I'm brand new to these boards, so this may have already been discussed, but a few weeks ago, I watched the episode where the crew tried to bust the myth of the Bifurcated speed boat hitting the piling at 25 miles per hour. I agreed that the tests could be performed on land, but it seems to me that they left out one very important variable. On dry land, they found that deflection kept the boat from staying on course and splitting. If this was recreated in water, one thing they would immediately notice is the pressure of the water keeping the boat from being deflected as easily. At the speed of 25 mph, the water pressure on the boat just might be great enough to keep it in line just enough to get the bifurcation they were looking for. This myth can still be recreated on land if they would have added a buffer with a lateral pressure equal to the force of water on the boat. For example. If it were to add an extra 1000 pounds of pressure, then they could add some sort of padded weighted buffer that would give when the force exceeded that 1000 pounds. It might not make much of a difference at all, but it could also be the biggest oversight on whether this myth should have actually been busted. I'm not an engineer, but I am a designer for an engineering company, so I have limited knowledge in this. If anyone else understands what I'm talking about, or can better explain it, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

I noticed this too, but I also disagree that the boat would have been moving 25 miles an hour when it happened, or that the boat was just faulty because at 25 mph it would not split that much.

another problem with this set up was that the boat was not tied down to the traylor so as soo as it hit the pole the boat became loose and did not hit correctly.

I also think that the weight and the momentum of the boat with the engines and fuel in addition the water pressure would cause the boat to receive more damage than your test produced.

As already stated, my first reaction was that the additional weight of engines, fuel, gear and people in the boat would create more mass and change the effect of the impact. A bb traveling 25 mph in to a pole and an earthmover traveling 25 mph in to the same pole would have drastically differing outcomes.

I agree this was a huge mistake. The forces from the water on the sides of the boat will add to preventing if from moving to the side. This will allow the boat to split and then the post would track into the boat.

I would also like to point of that the boat used was empty. It did not weight the same as a boat with a motor, gas, people, etc.

The final point would be if you added a sharp correcting turn just before it struck the post. This would completely change the physics of collision. I believe that it would allow for a more direct collision and to boat to split.

hey i agree with others in the water the boat would not have deflected to the right so easily and the small amount of damage to the side of the boat would have been greater if not the desired effect at 25 miles per hour and at 50 miles per hour there would have defiantly been a boat split.

also you discovered that on the angle the boat split easier this was because there is less chance of the boat being deflected and your rig of turning the boat at the last minute failed misserably even if the road was not we the wheels did not turn at all.

So i think this needs to be re tested in the water with a remote control and i promise you that you will get what you want.

also i have sailed for years and we had the same situation with a fiber glass boat running into a pole on a pier and yes our result was very similar to the picture at around 30 knots and we didnt deflect to the side because the boat was in the water and could not move to the side.

so i beg you guys to at least take back your final ruling of busted to plausible or re do the myth

regards tom

Which show you are watching guys???

I agree with the water pressure, but with weight you must be blind or stupid.

Team placed wights in the empty boat to represent the people, fuel and engine.

I totally agree about the weight and the water, this has got to be one of the worst setups for the show so far. Of course the water is a significant variable! It's alot harder to push something out of the way in water than it is on land. No engine no weight in the boat either. this was terrible. I'm not sure if they're tryin to cram more in the show now, or get us to post about it so they can make another episode but hte quality of the experiments lately is subpar.