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Prototype - "Grand Illusion" (2010)
76 ft. (23 meter) - 260 h.p. (200 k.w.) - 28 knots
"Proof of concept model" - "Little Trick" (1998)
33 ft. (10 meter) - 100 h.p. (75 k.w.) - 20 knots
150 ft. (46 meter) - 600 h.p. (450 k.w.) - 30 knots
"Proof of concept model" - "Walk on Water" (1995)
40 ft. (12 meter) - 20 h.p. (15 k.w.) - 12 knots
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All or Nothing
At this time, "The overwhelming consensus of opinion", regarding these web sites and their contents, appears to be that the author is a "Crazy old fool". For the casual browser, who may be inclined to share this opinion, it should be reassuring to learn that among those, personally acquainted with the author this also appears to be "The overwhelming consensus of opinion".
It seems likely then, that investing one's time and / or money in our business will be an
"All or nothing proposition" - "All" if "The overwhelming consensus of opinion" is wrong or "Nothing" if "The overwhelming consensus opinion" is correct. The extensive information provided on this web page, this web site and our associated sites will, hopefully, prove useful in making this judgement.
There would appear to be no middle ground, The only verdicts that seem to be available are "Crazy old fool" or "Eccentric Genius". No doubt, there has been the occasional case of a "Crazy old fool" being miraculously transformed into an "Eccentric Genius" - very late in life - or even, some time after death. Clearly, however, there are many more who have not. Naturally, The author would rather be listed in the former category - preferably, some time before his death.
It would seem likely that, throughout history, many may have invested in the "Grand Delusions" of "Crazy old fools" and lost their shirt in the process. However, if those "Crazy old fools" happened to be named Vincent Van Gogh or Nikola Tesla, those investors probably ended up quite pleased with their investment. The Author, by no means, claims that he should be classed with such illustrious individuals, however he does claim to be rational. Therefore, if the only choices are "Crazy old fool" or "Eccentric Genius", he will have to put modesty aside and go with "Eccentric Genius".
Going along with Thomas Edison's theory that "Genius" is 1% "inspiration" and 99% perspiration", the author can certainly lay claim to having supplied the required quota of "sweat" - along with large portions of "blood and tears" - about fifty years worth. As for the "inspiration" part, it is up to you, gentle reader, to decide if I have been so blessed - or cursed.
In my defense, I would like to present four arguments. The first falls into the category of hearsay evidence. However, I am sure there are still a few individuals out there, somewhere, who might be willing to verify an incident which occurred at Lodge School in Barbados some 50 years ago - - - - -
Along with my classmates, I had been given an assignment by my Physics master, which was (to the best of my recollection) something like:"Derive the formula for determining the moment of inertia of a sphere". This task was intended to be carried out using Calculus. However, I had missed the first six months of sixth form classes (and the introduction to Calculus) due to the fact that "The overwhelming consensus of opinion", among the masters, was that I would not pass the exams required for promotion to the sixth form.
Some six months after taking the exams, the results finally came back from England (this was back in the days - just a tad before Al Gore had invented the Internet) and proved "The overwhelming consensus of opinion" to be wrong. Thus, I found myself, on my first day of Physics class, faced with this assignment - without the slightest understanding of Calculus. Undaunted, I proceeded with the task (with the tools available to me - namely basic mathematics and simple rationality) and handed in my paper the following day.
When my paper was eventually returned to me, it was covered with great red slashes and comments like "Rubbish!!". However, while I don't remember the exact words used, the master had written on the last page of my paper - and loudly announced to the whole class, something to the effect, that it was it was a work of "Genius".
This particular master, due to his rather unfortunate physical appearance, his open disdain for anyone who did not share his passion for Physics and, worst of all, his occasional epileptic fits, was, no doubt, considered a "Crazy old fool" by the student population in general. Coward that I was, I did my best to go along with this opinion, by laughing off the incident with the rest of the class - in order to gain their acceptance.
