More “Uuumpf!”

When I did my first test drives last year I was a happy camper. The speed of the racer was not terrifying, but enough to be fun. At full speed the boat achieved 30 km/h (18-19 mp/h), which was also forecasted by the Torqeedo technicians as likely max speed. So far, so good – after all the trouble finding a battery that would suit into the small thing, i was happy that it  worked at all. The whole topic came up again early this year when exchanging with Fred, the commodore of the CCWBRA racing association in NA. He told me that they would get their CCRs with 8hp Tohatsu engine to something like 45 km/h (27 mp/h). Now, the Torqeedo has 10 hp and i was around 30 km/h. That started me thinking… When looking for the right engine last year, the second-best option i found was from Mitek Italy, a small company in Ravenna that actually have a very simple and not less compelling concept – they keep the basic shape of Yamaha combustion outboard motor and replace the engine with a electric one. While it does not has the same conceptual beauty as the Torqeedo design (e.g., engine running totally quiet and self-cooled as a underwater torpeedo) it has some advantages with respect to my focus on getting more speed:  1st, it works with many 3rd-party props incl. speed props and 2nd, No engine under water = less resistance in the water  I am still a big fan of the Torqeedo design for various reasons and of course there is some emotional attachment to a manufacturer from my hometown. But, more speed = more fun. And 45+ vs. 30 km/h felt too good to not at least give it a try. And so I reached out to Silvia, the friendly sales rep from Mitek and 2 weeks later a big box arrived… As always things did not worked smoothly the first time and the big box came with additional challenges: The engine needed a new throttle, the plug of the motor did not fit to my battery, the steering connection did not fit into the CCR, … I even had to ask for an additional license to be allowed to ride with the new motor. But finally the race is one. Now I am testing…

smart boat

Over winter there was not much to do about the Cocktail Racer, but I found a new hobby – installing about a hundred smart relays in my house making most of our electric stuff in our old house smart. Being totally intrigued by the possibilities of this system I thought this kind of technology could be a great feature for the CCR. For now I still do not yet know what exactly I could use it for, but as with the other stuff it is first about making it work. As I anyhow wanted to build a new hub for the CCR’s steering wheel, I have build one that can hold a bluetooth button of my smart home system. So, if you push the horn, something in the Cocktail Racer will happen – not yet decided, what this will be…