Motorboat is relatively small water vessel which is propelled by an electric combustion or electric engine. Motorboats are used for recreational cruising and for adventurous water sports activities such as water skiing, fishing, duck hunting, racing, piloting and navigational contests. It ranges in size from miniature craft to seagoing vessels of hundreds feet.
Motorboats also called Powerboat or speedboat are basically of two types. An inboard motorboat has engine that is permanently mounted within the hull while an outboard motorboat comprise a detachable portable motor which is bolted to the stern within the hull. Motorboats come in variety of types including cruisers, runabout, motor launch, motor yacht, motor boats, ferries, tugs, coasters, passenger boats, auxiliary sailboats and hydroplanes.
The motorboats became increasingly popular in nineteenth century with the usage of electric and internal combustion engines in the second half of the 19th century in Germany, France and Britain. Gottlieb Daimler designed internal combustion engine to power motorboat with petrol. The first boat powered by petrol was tested in 1886 on Necker River by Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler.
The credit of creating first successful motorboat goes to Priestman Brothers in Hull England by following the instructions of William Dent Priestman. The engine used innovative high tension ignition system enabling the company to start large scale production of motorboat. With the rapidly growing interest in motorboats, the Marine Motor Association was established in 1903. Many large companies such as Napier & Son and Thornycroft began to produce motorboats.
Alfred Charles William Harmsworth established a competition in 1903 which was won by Dorothy Levitt in Napier. In 1904 Gold Cup was instituted by American Boat Association which was founded in 1903. The series of races began that led to national championship. In 1910, easily detachable motors were produced by manufacturers of outboard motors thus made motor boating easier and more economical. The use of planing hulls enhanced the speed. Material for hulls was changed from wood to metal and then to fiberglass after world war II. In the second half of twentieth century, the motorboats and their uses have undergone a number of spectacular expansions.
Read about difference between motorboat/ speedboat and yachts