The second (and definitely hard) piece of evidence, which I would like to offer, is our first "proof of concept" model - the full displacement, sail assisted, power catamaran Walk on Water - as shown at the top of this page. This 40 ft, 6,000 lb. vessel cruised at 10 knots with (2) 10 h.p. Engines and regularly hit 15 knots - with the assistance of a very small sail. this is quite an extraordinary feat and is even more so, when this performance is projected to a full size vessel such as Grand Illusion or Grand Illusion X.L. These projections may be found on many locations of our web site(s)
The third item I would like to offer into evidence is our second "proof of concept" vessel - the hydrofoil assisted, power catamaran Little Trick - also shown at the top of this page. It should be noted that Little Trick was built some 15 years ago - long before the author was aware of any other work being done with foil assisted catamarans. In fact some consideration (including the construction of a small crude model) was given to putting a foil on Walk on Water - some years prior to the construction of Little Trick.
The decision to add a foil to Little Trick (against the grain of the designer's K.I.S.S. philosophy) was taken because (due to space constraints, at the available construction facilities, and design load requirements - translation: this boat was built in my sisters backyard and had to carry enough load to provide a home for me) the hulls of Little Trick were too fat and, consequently, performance suffered. The foil turned out to increase top speed by approx 40% to 20 knots. That this 33 ft long, 11 ft wide, 6,000 lb boat attained 20 knots with a single 100 h.p. engine was also rather extraordinary.
The question arises however - "extraordinary" to whom? - certainly not to the average person. In this day and age, a power boat that does 10 or even 20 knots, even if powered by a large rubber band, is not in the least bit extraordinary or remarkable - to the average person.
Similarly, the superb performance of both of these boats in fairly rough sea conditions appeared to make little impression on the average person. The thinking appeared to be (and the Author has been constantly amazed at how many persons, with considerable experience on boats, shared this thinking) - "The ride is fairly comfortable - therefore, the seas must be fairly calm".
How the above data translates to the projected performance for Grand Illusion is covered at the bottom of this page. These projections are, however, so unusual, that even those with the slightest familiarity with boats, find them "extraordinary". In fact, they usually find them "incredible" (meaning unbelievable - not to be believed - lies - damn lies). Hence, one more reason for the "Crazy old fool" designation. The same applies to the projections for Grand Illusion X.L.- in spades.
Lastly, dear reader, I would like to call upon YOU to testify on my behalf. Why are you, at this very moment, reading this page? Presumably, seeking information, you typed a search term in your browser, and your browser directed you to this site. Depending on the search term you entered, there may have been anywhere from say ten thousand to ten million or, in a few cases, hundreds of millions of results for your search term.
For you to be reading this right now, it is very likely that our site came up in the top ten results - provided by your search engine. Why????? I am a complete novice and a certifiable idiot in the general field of computers and, particularly, in the rather esoteric and highly paid field of "search engine optimization". Yet, somehow, our site was chosen, by a very powerful and totally impersonal bank of computers, to be endowed with this status.
To be sure, I have supplied a lot of "perspiration" - but closer to fifty day's worth than fifty year's worth. There must, therefore, have been a little "inspiration" in the mix as well. The point is - that the author is a far more experienced (and, hopefully, far better) "boat designer" and "adventure cruise designer" than he is a "search engine optimizer". Nonetheless, the results, in our "search engine optimization" department appear to be not all that shabby.
"Grand Illusion" (with foil)
Performance projections based on data from "Little Trick"
(Performance projections without foil may be found elsewhere on the web site)
Little Trick Grand Illusion
Water line length : 36 ft. (fudged up) 72ft
Water line length ratio (linear ratio): 1 to 2
Area ratio (square ratio): 1 to 4
Volume / weight / h.p. ratio (cube ratio): 1 to 8
Speed ratio (sq. root of linear ratio): 1 to 1.41
Weight: 6,000 lbs 48,000 lbs (calculated)
Speed: 20 knots 28.2 knots (calculated
Power required: 100 h.p. 800 h.p. (calculated)
Actual weight: 6,000 lbs. 24,000 lbs.
Actual power required: 100 h.p. 400 h.p.
A further reduction in required power is also warranted - as explained in the following table.
Little Trick Grand Illusion
Hull beam: 2.5 ft 5 ft. (calculated)
Draft (depth immersed): 1.25 ft. 2.5 ft. (calculated)
Immersed hull section area (both hulls): 3.12 sq. ft 12.5 sq ft (calculated)
Hull beam (actual): 2.5 ft. 4 ft.
Draft.(actual): 1.25 ft . 2 ft.
Immersed hull section area (actual) : 3.12 sq. 8 sq ft
Reduction in immersed hull section area: ------ 36% - (12.5-8) / 12.5
Reduction in power required: (12.5-8) / 12.5 -------- 36 %
Actual power required: 100 h.p 256 h.p.
