Above: A wooden form was used to help give the flat

aluminium components the required curved shape.

Charlie’s electronic blueprints were loaded

into the waterjet’s computer and the jet was

then moved across the sheet of aluminium that

was laid out below it. It glided over the surface

like a computer-controlled dancer, cutting,

stopping, moving on and cutting again. It

worked like magic and the end result was spot

on – a complete set of aluminium parts, like a

metal Airfix kit ready for us to build into our

planing surface.

The flat metal that would form the ‘hull’ of

our planing surface had to be shaped using a

forming tool to give it the curves that would

let it sweep up to its bow, just like one of the F1

boat’s sponsons. The shape was then reinforced

178  hydroplaning motorbike

by the bracing members that ran down the sides,

along with the cross-member ‘bulkheads’. I

lent Richard a hand with the welding and, after

a lot of hard graft from Richard and Dave, the

planing surface emerged. There was a slight

change of plan (Graham and Charlie did actually

hang around for the moment of truth) when

it came to exactly where the brackets would

attach the planing surface to the chassis, and I

used Richard’s milling machine to shave a few

millimetres off the mounting brackets – all

proper workshop engineering. Brilliant stuff.

Right: Gathering the

components together

once they had been cut

by the water jet.

Following page:

Richard kept a close eye

on me when we started

welding the planing

surface ‘construction

kit’ together.