Build the fastest boat

[mcwolf90]

Rules:

For a speed to be accepted, a screenshot or video must be provided of the boat moving through liquid at that speed.

The craft must be carrying at least one Kerbal during the speedrun.

No mods, save file edits or non stock parts.

Use of the debug toolbar is strictly not allowed.

New submissions should be made in the latest version of KSP.

You say that new submissions should be made in the latest version of KSP. Does this mean that a record from an old version will stay even if the game gets updated? I think that the ship record should be held only if a test has shown it to stand the same in the latest version. PS: I'm going to try to make a fast boat, but it probably won't be the fastest, lol

[Nao]

I've made to 303,7 m/s with only jet engines in a regatta challenge. (at around 3:30 in the video)

With rockets could be possible to go much faster maybe I'll try that later.

Edit: Yep, current version, no mods/debug menu but only a screenshot. 428,7 m/s or mach 1,25 Ship name: PonPonPon!

I think it would be possible to go even faster with similar setup

Edited June 18, 2013 by Nao

[koshelenkovv]

Uhh, air intakes floats too and seem to have even less drag than wings.

They were useless without cubic struts back in 0.17 at times of "Boat Race to the South Pole".

[Ezriilc]

... 428,7 m/s or mach 1,25 Ship name: PonPonPon! ...

, indeed! Very impressive to say the least.

[Nao]

Uhh, air intakes floats too and seem to have even less drag than wings.

They were useless without cubic struts back in 0.17 at times of "Boat Race to the South Pole".

Yeah, they also can be closed now so that gives even less drag, and i think their collision box that determines volume (and buoyancy) is cube shaped instead of actual 3dmodel so their actual density is extremely low.

Oh and on the topic of 0.17 (which was a great version btw ), do you by any chance remember a challenge (or an launch efficiency discussion thread) where you have to put as ship made of pod, 4tanks and an LV-T30 into orbit using the least amount of fuel?

I've found screenshots and even a video of what appears as entries made for such challenge lying around but i can't find the thread.

[tavert]

Oh and on the topic of 0.17 (which was a great version btw ), do you by any chance remember a challenge (or an launch efficiency discussion thread) where you have to put as ship made of pod, 4tanks and an LV-T30 into orbit using the least amount of fuel?

I've found screenshots and even a video of what appears as entries made for such challenge lying around but i can't find the thread.

This'n? http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/12869-Optimal-Ascent-Profile-for-this-spacecraft

[AlexL]

You say that new submissions should be made in the latest version of KSP. Does this mean that a record from an old version will stay even if the game gets updated? I think that the ship record should be held only if a test has shown it to stand the same in the latest version. PS: I'm going to try to make a fast boat, but it probably won't be the fastest, lol

I only added that one to ensure new entries are up to date. In future updates I may wipe the board, but for now they can stay.

Best of luck with your maritime efforts. Remember, no-one has sailed on Eve or Laythe yet, so even a screenshot of you floating in the sea would earn you a fastest record for now.

[Nao]

This'n? http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/12869-Optimal-Ascent-Profile-for-this-spacecraft

That was the original thread with the four tank challenge, i was still new to the forums back then and didn't posted there.

I'm searching for more recent one, where the pod had the new design but the engines were still old (0.17). It could have been lost to the kraken or maybe im just hallucinating or something .

Thanks anyways!

[Sirine]

Ver 0.21.1

Tested at Kerbin Sea perform 10m/s speed. It uses electric power. Means unlimited resources. But....

Use HyperEdit to teleport my Roller (Ship) to Eve Sea, and It shows....2.2m/s speed..duh...

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[Ezriilc]

Ver 0.21.1 Tested at Kerbin Sea perform 10m/s speed. It uses electric power. Means unlimited resources. But.... Use HyperEdit to teleport my Roller (Ship) to Eve Sea, and It shows....2.2m/s speed..duh...

That's actually VERY cool! I love unique ideas that think outside the box, and this is surely one of those. I tried something similar, but it kept ripping off it's own parts, and going BOOM. But then, I wanted to be able to roll up and out of the water too. You got me thinking about it again...

[Ezriilc]

Refusing to let this EVER die, after learning a lot by building my super-efficient, heavy lifter, "Kolsys", which uses all my knowledge acquired about KSP so far, I again got the itch to go fast on water.

So, I replicated Nao's sublime ship to grok its voodoo, and achieved 422 m/s (to be honest, I questioned if it really would, but WOW). The ship is so calm and collected at that break-Jeb's-neck speed, that I can't help but think that even faster is possible. Maybe MUCH faster...

For some reason, my brain can't quite wrap itself around how and/or why Nao's ship works so well. This ship is well down in the water compared with what I've been building, which of course gives it great stability without fins or extra torque parts, yet it's much faster. Even though I think I thought I might of sort-of understood how KSP does this buoyancy/drag/thrust stuff - after all, I got up to 301 m/s with mostly jets - this thing's high performance and simplicity escapes my full assimilation.

