Nuklear6
I Dream 10' Surf!
Let me first start by saying that going into my purchase of an Aquabot i knew tony only a little bit. I had built an engine for him a year or so prior. Other then that all i knew was he was a local guy who had the resources to make a project of this magnitude happen. I Saw the hull in daytona for the first time. Honestly before seeing that prototype i had no interest in ordering another hull at the time. However there were a few things that i really liked about the hull (hull plate #1). After daytona i had the chance to talk with tony on some specifics of the hull and his plans to go forward with producing these hulls. I will be honest and say that the price he offered one to me at was a major factor in me taking a chance on something that hadnt even been in the water yet. Fast forward a long but very well communicated time elapse between ordering and receiving. The time was long, however tony was in constant contact with me and i knew going in that the project of producing the hulls was far from close to done. Through this process of ordering, waiting, and building i would say its not a stretch to say that tony has become a bit more then just a business transaction for me. Keep in mind that fact will not play at all in this review im about to give. If i had not been satisfied with this hull i prob would have kept quiet and listed if for sale........
Stats:
This hull has by far surpassed my expectations in ride quality. I can not even begin to explain how excited i am to be so close to having this hull/ski dialed in to my exact preferences in just a few rides. And quite honestly the first 2 rides were damper ed by total loss problems. Everyone who has taken these skis for a ride has come back with a smile on there face. A few have went as far as to say that its the best short hull they have ever rode. The only thing i will mention is i honestly thought i was building a short flat water oriented ski to have fun on the river with. After only a few moments on the ski i quickly realized i may have been wrong. I believe the way my particular aquabot is set up it lends itself to a surf / all around freeride ski. Keep in mind my bot is a reinforced glass hull with a longish pole, and the longest hull plate to date (i believe). Even with the longer plate mine is currently only 77ish inches in total length. And believe me it does not ride like a ski that short.
Ride:
At first when you look at how short and rockered this hull is you would think instantly that it would be very nose high. IT DOES NOT RIDE NOSE HIGH. To the point that coming from the FX1, i think i would like the bot to ride a bit more nose high. I am going to experiment with adding some static trim angle. I at one point thought that maybe a shorter plate would be the answer i was looking for but after riding the red and white aquabots i realized the shorter plate made recoveries alot harder and since this ski has become a surf ski i dont think i want to go that direction. The ski turns extremely better then i ever thought it could. Lay the rail in easy and give it full throttle for those hard cutting high speed TURNS. Keep it a bit flatter and lead the turn with more steering input and it will SPIN as much or as hard as you wanna send it. High speed is NO PROBLEM. I can run this thing wide open as long as i feel comfortable holding the motor wide open. It does get a bit squirrelly if your balance is not centered when dropping the throttle off of wide open. Nothing too crazy scarey but worth noting. The other aquabots i rode had short / locked up tight poles this is a big no no for me. I HATE THAT! I was not near as comfortable with the balance of the ski when riding those. Take that into consideration if you happen to ride the red test boat at world finals. I myself have no time on the bot in the surf (my time riding the hull was all on the river) as i took a piece of metal through my toe and was out for this past weekend. A good friend and riding buddy with similar style did log sometime on it in the surf and despite a mis firing total loss he still did not want to stop riding it. So i have alot of faith in this being just as good on the face of the wave as i expect. However ill have to update everyone on that when i am able.
Fit and finish:
Fiber glass/ gel coat quality wise this thing is top notch!!! Actual assembly was rather easy as well. I did have to run a tap in all the threaded inserts to clear a bit of resin that was around the opening. It did take me having to elongate the 4 holes in the mounting tabs of the pump in order to get proper drive line fitment/ angle. I was not too thrilled about having to do that however it seems like a very common thing in non OEM hulls. I did mention it to tony and i believe he said my hull was one of the first to have the inserts glued in and that he has since derived a more accurate way of aligning the inserts. All all it went together rather easy with only minimal issues. I would however suggest using a smaller then stock water box. I did use stock and it does work but there is a great deal of pressure on the breather tubes from the pole against the water box.
