Flying Speedboat (Hydrofoil)

We are going to be making a hydrofoil, Basically its a boat with wings or fins at the bottom and when you travel fast enough it will raise out of the water and your boat will glide through the air faster while the fins support you from the water. Its pretty cool if you never seen one google it now and check it out. This boat will be made out of coroplast or corrugated plastic. Its very lightweight easy to work with and waterproof so lets get started.

Note: this boat calls for 6mm plastic I could only find 4mm plastic so I doubled up on the bottom if you can find 6mm then you can skip the part where you reinforce the bottom.

Also this boat can only hold up to 200 pounds I only weigh 160 and thats the most I feel comfortable putting on this.

Two sheets of 4mm coroplast

A Creasing Tool (a roller thats used to make window screens)

Nuts, Washers, Bolts

Zip Ties

Hot Glue gun

Ruler (the longer the better)

4 10ft pvc pipe (might need more)

8 T shaped pvc connectors

12 L shaped pvc connectors

pvc glue

Trolling motor or any outboard boat motor

The hull or the body of the boat is made from 1 sheet 4x8 4mm coroplast. I got the idea of using coroplast and the shape of the boat from Elkinsdiy.com go there if you want great ideas on different styles of boat. I wont give out the measurements or the folds of the hull because its his idea but everything else were my ideas so i can share those. but with the hull you will make your measurements draw out your lines were your folds will be use the ruler to measure and draw straight lines. Take your creasing tool and press firmly and roll where you are going to fold. the creases will make the coroplast a lot easier to fold its almost impossible if you don't make the creases before hand. next fold up your sheet and you will see the shape of your hull. after making sure everything is up to your standard you want to bolt down anywhere you made a fold. I put 2 bolts in the front 1 on each side. And 4 in the back 2 on each side. next add you washers and nut tighten them down and your hull is complete.

for the gunwales the sides of the boat I used pvc pipe any size you like will work but i used 3/4th. I took a 10ft pipe and cut it in half and used each 5ft pipe for the sides. I drilled tiny holes on the sides and strapped them on using 5 zip ties on each side 10 in all to hold the pipe on and they worked perfectly. Next i cut two 2ft size pipe and used those to go across and connect to each side of the 5ft pipes and this will hold the boat together. To connect the the pipes together I used 4 T shape connectors. To use the T shape Connectors you will have to cut four holes on the sides of your boat on each side where the T Connector will be placed. You need the T so the legs of your Hydrofoil can connect to the boat if your just making the boat without the Hydrofoil use L connectors and don't make any holes on the side.

Now the actual boat calls for 6mm sheet of coroplast but i couldn't find it anywhere so to give my bottom the support it needs to hold, I took my second sheet of 4mm coroplast measured out the bottom cut it out with a xacto knife then used a hot glue gun and glued the sheets together. I tried several different glues nothing worked for me but the hot glue gun. Also if you can just get 6mm coroplast you can skip adding a second bottom. You can also use two sheets at the beginning but it will be very difficult to crease and make your folds but then you can just use the nuts and bolts to hold it together you wont have to glue them but you only need the extra 2-4mm of coroplast on the bottom to support whatever weight will be in the boat so i think cut and paste is the best method for this.

Next you want to add the top or hood to the front of the boat. I measured out the width of the boat which was a little over 26 inches so I measured out 27 inches off of what I had left from my second sheet of coroplast, i also measured out where the fold on the front of the boat will be and how far up I wanted to cover which came out to be about 42 inches. I cut out the sheet of coroplast used my creasing tool made the crease where I wanted it sized it to the front of the boat then drilled 6 holes in the sheet 3 on each side front middle and back and did the same to the front of the boat and used 6 zip ties to connect the top of my boat.

Now to add your Fins or wings to the bottom of your boat you will need legs to support them. I also used pvc pipe for this as well. First measure how tall your want you legs to be how much you want your boat to raise out of the water. I didn't want it to be to tall so I went with 2ft thought that was tall enough. First i cut 8 2ft sized pvc pipe 4 for the front and four for the back.

First for the front 1.I cut 2, 3 inch sized pipe and stuck it into my T connectors on each side.

2. add another T shape connector to each of the 3 inch pipe that I just installed.

3. I cut 4, 2 inch size pipe and add those to each side of the T.

4. then take 4 L shape connectors and connect those to each end.

5. take 4 of you 2ft pvc pipes and connect those to each end and your front legs is done.

Back Legs, I didn't want the legs to be as wide as the front and also the bottom wing to be as long so first I repeated the first 4 steps that I used for the front legs. then I connected my 4, 2ft pipes and marked where the bottom of the boat ends on each pipe and i cut them there.

6. I added 4 L shape connectors one to each pipe

7. I measured how far I wanted each leg to come in which was 12 inches cut 4 pvc pipe 12 inches and added those to my connectors

8. Then add 4 L shape connectors to each of those pipes then go back to your 2ft that you cut and add those to your L connectors to give you the consistent height.

After you do this make sure your pipes are how they wanted and everything is the height that you want and looks to your standard if it is take it all apart and add pvc glue to each piece anywhere you pit a connector. you want add pvc glue at the end and not as you go because once you glue it that's it if you want to make any alterations you will have to cut the pipe off and start all over.

Once you glue the pipes on then you want to measure how long you want your wings. My front wing i Measured out to be 32 Inches and my back was 20. I cut out 3 pieces of coroplast at 32 inches and hot glued them together, and 3 pieces of 20 and hot glued them together. Next I hot glued them to the bottom of my legs using as much glue as possible so they wont come off in the water and now your Hydrofoil is complete.

Last I added a transom board to hold the motor. I used a 2x4 piece of plywood but you could use any size to your liking. I measured out the back which was 26 inches wide and 16 inches high same for the inside bolted those together on the back and the motor mount is complete. Next I added my motor which was a 30lbs electric trolling motor with these you will also need a battery when I bought the motor they sold me the battery that goes to this one. This is my first time using anything like this so I wont tell you which battery is right for which motor i can say go to your local sporting good store and they can help you with it. Now I am ready to ride lets take it for a spin and have a BLAST!!!

(Sorry I didnt have any good pics of the transom board or motor i will try to get better pics and add them in the future)

After Gluing my wings on i realized the front were kind of short so i will be adding some length to those. I might add some to the back as well. Also i don't have Youtube so i couldnt add any videos but when riding the boat it didnt rise the whole 2 feet out the water. I don't think I was riding fast enough to get enough speed to rise all the way out. To remedy that I could get a stronger motor but that would mean heavier motor and I don't think the boat could take so much more weight. I was thinking about adding some underwater thrusters but they will have to be strong enough to add some speed to the boat. If I do any of these two things I will add my updates.

Also again this boat only holds up to 200 pounds and when you go boating please use all proper safety precautions live vest etc. and have some one out there watching you better safe than sorry.