There's gas stations in the middle of the Atlantic?
I feel the need for speed..... (real speed much higher than published)
There are some pretty cool videos on Youtube of those Pegasus class hydrofoils. I am surprised the idea was not developed further. I would think being perfectly level and unaffected by waves would make shooting at things much easier, and being able to go so fast would make it harder for others to shoot at you, and being above the water makes you almost torpedo proof.
Trouble is...gas turbines burn fuel so fast they like all fast boats on the smaller side have severely limited range. Getting refueled in a combat zone is a bad idea. 12 knots off foils leaves you way behind in a carrier group.
I say their published speed is low...is because once I know I was following one in an 80 knot helicopter and it pulled away from me...another time off Haiti I chased what must have been one again at 80kts and never saw it...only its wake as it pulled away from me. Granted headwinds made me slower than 80kts...but how much I wasn't keeping track... could have been very low to a max of 15 knots.
We have an engineer who spent a summer interning on a Coast Guard Cutter and she confirmed speed was far beyond any numbers you ever hear. Of course, she was sworn to secrecy as to it's true speed. Did speak of a time they caught up with a boat of illegal fishermen who claimed they were running 65 knots.
Westport built some boats for them and we once inquired as to getting one built as a recreational boat.
People with fast boats think they are fast...I know better.....
I remember when I was a kid and the NC Wildlife Commission first got a plane. We had some extremely fast boats on the lake that would outrun the game wardens. So, remember one of the first that ran many miles up the lake, tied the boat up and they were about to run. Another game warden drove up in a car and held them until the ones chasing them arrived.