Best look at the illustration first.
This boat resembles a catamaran with a plough on the front. The two off-shot hulls fill with water sinking the rear of the vessel. When they are submerged the propulsion system in them kicks in and the water inside the hulls is ejected. The down-force from the resistance that the plough receives keeps the hulls underwater, steady, and replying with sufficient up-force to the plough to raise the wave.
With sufficient testing and experiments it should be possible to design the plough's shape to form a good looking tubular wave. Also, much attention would have to be spent on finding the equilibrium between jet thrust and hull lift. A correlation may be found that could be automated with the hull tanks and jets to ensure stability throughout acceleration.
The Surf-Plough Board itself needs modifications. It is likely the wave created will not be particularly deep between its surface and the plough itself. Therfore the board needs to be a little shorter and weighted at one end. (Possible modification to the plough may be able to alleviate this problem by forcing through a larger pocket of water, but I'm not certain.)
Also, the board contains a transmitter controlled by the Surfer via a small handheld control which operates a shut down of the vessel's Jets, should he wipe-out. The lack of forward propulsion will halt the vessel swiftly due to the massive pressure on the plough itself, whilst the hulls rise quickly to the surface. There should be little danger to the surfer should this device be used properly.
When it's time to head back to shore the float at the front of the boat behind the plough lowers to the bottom of the plough lifting it out of the water and submerging the jets, thus allowing navigation without wave implication.
Simple really.
Surfs up!
<completely inappropriate and grossly edited 18th century poem>
Weigh the vessel up, Fast by their native shore. And he and his surf plunder Must plough the wave once more.
</ciage18cp>
Ideas/criticism welcome/positively encouraged.-- theleopard, Jun 20 2007 Illustration http://i37.tinypic.com/314t8om.jpg [theleopard, Jun 20 2007, last modified Oct 02 2009] Solar wing http://www.sti.nasa...2002/images/013.jpgWide technology. Wideology. [theleopard, Jun 20 2007] Kiritimaticentrifugomobile Kiritimaticentrifugomobile[Basepair]'s seminal idea, could be used in conjuntion with the surf-plough to allow people to surf all the way around the Pacific. [zen_tom, Jun 21 2007] Related Concept http://www.flowrider.com/Artificial surfing wave (at themeparks) [neutrinos_shadow, Jun 22 2007] Monster Boarding Monster_20BoardingFrom anno to idea... [theleopard, Jun 23 2007] Wave energy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_powerWiki page on wave power. [Skrewloose, Jun 25 2011] Salter's Duck http://science.hows...e/salters-duck1.htmAn alternative. [Skrewloose, Jun 25 2011] Surfing is far more than going in a straight line down the face of a wave, it's cutting back and forth across the face of the wave, shooting the tube, etc. For this to work for surfing the Gnarly Surf-Plough would have to be at least 100' wide if not more.-- nuclear hobo, Jun 20 2007 You’d need some stern planes on your submerged jet to provide enough downward force at the rear of the boat to counteract the plough at the front and keep the whole thing from nosediving…-- captain jack, Jun 20 2007 It's a strangely-complex variation on surfing the bow wave of a big freighter. And it's even more dangerous than that. [+]-- baconbrain, Jun 20 2007 [nuclear], if we moved the plough so that it was diagonal to the front of the boat would that change anything? A bit like this...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~[][]~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~I~~~~~~/~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~BoatB--/~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~I~~~~/~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~[][]~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then at the plough the water would be moving from one side to the other, non?
The surfer wouldn't be able to change direction mind.-- theleopard, Jun 20 2007 [jack] I thought the lift from the floats + the thrust from the jets ÷ the resistance met by the plough would be enough to keep the nose steady. Are you suggesting a spoiler of some kind, or active propellors to push the back down further?-- theleopard, Jun 20 2007 [leopard], you're still pushing a small wave (latitudinally) and by angling the plow you steer the boat to the side.-- nuclear hobo, Jun 20 2007 Well, I suppose there's no reason why the plough can't be 30 metres wide. More power is needed of course. So perhaps rather than a catamaran, the vessel would resemble many catamarans connected together, looking a bit like a solar wing but flat on the water.-- theleopard, Jun 20 2007 I love it. Except instead of a boat, I would affix the 100 foot plow to an arm mounted in the center of an artificial lake. The apparatus would swing in circles, and surfers would surf around and around. A track would also be under the plough, ensuring a constant depth. It would be like a roller rink, but surfing.
This invention could bring surf to the surfless inland multitudes.-- bungston, Jun 20 2007 //bring surf to the surfless inland multitudes// not just that, but with a large enough plough, large volumes of water could be introduced into otherwise arid locations by causing extra large waves to crash over the usual land barriers, the same way you might splash someone in the bath.-- zen_tom, Jun 20 2007 //affix the 100 foot plow to an arm mounted in the center of an artificial lake//
Nice idea [bungston]. That would also incorporate a gradually increasing level of difficulty in that the farther from the centre you are the faster and more gnarly the surf. Dude.-- theleopard, Jun 20 2007 nice. Big thinking, I like it.
