![]() ![]() But with 35hp on tap, a skirt that stands ten inches high, a huge fan and no deadwood in contact with the surface to directly regulate movement, the Marlin is obviously susceptible to the wind. You can spin the thing on the spot or throw yourself sideways with enormously extravagant slides. Once you get used to it, it feels like driving a slow-motion rally car on ice. Instead, it alters the attitude of the boat, pointing it where you intend it to go - so you need to plan your desired route very early and make sure you are positive with the wheel and throttle in preparation for that turn. Just remember that turning the handlebars doesn’t directly alter your course. The rotors fill the skirts, lifting you up and if you keep the throttle on, you begin to slide and gather momentum. ![]() Plonk yourself on the jockey-seat, take hold of the handlebars and pull the right-hand finger-throttle. With its double-skinned floor, it is also sufficiently buoyant to set off from a floating start - and because the skirt is segmented into individual sections, you can afford to destroy no fewer than eight of the segments and still get the lift you need to make your own way under power.Īt rest on the beach From clueless novice to seasoned novice The basics of driving the Marlin are every bit as simple as the concept. Underneath those skirts, the GRP hull is protected from scrapes and impacts by a pair of strong keel strips and a peripheral aluminium runner. We can’t confirm that, but what we do know is that, despite being light in weight, the Marlin II is very robust. This 35hp 1,000cc unit is designed to make the Marlin II quieter and more frugal than most hovercraft, leading the builders to claim that the useable range on a standard tank is an impressive 120 miles. In the past, that tended to mean two-strokes were the favoured choice but in the case of the Flying Fish, you get a four-stroke, air-cooled Briggs & Stratton engine. Obviously, the non-displacement nature of a hovercraft requires everything on board to be as lightweight as possible. Around 25 per cent of the air is forced into the hull to fill the skirts and provide the lift and the rest is forced backwards, through the twin rudders, to provide controllable forward drive. ![]() The engine rotates the blades, generating pressure in two directions. You get lots of slide on the water So how does it all work? A hovercraft is all about shifting air by means of a large rotor at the stern of the vessel. ![]()
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