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Designing and building Quicksilver is a major technical challenge. But a dedicated team of specialists has risen to that challenge. A hand-picked team of highly-motivated engineers and technical sponsors has already demonstrated the commitment needed to achieve the goal.
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In common with all ultra-high-speed waterborne craft, Quicksilver is designed to skim over the water rather than ploughing through it. Achieving a rapid transition from the "displacement condition" (in the water) to the "planing condition" (on the water) has been a crucial design challenge, because Coniston Water – with a usable length of a little over five miles – offers a sufficient, but not generous, course distance. –
Hull shapes optimised for ultra-high speeds are not usually conducive to making the displacement-to-planing transition rapidly, so a carefully-balanced compromise has been necessary to achieve low-speed efficiency and high-speed stability.
Quicksilver is the largest and heaviest boat ever to contest the World Water Speed Record. It is also by far the most powerful.
Goals going forward<
With a considerable number of objectives already achieved, the next major goal of the Quicksilver project is to undertake full-power static engine runs at the earliest opportunity. Preparations are currently nearing completion.
Initial trials on water could take place in the winter of next year – if progress can be sustained – at a location yet to be decided, with the primary intention of proving the craft's planing capability and collecting test data to help the team understand the way in which the craft is performing. The ultimate aim is to make a record challenge on Coniston Water, in the Lake District in north-west England, subject to gaining the necessary approvals.
Craft conception<
From the outset, the Quicksilver project has been research-led. The original craft concept development work was led by Ken Norris – the only man in history to have designed both the world's fastest car and the world's fastest boat (working with his brother Lewis in the 1950s and '60s, Ken designed Donald Campbell's famous Bluebirds).
That initial Quicksilver concept has since evolved into what is seen today.
The most significant step in this evolutionary process was the decision to move the engine further forward to improve weight-distribution, and thus, stability and performance. This change dictated that the sponsons (floats) could no longer be at the rear of the craft as Ken Norris envisaged, but at the front, in order to assure proper static and low-speed bouyancy, and high-speed stability.
Construction of the main hull structure recommenced in the spring of 2008, after a lengthy delay while these important design changes were implemented. Integration of the engine-mounting structures, which add rigidity to the hull as well as bearing the engine, was the first new step in the construction process.
Several key features of the boat have been retained from the earlier concept. These include the engine, the spaceframe structure within the main hull module, and the "four-pointer" planing configuration, which the Quicksilver team is pioneering.
Current design/build status<
The team's schedule is always subject to revision, based upon the resources available to it at any given time.
Structural design work and construction are the team's ongoing preoccupations. Throughout this year, work has also been under way to advance Quicksilver's on-board systems. In the middle of next year the rear hull section (stern module) will be added. Both sponsons will be added in the autumn of next year, during final preparations for the first trials on water. In this initial waterborne form, the craft will be in what we refer to as Dash 1 form and speeds will be limited to 200mph.
In Dash 1 form the boat has a two-person crew. Nigel Macknight drives from the cockpit in the starboard sponson, while an engineer-observer monitors test instrumentation in the cockpit in the port sponson.
The craft will then be upgraded to its definitive, Dash 2 standard and development during trials will facilitate ever-higher speeds, culminating in the record bid. In Dash 2 form the boat becomes a single-seater. The port cockpit module will be replaced by a module fitted with an auxiliary power unit (APU), enabling the boat to operate almost independently of external assistance whilst on the lake.
TECH SPEC(<white line here)
All-up weight: 3.5 tonnes
Length: 11.8 metres
Width: 3.414 metres
Height: 2.977 metres
Structure: High-tensile steel, aluminium, carbonfibre,
Kevlar, carbon/Kevlar, Zylon
Engine type: Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.101 low-bypass turbofan
Engine output: 11,050 pounds static thrust
(approx. 10,000 horsepower)
Fuel capacity: 277 litres (400 litres with auxilliary saddle tank)
Fuel type: Kerosene
Fuel consumption: One litre per second (full power)
Electrical system: 24-volt DC
SPEED ESTIMATES(<white line here)
Speed record (average of two runs): 330 mph
Peak speed on record runs: 350 mph
Theoretical maximum design speed of craft: 400 mph