By Kenny “One-Shot” Tracy
Here’s a video showing me breaking in the new motor on my W500 kayak.
I’ve never gotten it more than a 1/3 throttle yet. I’m still trying to “break it in” according to their suggestions. The torque it makes is scary, so I was trying to gradually pick up my speed to ensure I won’t over-tax the motor mount.
I was driving with my left hand, and trying to video and keep my iPhone visible with my right hand. The video shows the magic number “13” on the screen.
I have yet to figure out how to edit these videos.
My doctor told me I had a pinched nerve in my back, so hopefully when it heals a little more, I will have mastered the videotaping art.
Kenny
Epic!
Thanks Kenny.
Very impressive – your W kayak looks perfectly level and stable.
Now that you’ve broken the official speed record for Wavewalk kayaks, please get some rest and take care of your back, end don’t try to lift that 6 hp motor! 🙂
Yoav
PS — Just for the record, Kenny’s W kayak is outfitted with a TMM 20 transom motor mount from Wavewalk, Inc. that has never been tested with such a beast of a motor going full throttle…
Thanks Yoav!
Your engineering for this incredible micro-skiff is the superstar… I was just crazy enough to put the big motor on it, and I am getting more confident each time I go out with it! It reminds me of what me and my friends would do to our VW Beetles to customize and hot-rod them, when I was much younger – ANYTHING! The best dreams and ideas can go nowhere if the foundation/frame isn’t right, and when you can put a powerful motor in a boat, that is about the same weight as the boat, and it isn’t struggling to stay afloat and seaworthy, “It is what it is”. Great design, insight, and engineering!
Thanks again,
Kenny
Hey One-Shot, this is VERY NICE!
Congratulations on your new speed record 🙂
This is very exciting, and it’s also comforting to see that you’re conducting your tests slowly but surely, like a pro. That first DIY mount that got totaled by the motor was an alarming sign…
It just occurred to me that this motor weighs about the same as the kayak – That’s an extreme ratio, to say the least.
Pete
PS – I also have the magnificent W Saddle Bracket permanently mounted in the rear too. I will be ordering another for the front soon! It’s handling is incredibly similar to the handling you get when you install a full roll-cage or heavier torsion bars on a small convertible. NO drama whatsoever, as I accelerate or when I turn at speed. So much fun…
Thanks Kenny,
I should explain to the readers that one of your hobbies is mechanics, and you usually tinker with cars and motorcycles 🙂
Yoav
Thanks Pete.
The Wavewalk parts are truly the ONLY way to go when rigging/modifying your W Kayak. I’m learning so much from the pros here… The ratio is extreme indeed.
One-Shot
Kenny,
I noticed something in the front of your kayak’s cockpit that looked like you borrowed it from one of your motorcycles.
Take a look at this ‘windshield’ (spray deflector, in this case): https://wavewalk.com/blog/2014/04/14/windshield-style-spray-deflector-for-motorized-fishing-kayak/
It takes about $20 and 15 minutes to make 😛
Yoav
Cool video! Congratulations to the courageous pilot of this amazing craft! 13 MPH brings this little aquatic vehicle into a new class of high performance toys. It would never be as fast as a Harley, but a least it’s as noisy 😀
AWESOME!!! 🙂
It look very Stable and moving quite nicely through a little chop on the water. 🙂
Toying with the W500 is so much fun, The changes and the ideas and improvements
that W300 and W500 owners input is astounding.
Can’t wait to see more pictures.
Tight lines and MoPaddle Safe All.
Rox
Pretty amazing, One-Shot. I’m guessing you’ll be out to better that 13 mph as you get your motor broken it. Maybe you get a friend to station himself in a nearby boat to film you passing by, so you can focus all of your attention on motoring, without having to worry about filming.
I really like that spray deflector Yoav. It’s another very clean design that keeps the W boat efficient and versatile and multi-functional. My micro-skiff is unfortunately moving towards a direction of being a 1-person speedboat/fishing craft, and less of a traditional kayak. My motor quit on me on my first run, but despite the weight, it still paddles incredibly well!:-)
Thanks 1formidable! I beg to differ with you. After the motor is broke-in and trimmed correctly, I WILL, outrun a Harley! (ON the water!!!) 🙂
Kenny,
“Unfortunately”?..
The W is a new type of small watercraft, recognized as such in a US utility patent.
If people use it for kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddling, rowing, poling, fishing, crabbing, sailing, scientific research, motorizing, or any other application is a proof that it’s a versatile type of small boat.
Yoav
Rox,
Years ago, when you outfitted your W300 with an electric trolling motor, did you imagine that one day a W kayaker will be driving another W model outfitted with a 6 hp outboard? 🙂
Anyways, although we all would very much like to see more of Kenny’s power boating experiments, I guess he first needs to get his herniated disk back in its place.
Also, the Wavewalk TMM 20 transom motor mount looks hefty when its mounted on the W500 kayak, but a 6 hp motor is a different animal than the motors we all use, so I think Kenny may want to consider reinforcing it with L shape steel brackets, and maybe also use rigid plates to reinforce the plastic in the area where the mount is attached to the kayak – juts to stay on the safe side…
Gary,
On paper, this motor is powerful enough to propel Kenny’s W at speeds around 20 mph. Whether driving such a tiny boat at such high speeds is a reasonable thing to do is a different question 😀 …and one may ask similar questions about motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV), jet-skis, etc… 😉
Yoav
Hey One-Shot, you’re a star!
