going on inside of the boat.

Top speed, with the right propeller, should be around 25 MPH, though we only hit 21 during the race. We received the only "Best Design" award that is handed out at the event, and we received the only "Workmanship" award that is handed out at the event, so we were simply "top dog" in design and workmanship. We received a second place award for our sprint run, so we were the second fastest boat there, and we received an award for seventh overall. Ultimately, an electrical problem prevented us from finishing the endurance run, which pushed us down quite a bit. Typically there would have been a second heat that would have allowed us to do better, but weather shut the event down two days early. Still, we won four awards, two that were top, on that was second, and we were seventh overall. Plus we had the best looking boat there.

When you look at the pictures you'll realize that the sponsons are why the boat looks so awesome. The pics that show the boat without decals are when we first rolled it out of the lab. The pics with decals are at the race.

Forgive any major typos....I'm playing the catch-up game here and time is so short...so so short...but not so short that I don't have time to express my gratitude! Thanks again!

Best regards,"

Cary Woodson (MTSU) June 2013

Boat Cart  - Canoe, Kayak carrier.  Folds.  Wheel options.