Wankel engine for small boat?

[km1125]

Curious if any of you have any knowledge of an old (~73?) Wankel engine that was used for small boats. This is NOT an outboard, but a single rotor engine with a lower unit to drive a prop. This does not pivot, so it still needs a rudder, and I don't believe there's a transmission, so once the engine is running you're in fwd gear (like the old PWCs!)

I just picked this up as a project. Thought it might just be a "show" piece for the garage, but I believe it's complete enough to get running. If I do, I'll have to devise something to put it in, as it has quite a unique mounting arrangement - similar to a saildrive on a sailboat.

Here is a pic:

Wankel 1.jpeg

[Midnightsun]

Cool engines and cool find. Suzuki had a RE5 wankle motorcycle back in the mid 70's.

[bud37]

Nice find, do you know what it was from.??....How much rpm do think it will make ? A quick question, would you have a canoe to fit that to.....they are doing some wacky drag boat stuff in Thailand now...

[buster53]

I remember as a teen, late 60's, I used to get Popular Mechanics. One month there was an article about a Wankel powered boat. Basically they were saying it could easily be the next new and best thing to power boats. Obviously, it never took off.

[km1125]

Found out more about it. It's 150cc and 24HP. They were built from 62-64 and used in a product called a Ski-Craft. It looked kind of like a lawnmower that had a long handle that you would hold on to and ski behind the craft as it pulled you along. Could do up to 30 MPH. The engine itself only weighs about 50lb and the whole craft was about 120.

Here's a video:

https://youtu.be/C3rWol8hYjA

[Midnightsun]

Oh my, quite the invention.