Shovelnose?

[Fear the Duck]

I grew up in the Cal-Ore River Racers scene, and still have not had an opportunity to go to a circleburner event. I plan to build a CSH/OSY when I get back Stateside, and I have a number of different design ideas still floating around in my head, shovelnose included. On our whitewater hydros, shovelnoses tend to be faster than the pickleforks, though they don't handle the rough water quite as well, and have a little bit more of a chance to blow over. I have never seen pictures or videos of a shovelnose in stock outboard circleburner events. Why?
Thanks,
---Duck

[sam]

Because they are slightly more susceptible to blow over and slightly less aerodynamic, making them slightly slower at the end of a straight. You will still find some shovel nose (and flat nose) hydros in the smallest classes where weight is more critical than aerodynamics.

[Fear the Duck]

Thanks Sam. While probably not politically correct, I always called anything not forked a shovelnose, but you're right. The river hydros that have the fastest straightaway speeds seem to all be flatnoses. Cal-Ore River Racers speed record is held by Brian McKnight, running the flatnose B-59 (used to be Frank Word's 85). Odd to me that the forks are faster in circleburners, but good to know. Since I'm building my own, I'm trying to make it noticeably unique while still competitive, and I thought it might be fun to turn heads with an old-school flatnose. Probably be more fun to win races, though, so I'll probably scrap the idea and stick with the design I've already got on paper.
---Duck