New Blog 1: Jet Boat Parts

Monday 5 November 2012

Jet Boat Parts

A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses a propellerin the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat into a pump inside the boat, then expels it through a nozzle at the stern.

Jetboats were originally designed by Sir William Hamilton (who developed a waterjet in 1954) for operation in the fast-flowing and shallow rivers of New Zealand, specifically to overcome the problem of propellers striking rocks in such waters.

Previous attempts at waterjet propulsion had very short lifetimes, generally due to the inefficient design of the units and the fact that they offered few advantages over conventional propellers. Unlike these previous waterjet developments, such as Campini's and the Hanley Hydrojet, Hamilton had a specific need for a propulsion system to operate in very-shallow water, and the waterjet proved to be the ideal solution. From this, the popularity of the jet unit and jetboat increased rapidly. Through further developments, it was found the waterjet offered several other advantages over propellers for a wide range of vessel types, and as such, waterjets are used widely today for many high-speed vessels, including passenger ferries, rescue craft, patrol boats and offshore supply vessels.