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Todd Damon  > Boats > Zephyr 225 Class Hydro
A faithful reproduction of a vintage 225 class hydroplane.
Originally designed in 1936 by Adolph Apel, the Zephyr was intended to compete in both 135 and 225 racing classes. Plans for the Zephyr hydroplane appeared in Motor Boating Magazine's 'Ideal' series of books. In 1940, the Zephyr, driven by Ken Harmon, broke the international record for the 225 Class by 11 miles with Zephyr doing 77.961 mph.
I have set out to build an accurate reproduction of the original Zephyr.
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Originally designed in 1936 by Adolph Apel, the Zephyr was intended to compete in both 135 and 225 racing classes. Plans for the Zephyr hydroplane appeared in Motor Boating Magazine's 'Ideal' series of books. In 1940, the Zephyr, driven by Ken Harmon, broke the international record for the 225 Class by 11 miles with Zephyr doing 77.961 mph. I have set out to build an accurate reproduction of the original Zephyr. Special thanks go out to David Goodchild for reproducing the original Apel plans including offset tables. You can find his work here: www.dngoodchild.com
The original offsets were used to reconstruct the hull in SolidWorks software. Each frame was then CNC routed in 1/4" masonite as templates to ensure that the programming was accurate and the hull was fair.
Due to the radius at the base of the stem, I built a custom steam box to enclose the forward end of the keel. This is a 7/8" thick, 8" wide piece of white oak, so it was a challenging bending project. Two hours at 217 degrees and it bent perfectly.
The steam-bent keel fits the stem template perfectly.
The keel has a step midway through the hull which must be securely joined due to the high loads placed on this area of the keel. I typically use Silicone-Bronze fasteners any time the fastener comes in direct contact with water. In this case, the carriage bolt heads will be concealed in thickened epoxy and covered by the cold-molded hull. I chose to laminate the keel sections using stainless-steel fasteners due to the higher shear and torsion strength they offer.
Once the keel was assembled, the templates were installed. This was an exciting step as it was my first time to see the overall shape and scale of the hull.
Originally designed in 1936 by Adolph Apel, the Zephyr was intended to compete in both 135 and 225 racing classes. Plans for the Zephyr hydroplane appeared in Motor Boating Magazine's 'Ideal' series of books. In 1940, the Zephyr, driven by Ken Harmon, broke the international record for the 225 Class by 11 miles with Zephyr doing 77.961 mph.
I have set out to build an accurate reproduction of the original Zephyr.
Special thanks go out to David Goodchild for reproducing the original Apel plans including offset tables. You can find his work here: http://www.dngoodchild.com
Originally designed in 1936 by Adolph Apel, the Zephyr was intended to compete in both 135 and 225 racing classes. Plans for the Zephyr hydroplane appeared in Motor Boating Magazine's 'Ideal' series of books. In 1940, the Zephyr, driven by Ken Harmon, broke the international record for the 225 Class by 11 miles with Zephyr doing 77.961 mph. I have set out to build an accurate reproduction of the original Zephyr. Special thanks go out to David Goodchild for reproducing the original Apel plans including offset tables. You can find his work here: www.dngoodchild.com
Originally designed in 1936 by Adolph Apel, the Zephyr was intended to compete in both 135 and 225 racing classes. Plans for the Zephyr hydroplane appeared in Motor Boating Magazine's 'Ideal' series of books. In 1940, the Zephyr, driven by Ken Harmon, broke the international record for the 225 Class by 11 miles with Zephyr doing 77.961 mph.
I have set out to build an accurate reproduction of the original Zephyr.
Special thanks go out to David Goodchild for reproducing the original Apel plans including offset tables. You can find his work here: http://www.dngoodchild.com
Original size: 857x646 |
Current: 796x600 |
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