Advice Requested

 Hello There.

John from Bournemouth UK here.

Firstly, Thank You!!

This is site a great resource for mad scientists and You seem like a great bunch of guys! I have a possibly silly idea and would be very grateful for some advice about it.

I would like to hydrofoil and motorise a kayak canoe. I have read quite a lot on here and have got some great tips. Thank you for that. I’ll warn you now that I probbaly won’t use the proper terminology as I’m a new guy.

I want to buy a cheap fibreglass kayak canoe and just behind the sitting hole, put a thick waste pipe stright through the deck, seal it and make an outboard well. I want to add an inverse T- foil, which I understand should be slightly above the prop and preferably in front of it, centre of gravity-wise, like a Canard design?

I have been basing approximate foil width on the paddle-powered foil canoe featured on Youtube. The one in a race against a normal four man crew. (sorry, I don’t know how to link to it).

Also, after looking at the foil surfer guys on youtube I was wondering.. if I could perfectly place a single foil in the right place, could I do away with a front one and use my own balance to level it. I believe this is unlikely/ madness under variable motor power but it was a thought. I would probably choose the Dyna foil for the front or simply a fixed one.

Anyhoo.. I have some questions if you don’t mind. They might be silly ones..

1. Would the motor position (just behind Me) be a good thing trim-wise and would the ‘well’ create drag?

2. On a 13 foot-ish canoe would my 2HP 2 stroke motor get the hull to take off speed?

3. When positioning a single foil with no front one.. would motor thrust affect the ‘balance point’ and hence where it should be vs centre of gravity? Would it only ‘balance’ at one speed?

4. I have been looking at sports car aerofoils on ebay (mistakenly called spoilers!!) as they seem to be the correct profile (which would be handy and lucky!) since they do the same job (only upside down) and they look like the right profile and width for this project. Could someone please take a look and give an opinion. They are listed as “Black GTRracing Adjustable Aluminum Rear Trunk Wing Spolier”. Their profile is visible where it meets the ‘vanes’ in the photo. I can clad it in fibreglass if You don’t think it’ll be strong enough.

5. On a simple craft like this, with a fixed load and centre of balance, could I just use a fixed foil at the front like that paddle powered canoe?

6. Am I insane?

Any replies gratefully received and many thanks in advance.

John