Phenomenal RUDDER!

[dmartiniup]

LATHAM MARINE PART OF AL COPELAND’S WISH - PHENOMENON


When the colorful giant catamaran was unveiled at the Al Copeland party at the 2009 SBI World Championships the night before the final race, Bob and Kathy Latham were standing proudly by the boat, admiring its shiny, massive rudder system. It represented nearly a year of secretive planning and work on Al Copeland’s Phenomenon as the one-off creation was aptly named.

To stabilize this 56’ cat with a 13’ 6” beam, four T55 turbine engines, and four Arneson drives, a canard wing was built into the deck that will re-direct air when the boat reaches 180-190, on the way to its 240+ mph anticipated speed. But that was only part of the challenge in constructing the boat. Harnessing all that weight and 12,000 horsepower, required marine equipment that could stand up to the torque and thrust. Copeland Racing’s Scott Barnhart knew who to call--Bob Latham. Latham Marine has long been one of the marine equipment engineering forces for Al Copeland, the legendary and flamboyant Popeye’s Famous Fried Chicken founder and 6-time National Champion, Popeye’s Racing. Latham created the marine equipment for Copeland’s first four engine powerboat in 1984, so it was only natural that he would be on call 25 years later to undertake a bigger and stronger project.

Latham began with a piece of 1 ½” proprietary stainless steel which had to be specially fabricated and cut using his state-of-the-art CNC machines. This rudder was developed from those currently used by other Champion racing turbine-powered catamarans with two engines. However, incorporating the system for four engines in a newly designed boat brought additional challenges, numerous calculations and finite analyses to simulate the loads and arrive at a final rudder design.

Throttles were another major consideration, as most controls for a T55 engine require two handles for the two throttle cables--one for fuel shut-off to “N1” and another to segue to “N2.” Adding a shift handle for each engine would require 12 handles—a massive feat for any throttleman. Latham devised a way to combine the two throttle cables into one handle, with two handles per engine—a first—reducing the number of throttle controls to eight.

The hydraulic steering system for the boat is similar to Latham Marine’s traditional design—portless rams with no exposed hydraulic lines. “Our steering systems are always strong,” Latham states proudly, noting that the rams specified for this boat were uniquely suited to the project.

The one-of-a-kind boat was a several-year project design project by Copeland Race Team’s own firm, Phenomena Ultra Speedcraft Company and a vibrant, exotic paint design was created by Mark Morris of Visual Imagination; it is still weeks away from testing. “Everyone associated with this boat is the best in the industry,” said rigger, project manager and throttleman, Scott Barnhart, “I’ve been in this business for 23 years and know that if you want the best in marine hardware, you go to Bob Latham--we’ve worked together on many boats.”

Al Copeland, Jr. was clearly enthused about the project and its ramifications. “It is sleek, it’s sexy, and hopefully, it’s fast!” he exclaimed, attributing the work to “adrenaline junkies” and his father’s last two wishes--to beat the world propeller speed boat record (currently 220.493 mph, set in 2004 by Dave Villwock in an unlimited hydroplane, Miss Budweiser), and to find a cure for cancer.

While Al Copeland bravely battled the cancer that took his life last year, his family will try to make his other wish come true. Behind the scenes, Bob Latham was part of that wish.

[Audiofn]

Lot riding on that thin piece of metal!!!

[Sea-Dated]

Lot riding on that thin piece of metal!!!

That is an understatement......

[Ted]

Lot riding on that thin piece of metal!!!

The Latham rudder on my buddy's MTI is a freekin work of art. Knife edge at the front, polished like a mirror, and turns that boat like a go cart.

[Tantrum]

This boat should have its own website.
Amazing project.

[Tantrum]

Take that back. Serious should set up a section for projects like this and the Outerlimits thread. Good reading.

[catastrophe]

take that back. Serious should set up a section for projects like this and the outerlimits thread. Good reading.

wait

[Tom A.]

wait

"But I want it NOW daddy!"
In my best Veruca Salt Voice!

[Sean H]

The Latham rudder on my buddy's MTI is a freekin work of art. Knife edge at the front, polished like a mirror, and turns that boat like a go cart.

which MTI has a latham on it?

[Spicy]

which MTI has a latham on it?

MY Neighbor Marty has an MTI with a RUdder.... same boat as Ted speaks of..

[Spicy]

which MTI has a latham on it?

Here is another shot of it... Beautiful boat!!!!

That is actually Ted with the Camera...

[Sean H]

MY Neighbor Marty has an MTI with a RUdder.... same boat as Ted speaks of..

but is it a latham?

[Ted]

but is it a latham?

Pretty sure, it has all Latham hardware, but there are no markings on the rudder itself.

[Sean H]

if it looks like this it is a MTI rudder system, I haven't seen anything but this on a MTI is why I asked. Randy designed it and has it built locally.

[offthefront]

Manatee ....Filet'er

[Ted]

Yup looks like that with Latham Rams, my bad.

[Geronimo36]

Silly question.... I've never seen one fail but other than the obvious (bling factor and rusting) why don't they use steel or titanium in place of stainless at those speeds/power/g's?

[Steve 1]

Silly question.... I've never seen one fail but other than the obvious (bling factor and rusting) why don't they use steel or titanium in place of stainless at those speeds/power/g's?

If it is 17-4 PH it is a very tough piece of metal.

[VetteLT193]

Silly question.... I've never seen one fail but other than the obvious (bling factor and rusting) why don't they use steel or titanium in place of stainless at those speeds/power/g's?

I'm sure cost is still a factor. No sense in wasting money just to say you have Titanium Vs. Stainless.

I think the cost of a Titanium plate is about 5-10X higher than stainless. And we aren't talking about 100 bucks worth of stainless here. probably more like $2000 worth.

[Knot 4 Me]

Wonder how much, if any, these deflect under load? Serious chunks of metal...