Thread: PHENOMENON, somethin to keep an eye on.

Originally Posted by tunnelvision69

these are 2800 hp each!! 11,000 hp should get the job done!! I'm worried about the lift from four big props trying to climb out of the water. hopefully I will get a chance to watch some shakedown runs here on lake pontchartrain!

Good catch! For some reason, I said 1500.. dur.. i think theres a gas leak in my office or somethin.

Can't wait, to see this thing make solid numbers

Although I still love piston power 4 life

still hasn't hit the water, kilo run looks like it's not going to happen.

Theres 4 more planned for the year though. Hopefully we'll see it debut in april at Havasu.

Speed Record Attempt Boat Waiting for New Props
By Matt Trulio


Good news and bad news came from the first test run—in late January—of Copeland’s Phenomenon, the 56-foot-long, 12,000-hp quad-turbine catamaran designed to attempt to break the propeller-driven water-speed record of more than 220 mph.



The good: According to throttleman Scott Barnhart, the boat ran 150 mph with no trouble and almost everything went smoothly.



The bad: “Almost everything” means all four of the boat’s Ellstrom CNC propellers—$15,000 a piece—were damaged in the run and needed to be replaced.



“We couldn’t have been happier with the run, but we ended up with a one-inch ding on each propeller,” Barnhart told me this afternoon. “But we’ve corrected the problem and are waiting for our new propellers.”



Though Barnhart declined to elaborate on the nature of the issue that led to the prop damage, he did say that he and Al Copeland, Jr., ran the boat briefly after the correction was made and everything was solid.



Phenomenon’s record attempt is slated for July 2 at the Super Boat International Kilo Runs in Sarasota, Fla.

Sounds like they are out there really twistin things up to get the numbers they need!

what could have damaged the props?

probably from the torque of the motors bending the shafts towards each other and hitting them..

Or sometimes you can throw a blade into the others.. .who knows.. if they created air and over-revved them and twisted the hub on re-entry, that could do it..


Or maybe the left the swim ladder down..

Wow I can't believe I missed this thread. I've seen Phenomenon sitting outside their facility. Pics don't do this thing justice. I hope Al Sr. is looking down and smiling. Al was a local celebrity who I had the fortune to meet a couple of times not long b4 he passed. He was self made, lost most of it and got it back. One of a kind. RIP AL.

The ride in this monster has to give an adrenaline rush that makes skydiving feel like kids play. Sign me up.

Originally Posted by achenator

Wow I can't believe I missed this thread. I've seen Phenomenon sitting outside their facility. Pics don't do this thing justice. I hope Al Sr. is looking down and smiling. Al was a local celebrity who I had the fortune to meet a couple of times not long b4 he passed. He was self made, lost most of it and got it back. One of a kind. RIP AL.

Very well said, my friend.. RIP to one of the reasons offshore even exists today..