You may well find that you need gigawatts of power to drive the plow through the water, as descibred in your link, as you are basically moving large volumes of water horizontally. Maybe you'd do better with a cleverly designed ramp-like appendage for the boat.-- Custardguts, Jun 21 2007 [+]
Couple suggestions though: The plowboat would be stabler if the plow was dragged behind the boat. Also, what about using a huge stationary underwater conveyor belt to drive a series of these plows?-- quantum_flux, Jun 21 2007 Yes. I like. Though, I also like the idea of carefully detonating explosives further out for the same effect.-- TheLightsAreOnBut, Jun 21 2007 Surfing the Kiritimaticentrifugomobile wave is an ambitious project [tom]. May I suggest we call it the Pasurfic?-- theleopard, Jun 21 2007 Whatever you do, just don't fall off the board.-- RayfordSteele, Jun 21 2007 I've been musing over your anno for a while now [Rayford]. Although the Surf-Plough Boat had a mechanism in it to failsafe a horrible accident, a giant mechanical plough-wall hurtling at speed behind you does pose a significant problem for those surfers that wish to retain their limbs.
How about a railing from behind the plough that extends above and in front of the surfers, to which they are connected via a rope and harness. When pulled taught due to the surf-dude falling into the murky abyss, the rope would be automatically reeled in pulling the surfer out of the water and dangling in the air above the wave. From thence the surfer could traverse the rail towards the centre of the plough-arm to redeploy themselves back into the fray. A similar mechanism would have to be applied to the surf board itself.
The railing could also be used by photographers, dangling just above and in front of the wave for some interesting and unique shots.-- theleopard, Jun 21 2007 It could be called a "wussyrope".-- bungston, Jun 21 2007 You could get these guys (linky) to engineer the plough. If you make your ploughcat wide with only the plough/wave shaper between the pontoons, it would allow the dude to go safely(ish) between the halves in the event of a wipe out, particluarly if it is an angled type (gnarly barrel at the front, smoother rise at the back).-- neutrinos_shadow, Jun 22 2007 Looking at the flowrider site made me think of two things. Firstly, that the original boat would work, had it enough power and a correctly designed ramp at the front, as [Frank] suggests. High speeds would be needed, increasing the danger, so I'd suggest a crane from the boat, a la the railing I spoke of earlier, that automatically whisks you out of harm's way should the inevitable occur. Which it will.
Secondly, having read [Frank]'s anno about the dolphins surfing bow waves, coupled with being splashed this morning by a car aqua-planing over a puddle by the pavement, I had a slightly different idea: A monster truck with enormous dry-racing wheels, hurtles its way down a runway, one side of which has been flooded with a half a foot (or more) of water. The truck edges over to aqua plane over it causing a massive and continual wave to form. Out the back of the monster truck the on-looking crowd can see a man dressed in skater gear climb out of the back with a snow-board like plank strapped to his feet, and lower himself on to the wave. The crowd would totally flip out at how ace it was.
What do you think?-- theleopard, Jun 22 2007 I get this mental image of the sea equivalent of a mule being led along by a dangling carrot...
The rope could quickly become a surfing impediment, although I think you could get used to it.-- RayfordSteele, Jun 22 2007 Totally tubular dude!-- IdeallyFourWord, Jun 23 2007 Love the monster-truck variation!-- zen_tom, Jun 23 2007 Postable?-- theleopard, Jun 23 2007 in ze Danish defunkt culture, of 500 crowns taxi rides, such just One Plow-Man, is of equal value,.-- sirau, Jun 25 2011 Surely this boat will produce a huge bow wave, on which you could surf? No need to be right in fromt of the boat, and it gives the photographers a great view from just in front of the surfer. One surfer on each side would give ideal identical conditions for 1-on-1 competitions.
Power requirement wold be HUGE though. 50hp per m width for a 3m swell, or 300hp for the wave (after prop efficiency and other losses, such as moving the boat) for a 6m/20ft wide wave. (Link)
Alternatively, you could use powered Salter's Ducks to give the precise waves you want. (Link)-- Skrewloose, Jun 25 2011 Hmm.... you've got it more of a bulldozer than a plow or even a plough. A plough hits the earth at an angle and rolls it over to the side. (Usually they're symmetrical, pushing earth over to both sides, but in this case that's sortof pointless)
So might I suggest having the boat travelling parallel to the shoreline (instead of travelling towards it) and the plow at an angle. The surfer could then ride the tube pulled along behind and to the side of the boat, the towrope extending through the newly formed cresting wave.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 26 2011 //and the plow at an angle//
Like the ascii diagram in my first anno? Definitely could work.
I still like the Monster Truck variation, Monster Boarding. Coolest. Now THAT needs some of your technical scrutiny.-- theleopard, Jun 30 2011 random, halfbakery