Tips for future aquabot customers:
*small water box
*make sure to put as much pressure as possible pushing the pump forward while tightening the pump bolts for the final assemble
*I didnt end up using one but i did have a type IV dry pipe mocked up and it fits no problem
*put the pole to hood pad on the bottom of the pole
*NEVER RUN YOUR POLE TIGHT (lol fire away)
My set up:
Reinforced Glass Aquabot about 95lbs with hood and holds
84x72mm CPT 800cc little stroker
CPT bombsite mod to 46mm dual mikunis
b pipe
Total loss (for now)
9/15 hooker 7mm set back with 82mm nozzle
RRP cast pole (loose and long)
77"total length hull plate
Glassed in Tiger Craft holds (26mm under pad and 2 layers of turf on the top)
Thrust EZ pull trim
Rad dudes power and ground cables
Rad dudes 45degree exhaust hose
Rad dudes long exhaust hose (these two are awesome, survived a very violent back fire from a accidentally reversed firing order)
stock round nose water box
Hopefully more will add there experience with the aquabot and i will update as well as soon as im back on the water. Surgery on my big toe to remove rusty metal tomorrow (fun)
Thanks for reading
Chuck Palmucci
CPT Enterprise LLC
609 510 3062
Stats:
This hull has by far surpassed my expectations in ride quality. I can not even begin to explain how excited i am to be so close to having this hull/ski dialed in to my exact preferences in just a few rides. And quite honestly the first 2 rides were damper ed by total loss problems. Everyone who has taken these skis for a ride has come back with a smile on there face. A few have went as far as to say that its the best short hull they have ever rode. The only thing i will mention is i honestly thought i was building a short flat water oriented ski to have fun on the river with. After only a few moments on the ski i quickly realized i may have been wrong. I believe the way my particular aquabot is set up it lends itself to a surf / all around freeride ski. Keep in mind my bot is a reinforced glass hull with a longish pole, and the longest hull plate to date (i believe). Even with the longer plate mine is currently only 77ish inches in total length. And believe me it does not ride like a ski that short.
Ride:
At first when you look at how short and rockered this hull is you would think instantly that it would be very nose high. IT DOES NOT RIDE NOSE HIGH. To the point that coming from the FX1, i think i would like the bot to ride a bit more nose high. I am going to experiment with adding some static trim angle. I at one point thought that maybe a shorter plate would be the answer i was looking for but after riding the red and white aquabots i realized the shorter plate made recoveries alot harder and since this ski has become a surf ski i dont think i want to go that direction. The ski turns extremely better then i ever thought it could. Lay the rail in easy and give it full throttle for those hard cutting high speed TURNS. Keep it a bit flatter and lead the turn with more steering input and it will SPIN as much or as hard as you wanna send it. High speed is NO PROBLEM. I can run this thing wide open as long as i feel comfortable holding the motor wide open. It does get a bit squirrelly if your balance is not centered when dropping the throttle off of wide open. Nothing too crazy scarey but worth noting. The other aquabots i rode had short / locked up tight poles this is a big no no for me. I HATE THAT! I was not near as comfortable with the balance of the ski when riding those. Take that into consideration if you happen to ride the red test boat at world finals. I myself have no time on the bot in the surf (my time riding the hull was all on the river) as i took a piece of metal through my toe and was out for this past weekend. A good friend and riding buddy with similar style did log sometime on it in the surf and despite a mis firing total loss he still did not want to stop riding it. So i have alot of faith in this being just as good on the face of the wave as i expect. However ill have to update everyone on that when i am able.
Fit and finish:
Fiber glass/ gel coat quality wise this thing is top notch!!! Actual assembly was rather easy as well. I did have to run a tap in all the threaded inserts to clear a bit of resin that was around the opening. It did take me having to elongate the 4 holes in the mounting tabs of the pump in order to get proper drive line fitment/ angle. I was not too thrilled about having to do that however it seems like a very common thing in non OEM hulls. I did mention it to tony and i believe he said my hull was one of the first to have the inserts glued in and that he has since derived a more accurate way of aligning the inserts. All all it went together rather easy with only minimal issues. I would however suggest using a smaller then stock water box. I did use stock and it does work but there is a great deal of pressure on the breather tubes from the pole against the water box.
Tips for future aquabot customers:
*small water box
*make sure to put as much pressure as possible pushing the pump forward while tightening the pump bolts for the final assemble
*I didnt end up using one but i did have a type IV dry pipe mocked up and it fits no problem
*put the pole to hood pad on the bottom of the pole
*NEVER RUN YOUR POLE TIGHT (lol fire away)
My set up:
Reinforced Glass Aquabot about 95lbs with hood and holds
84x72mm CPT 800cc little stroker
CPT bombsite mod to 46mm dual mikunis
b pipe
Total loss (for now)
9/15 hooker 7mm set back with 82mm nozzle
RRP cast pole (loose and long)
77"total length hull plate
Glassed in Tiger Craft holds (26mm under pad and 2 layers of turf on the top)
Thrust EZ pull trim
Rad dudes power and ground cables
Rad dudes 45degree exhaust hose
Rad dudes long exhaust hose (these two are awesome, survived a very violent back fire from a accidentally reversed firing order)
stock round nose water box
Hopefully more will add there experience with the aquabot and i will update as well as soon as im back on the water. Surgery on my big toe to remove rusty metal tomorrow (fun)
Thanks for reading
Chuck Palmucci
CPT Enterprise LLC
609 510 3062