I've tried the tail fins I like so much since they're more buoyant - 1 fin ~= 2 intakes (If I'm not mistaken, fewer parts means less drag, yea?), but raising the ship at all seems to always turn Bill Kerman into tuna food. I think it may be just a matter of getting the exact right depth, while reducing drag and possibly increasing burn time and/or thrust with different/moar engines.

Anyone have any thoughts?

P.S. About my ship screenshots missing from this and other threads, I guess KSP forum doesn't copy/cache images, and I must have moved/renamed them. I will try to fix them, but regardless, my pics can be found somewhere on our site.

[B11267]

Challenge accepted,

I suck at driving rovers so I shall completely destroy your rover with a series of calculated moves.

- B11

[Ezriilc]

Challenge accepted,

I suck at driving rovers so I shall completely destroy your rover with a series of calculated moves.

- B11

A rover? It seems pretty unlikely for a rover to go faster on the water than 428.7-m/s, but I look forward to watching you try...

[Ezriilc]

OK... Nao is clearly a witch.

Not only can I not get any faster than the 422 m/s that I have so far, but any and every change I make to Nao's design just causes it to eat water, or go slower. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I have days invested in this folly.

Apparently, you've managed to achieve the perfect design. But like you say, it seems that it must be possible to go faster somehow. This is how weekend racers manage to bankrupt themselves - the addiction to go a little faster is maddening, but each meter per second is like another Mt. Everest.

[Robwobwobwobwob]

i tryed a few designs so far but everytime i get over 20m/s my boat breaks how did you fix that problem?

[Robwobwobwobwob]

i tryed a few designs but everytime i go above 20m/s it breaks. how did you fix that problem?

[Ezriilc]

i tryed a few designs but everytime i go above 20m/s it breaks. how did you fix that problem?

Your ship is clearly too sized and uvterpowered.

Edited October 2, 2013 by Ezriilc
added quote, typo

[Nao]

i tryed a few designs but everytime i go above 20m/s it breaks. how did you fix that problem?

The trick is to not let any part change its state in relation to water ( submarged / partially submarged / above surface ) once above 20m/s (some parts with very high crash tolerance can go little faster but not much). So your ship must be firmly planted onto water without much vertical movement of parts in respect to waterline or the parts that are partially submerged need to be quite long. (also the graphical waterline is higher than actual physics waterline).

OK... Nao is clearly a witch.

Not only can I not get any faster than the 422 m/s that I have so far, but any and every change I make to Nao's design just causes it to eat water, or go slower. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I have days invested in this folly.

Apparently, you've managed to achieve the perfect design. But like you say, it seems that it must be possible to go faster somehow. This is how weekend racers manage to bankrupt themselves - the addiction to go a little faster is maddening, but each meter per second is like another Mt. Everest.

Strapping more boosters and or using a commander seat should get the boat above 450m/s i think.

Investing time in design work is nothing bad at all , i've spent 15+ hours creating high speed suspension (stock) for driving challenge and I still can't perfect the design. (That reminds me to try once more haha, off to the SPH!)

Good luck!

[Lazro]

I think someone once mounted a lot of the truss decouplers to wheels and made a suspension that way. I will try this challenge!

[seanth]

How about a category that takes mass into account? As in, not just m/s, but kg*m/s? In my experience it's easier to make small, light craft go quickly on water, but much harder to make a heavy craft travel quickly. At that point we're getting into cost of transport, which is something real-world vessel designers consider.

[Ezriilc]

How about a category that takes mass into account? As in, not just m/s, but kg*m/s? In my experience it's easier to make small, light craft go quickly on water, but much harder to make a heavy craft travel quickly. At that point we're getting into cost of transport, which is something real-world vessel designers consider.

Sounds good. Post your own challenge for this, and I'm in! BTW, I already have the boat that will stomp all of you...

[Ezriilc]

I think someone once mounted a lot of the truss decouplers to wheels and made a suspension that way. I will try this challenge!

Again with the wheels. Am I misunderstanding what this challenge is about?

Oh, and what's a "truss decoupler"?

[Nao]

Again with the wheels. Am I misunderstanding what this challenge is about?

Oh, and what's a "truss decoupler"?

I think Lazro was referring to other challenge that i mentioned in my post. And "truss decoupler" means the high radial one. I did use them to make other connections more relaxed (its a glitch) allowing for wheel part movement in relation to whole ship. It allowed not only spring motion but also having base toe in, caster and camber changing with wheel load just like in real cars.

[Ezriilc]

I think Lazro was referring to other challenge that i mentioned in my post. And "truss decoupler" means the high radial one. I did use them to make other connections more relaxed (its a glitch) allowing for wheel part movement in relation to whole ship. It allowed not only spring motion but also having base toe in, caster and camber changing with wheel load just like in real cars.

Oh, cool. That's actually good to know.

[Ezriilc]

At this point, I'm not particularly motivated to disclose how I've done this, but it's all stock, no mods - except HyperEdit of course - or debug, and the image speaks for itself. I also have a video of the full run if anyone wants that.