Water pickup drag testing

[dmitry100]

Top SAW's (142mph+) in Germany do not use our standard "raindrop" water pickups -- they instead use plain small 3mm holes but with the assist of water pumps. Would not doubt if a water pump would help with the drag in general. Scooping up water like a rain drop style pickup would technically create drag right... but how much drag exactly? Just like using a thinner knife wedge for rudder can create a couple more mph... that's the sort of difference it would probably be but it adds up at end of day.

[785boats]

I vote the propwash pickup will have the most drag.

[kfxguy]

I do not think you will see mush difference. But it is always a good idea to test theories.

I agree but the things I've read you'd think it was a huge difference.

[RandyatBBY]

I do not think you will see mush difference. But it is always a good idea to test theories.

[kfxguy]

I'm one of those kind of people that like to find out things first hand rather than believe everything I read. There's many things I've read and tested for myself to find out what I read simply wasn't true or entirely accurate. So in the quest for more speed I decided to test different water pickup types on a couple different boats I have. One will be my zelos and the other will be my Rivercat. I'm not starting the testing until this weekend as I'd like some feedback on what you guys think and if you think what I have planned will be accurate enough. First one in testing is my zelos with bottom pickups. What I plan is getting a baseline run. One nice long full pass. Then I'll use some ultra thin packing tape to block off the pickups and make another pass. That should tell me the difference don't you think?

Next my Rivercat. Baseline with a rudder pickup. Then block it off. Then I'll try a prop wash pickup. I devised a setup last night that will allow me to add one quickly so I can do it at the lake for more accurate results. What do you guys think?