Yet another reduction in required power is warranted by the fact that Little Trick, while being virtually identical to Grand Illusion in hull form (except for very different
length / hull beam ratios - 13 / 1 and 18 / 1 respectively) is powered by only 1 engine . This necessitated a 2 ft. wide immersed center pod for mounting the engine, which, no doubt, provides significant resistance. Let us, arbitrarily, deduct a further 36 h.p. for the absence of the resistance generated by what would be a 4 ft. wide pod being pushed at 28 knots on a scaled up Grand Illusion.
Required power for Grand Illusion to do 28 knots is therefore 220 h.p. Seeing as the engines provide 260 h.p. and the sails (in decent wind conditions) can probably be counted on to provide another 100 h.p. or so , it seems very likely that the projected speed of 28 knots
will, indeed, be attained.
Finances
Regardless of the judgement any one individual might come to, in regard to the Author's mental state and the contents of this web site, the success, or lack thereof, of this business is entirely dependant on persuading a small number of other individuals (100 - more or) that "The overwhelming consensus of opinion" is wrong.
It is the input (financial and otherwise) provided by the Primary Associates, which will enable the business to rapidly achieve it's full potential. With 100 motivated, talented Associates and a further $70,000.00 U.S. in start up capital, there is no question that the business will get off to a flying start - in a very short time frame. Without these assets, the prognosis is not terribly good - which, perhaps helps to explain why the Author is willing to go to such extraordinary lengths to fill these positions - with the right persons.
We are confident that any and all further capital requirements, down the road, will be covered by the sale of of further Associate shares (at considerably higher prices) - possibly, in conjunction with very short term loans. There are many lengthy pages on these web sites dealing with financial projections. However, in a nutshell, very rough projections for the first year of operation for our initial project are as follows.
Cruise price per person: (6 nights 7 days package -all inclusive) $1,500.00 U.S.
Gross weekly revenue per person: (after deduction of 20 % commission ) $1,200.00 U.S. Gross weekly revenues: (12 persons - 50% of capacity) $14,400.00 U.S.
Weekly operating expenses: (12 pers. 2 nights in B&B, food & bev. wages) $4,400.00 U.S. (fuel costs will be virtually nothing)
Net weekly revenues: (12 persons - 50 % of capacity) $10,000.00 U.S.
Net annual revenues: (12 persons - 4o weeks) $400,000.00 U.S.
Fixed annual expenses: (insurance, depreciation, maintenance, etc. etc.) $130,000.00 U.S.
Net annual profits: (before management bonuses & taxes) $270,000.00 U.S.
Management bonus: (50% - will diminish as the business grows) (1) $135,000.00 U.S.
Net profits: (before taxes) $135.000.00 U.S.
R.O.I. 48 %
(1) "Primary Associates" working with us will receive the lion's share of this bonus.
Several other small, but significant, revenue streams are expected to assist us with meeting or exceeding these projections. In the not to distant future, we expect a very large revenue stream (more like a river) to start flowing from Grand Illusion's "accommodation annex" Grand Illusion X.L. - seen in the image at the top of this page. More info. on this vessel is available on the sub site Magic Carpet (Mega) Catamarans - linked below. More info. (lots more) on various other aspects of our business is available on other links below.
CAUTION
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CAUTION
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CAUTION
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CAUTION
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THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE, CURRENTLY, ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH. FOR THOSE, WHO ARE INTO WORDS, THERE ARE TENS OF THOUSANDS ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS. HOWEVER, WE ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING, UPDATING, AND EDITING THE LARGE NUMBER OF PAGES. CONSEQUENTLY, THE INFORMATION, CONTAINED THEREIN, MAY BE FOUND TO BE DISORGANIZED, DATED, CONFUSING, REDUNTANT, INACCURATE, IRRELEVANT AND JUST PLAIN CRAZY - - - OR NOT.
CAUTION
DEEP END
First production vessel -"Grand Illusion X.L" 2011?
Escape! Runaway! Getaway! - - to a
Faraway Pristine Paradise, where
Light dances with crystal seas - Time flows at a gentle pace -
Space goes on forever and
Grace reaches out to all.
Stretch your horizons!
We can take you there!
*
Magic Carpet Catamaran Adventures
Your Perfect Paradise.
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