To be honest, after the last time when your motor tore apart that first transom mount, I had some doubts about your project, but after this video all I can say is bravo!
The Mokai has a 7 HP engine and its top speed is 20 MPH.
Hasdubal, the Mokai is an amazing kayak, but it also weighs 165lbs, and did you look at the price tag??
Yoav,
You’re right. “Unfortunately”‘was the wrong term to use in reference to my W boat . I was referring to the “kayak” part of my boat (60 lb, lightweight, self-propelled, easy to pull around, etc.) , being gone, to make way for its stronger version. Despite the fun I am having now, I enjoyed the “stock” version the same, and will be missing it. That, and only that, is the “unfortunate” aspect of this W journey.
Thanks everybody for your great and sincere comments, humor, and encouraging suggestions. I sincerely appreciate them all!
One-Shot
That lean W kayak is far from gone, my friend – It’s just waiting for you under the Styrofoam flotation and outboard motor 🙂
Too fast for me…
FW
Danko, the Mokai is offered for $4800 plus shipping, so it comes up to a little over 5 thousand dollars. I find it not very expensive for such a high performance motor kayak that you can easily compare to a personal watercraft. The Wavewalk motor kayak still has to show that it can go at 20 MPH and work properly. It’s probable but not yet proven. If it can, I may very well buy a 6 HP outboard. It’s very tempting, and the Tohatsu is offered for $1300. Personally I prefer to have an outboard motor that a local dealer can service because it’s more convenient.
The W500 powered by 2-3 hp outboard motors and going at speeds below 10 mph is a well proven concept by now. It’s possible to say that over the last couple of years it’s been tested by many users in various environments and applications, and when it was properly outfitted (e.g. with a U-joint ‘articulated’ tiller extension) and properly operated (e.g. from the middle of the cockpit and not from its rear) it passed these tests with flying colors 🙂
The same kayak motorized with an outboard motor 2 to 3 times more powerful and going at twice the speed is an exciting idea, but it needs further testing.
Yoav
Even now the W kayak already has one important feature in common with personal watercraft, and that’s the way you ride a similar “motorcycle” saddle in both types of boat.
Pete
excuse me! but I can’t believe I’m reading this kind of bs!!!!!
comparing this yak that’s outfitted with styrofoam and some outboard to a MOKAI????? LOL This is incredible nonsense and you guys must be high or something!!! ha ha ha!
Wow jiu6336,
So sorry to hear you getting so sensitive/emotional about all of this, but look at it from my point of view. My “yak” and “Styrofoam” are PROTOTYPES. It is NOT a finished product worthy of comparison to a MOKAI by a long-shot. Not now anyway. But who’s to say that I won’t use my Styrofoam to make a mold for a very clean and relatively seamless “bolt-on” accessory for all stock W “yaks” later on? I already have a kit lined up for a steering and throttle control assembly for about $500.00 + a motor for $1,300.00 + $400.00 (est.) for my side pieces = $2,200,00 plus the cost of my “yak”, approximately $1,300.00, and when totaled up, it equals about $3,500.00. No sir, we are NOT high at all… Yes, my kayak is “butt-ugly” right now, but its for a reason. Just having fun and making some speed/motor/weight comparisons out loud…
One-Shot
Kenny,
Your prototype isn’t uglier than any of the Wright brothers’ prototypes that flew over Kitty Hawk, NC 😉
Yoav
Hi jiu6336-
I agree that comparing a motorized W500 to a Mokai is a stretch, but I don’t see that anyone is implying that one is a substitute for the other
From studying the on-line info the Mokai is a personal motorboat , i.e. it is designed to be propelled by a motor. It is fast and from watching the videos, highly maneuverable.
The Wavewalk is a kayak, designed primarily to be paddled. Adding a propeller-motor to a Wavewalk makes it faster (2hp= 8-10mph) but it is still a kayak.
The Mokai seems unique in the universe of motorboats in that it is modular (easier transport) and uses a jet rather than a prop (can travel in very skinny water). It appears to be designed as a solution for people who want a personal motorboat that they can put in their car and use to access places that propeller-driven craft cannot.
The Wavewalk is unique in the kayak universe (if there is such a place 🙂 ) with it’s patented catamaran design. It is to be a stable, dry, lightweight alternative to ordinary kayaks. One that doesn’t cause back pain, and is truly suitable for stand-up fishing.
If you read all the posts carefully you will see no one is suggesting equivalency or in any way knocking the Mokai.
The Mokai seems to be a motorboat primarily for getting there while the Wavewalk is a kayak for both getting there and staying in once you arrive.
Thanks for visiting Wavewalk.
Michael
The W is a boat in the sense that it’s a hull, and the mokai is a kayak style jetski.
The W can be outfitted with all sorts of motors, such as electric, outboard, surface drive for very shallow water, or a mud motor, and I guess you could turn it into a small air boat too… I remember a funny video posted here years ago that showed the w500 propelled by a leaf blower..
In principle, you could even decide to leave your w kayak motorless and just paddle it… or row it… 😀
The Mokai is a closed system, and as such it’s limited, while the W is a versatile platform that you can use for many different things including going pretty fast, as One-Shot demonstrated.
FW
I love my Wavewalk family… I love this blog.