Thread: Naiad Inflatable

Originally Posted by XR500

Good thing with Niad is they have been around for 40 odd years in Picton. Completely different kettle of fish to deal with compared to a no name inflatable made from Chinesium

In about 1983 when Steve Schmidt was developing the Naiad, he built a fibreglass plug to test the concept... 2.5m long with a 25hp.
Steve would commute across Queen Charlotte Sound with it and tie up at the wharf where I was working... one day he let me take it for a run. Steve was a good bit taller than I and he would wedge his elbow into his hip to keep things steady. I on the other hand kinda lost control when she started chine walking and ended up doing a violent 180 degree turn. Not to be beaten, I went and fetched 2 or 3 foot of pvc tube that I used for a tiller extension and off I went a second time full throttle flying along with nothing much more the outboard and the last bit of the hull touching the water... then she chine walked again and it was over in a flash, I was in the tide, the pvc pipe bent in half, kept the throttle about half open, and this 2.5m naiad was doing big sweeping circles around me in the middle of Picton harbor.
After about 3 or four passes, I mustered up the courage to latch onto a life line on the side of the inflatable tube... stretched my arm about a foot, kinda was thrown back on board, the boat dropped off the plane from shock and the extra weight and to this day I dread to think what the prop could have done if things went wrong.
Putted back to the workshop, tied up and went inside as was asked what the purpose of all the circles in the har..... oh, you are wet!
And that is my Naiad experience.