Roadrunner :
I know very little about kayak/surfski racing, have never been on a surfski, but as a kayaker looking at surfski's my thoughts are that they are easily tipped over, and that the operator needs to be well skilled in the use of their paddles, though I don't know first hand, I would think that 75% of the stability in something that narrow comes from the skilled use of the paddle to maintain balance (like tight rope walker Nik Wallenda).
The thought process in my above mentioning the Kamanu composites rig is that this appears to be a surfski (very narrow/long racing type hull SOT) with the addition of a 4 lb Proa for added stability in those huge Hawaiian waves.
Now fast forward to taking the paddle away from the surfski racer (you would have to pry it from their dead hands LOL), and mount a Mirage drive in it's place. Yes he is using totally different (much stronger and durable) muscle groups with their legs for propulsion, but the boat itself probably doesn't have the necessary primary/secondary stability to be able to not capsize without a skilled paddler and his paddles. As soon as you increase the width and stability, like the Adventure (which was designed from the ground up for use without those important paddles), then there is a price to pay on the speed.
To make a long story short (too late), my thought would be to start with a Proa type SOT surfski design add the mirage drive. Of course the foot steering would need to be converted to hand steering (maybe keep both). The reason for keeping both would be if you fit a drive plug into the Mirage drive socket, the boat can be paddled no differently from any other surfski. So the racer can alternate between muscle groups (giving his muscle group a rest), and still make headway. In bursts he could use both pedals and paddles for burst speed (like we do on our Adventures).
Watching those Proa's in action, the AMA is out of the water 99% of the time. Because it's way out to the side of the boat it acts just like Nik Wallendas balance beam (Nik is the tight rope walker from Sarasota that just crossed the Grand Canyon for those that don't know who he is), so in a skilled racers hands it never touches the water. At least that's how the guy explained it to me, and what I observed as he left me and my Tandem Island (which is Hobies fastest kayak) in the dust.
Now the rub is going to be to get any surfski racer to even listen to you (not going to happen), or any racing surfski manufacturer to not throw you out of their office bodily, that will be the challenge.
Scott:
We are all rooting for you
Bob
As a side note, I live a mile or so from Nathan Benderson Park, which is a world class rowing and aquatic sports center (
http://worldclassrowing.com/). This is where Nik Wallenda practiced for his Grand canyon walk, and we went up to watch him practice. Benderson Park will hopefully be the location for the 2017 world rowing championships. It would be great if we can expand their offerings to kayak and surfski racing events as well.