DURING
THE 50’S AND 60’S AN INTERESTING SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
OCCURRED
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Powerboat engine technology began to far exceed control
technology
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Ken had several personal boat racing accidents in hydroplanes,
and has since lost many friends to the sport
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The removal of the most elite of powerboats “THE UNLIMITED
HYDROPLANES” from his home-town race course in Red
Bank, New Jersey -- home of the first unlimited class race
ever held (between Red Bank and New York) and site of the
origination of the American Powerboat Association (APBA)
The
Unlimited class boats just couldn’t control the increased
speeds produced by the more powerful engines being developed.
In one of these terrible accidents, an unlimited class hydroplane
ran up onto the shore at Red Bank and killed several spectators
because it could not negotiate the turn, and ran out of water.
Blow-overs and kiting were and still are, a common, accepted
occurrence in high-speed boat racing, injuring and killing
many drivers every year. Astonishingly, this technology hasn’t
markedly improved over the years and the videos and movies
of high-speed accidents are the same in 2004 as they were
in the 1930s. This racing industry in all classes, from Unlimited
to Offshore, Drag Boats, to Outboard Hydros is widely known
as the most dangerous of all sports and continues to accept
these tragedies as normal.
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In
1944, Ken’s dad placed him in the seat of the Slo Motion,
the premier unlimited of its time, owned by the famous bandleader
Guy Lombardo. That simple process lit the spark. “This
is what I’m going to do,” said a determined Ken
at 4 years old.
In
1953, after building many hydroplane models, Ken built his
first sit in 13 ft outboard hydroplane with a friend with
hopes of growing through the ranks to someday become a leader
in the unlimited class boats. These small outboards are still
used as springboards to both the limited and unlimited racing
classes, similar to the way go-carts are the starting point
leading to an eventual Indy race car seat at the “Brickyard.”
For years, Ken drove Outboard Hydros, Jersey Speed Skiffs,
Offshore Boats, SK Boats and Limited Hydros.
In
response to this unrelenting quest for speed and safety, Hydrofoils
Incorporated was formed in Rumson, New Jersey in 1972 primarily
as a research and development company for the design, manufacture
and testing of advanced high-speed marine vehicles that would
exhibit “built-in” self-stabilizing sea keeping
performance while traveling at extreme speeds. This research
and unique prototype development has generated a great deal
of interest within the industry. In 1974 Ken produced and
demonstrated (by invitation) the first hydrofoil to exceed
100 mph for the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineer
(SNAME) at the Advanced Ships Conference in San Diego, California.
This design is still currently the world’s fastest hydrofoil
having exceeded 130 MPH in 1976. His developmental progress
has been published in industry journals and periodicals worldwide
and Ken is considered the world’s foremost authority
on supercavitating hydrofoil design. The company has concentrated
on all forms of vehicles using high-speed supercavitating
hydrofoils and is currently conducting open water tests of
unmanned, remotely piloted hydrofoils with top, controllable
speeds estimated at well over mach one. Ken is thoroughly
committed to bring safety, control, and reliability to extremely
high performance advanced marine vehicles and provide a stabile
platform to enjoy the water at any speed. These vehicles truly
address and correct the deficiencies found in all other high-speed
watercraft.
Ken
is now a distinguished engineer with a degree in industrial
design, and a prominent history of producing high technology
products for market using the most advanced systems available.
His many years of precision machine tool and capital equipment
development and production for companies like Motorola, IBM,
Harris, Pratt and Whitney, Bendix, Smith and Wesson, and NASA
allow him to remain on the cutting edge of the highest design
and manufacturing technologies available. Ken has numerous
“Design Originals” including the first miniature
resuscitator used in space shuttles; the first Doppler radar
speed-measuring device; the first chemical alcohol-measuring
device (Breathalyzer) and the first hydrofoil ever to exceed
100 mph. His work is published worldwide and includes an engineering
“Best Paper Award,” an “Outstanding Achievement
Award,” and two “Six Sigma Quality and Engineering
Awards”. Ken also holds many US Patents.
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