Power boat racing
- Thread starter ZedSea
- Start date
Zollis, very nice. Looks like fun. What kind of speeds are they getting up to?
I have an old Malibu Skier with a chev 5.7 mercruiser (bone stock) - she tops out at about 48mph and that seems plenty fast for me. Thinking I might hot rod her with alu heads/cam/intake and see if I can get up around 55mph. Speed on water can be just as much fun as speed on land!
I have an old Malibu Skier with a chev 5.7 mercruiser (bone stock) - she tops out at about 48mph and that seems plenty fast for me. Thinking I might hot rod her with alu heads/cam/intake and see if I can get up around 55mph. Speed on water can be just as much fun as speed on land!
...IF you can find a lake where 'the powers that be' will allow any kind of actual "speed" these days, that is.
We have a house on a lake (okay - beside a lake) that's about 12 miles long or so, and about 1.5 miles wide at its widest point. 'Last I heard, the speed limit on the lake was 35 mph whenever you're outside "x" number of feet of the shoreline... and 'don't-you-even-make-a-ripple-speed' if you're anywhere near the shoreline in several places.
'May as well own a rowboat... :evil:
Cliff, the guy in boat # 14 says he's doing 92 m.p.h. while pulling 2 skiers. He has 525 hp. big block. For the faster boats the estimate is about 110.m.p.h. while pulling 2 skiers.
The fuel consumption for the 4.2 liter four stroke outboard is about 80 liter per hour. Well that is what the guy say's.
Special permission is given each year to race on the river. Normally boats are allowed to go as they wish. BUT no ski-ing and Jetski's within the central built up area and there is also a 5 knot restriction in certain places.
A few more pics of day 2.
Z.C.
The fuel consumption for the 4.2 liter four stroke outboard is about 80 liter per hour. Well that is what the guy say's.
Special permission is given each year to race on the river. Normally boats are allowed to go as they wish. BUT no ski-ing and Jetski's within the central built up area and there is also a 5 knot restriction in certain places.
A few more pics of day 2.
Z.C.
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Chris Kouba
Supporter
WT....
You pull skiers behind those boats? At those speeds? Holy crap!! Must be a lot of brass in NZ.
Chris
Larry, well, I guess there's a time and place for everything. Noise carries across water pretty well, and an open pipe big block at WOT in a jet boat doing 70mph makes a helllllllllluva racket.
There's another forum I check out (TheMalibuCrew Home - TheMalibuCrew.com) and there's a big debate going on there about the effects of wake boats and wake-enhancing equipment on the water...of course, the shoreline property owners are up against the wakeboarders and the fisher men and skiers have their own perspective too. Our local lake (Lake Washington) is pretty darn crowded on any summer weekend so a speed limit makes some sense (somebody dies every year from a collision or two). You throw fast boats, alcohol, loud music, monster wakes all into the same soup bowl and there's gonna be problems.......
Thanks Zollis. Wow, can't imagine doing 92 on water skis. You'd skip for a very long way if you went down....probably end up in somebody's back yard!
You wouldn't want to set down your Starbucks by your right knee there.
Thanks, very interesting pics.
You wouldn't want to set down your Starbucks by your right knee there.
Thanks, very interesting pics.
Lol! That 'issue' is a joke 'far as I'm concerned! 'Ever watched what happens when there's one a heck of a windstorm blowing on the lake? There isn't a boat on any lake in Wash St capable of throwing a wake that even begins to match the size and frequency of the waves that hit the beach(es) during such a storm...and they just keep coming and coming and coming...hour after hour after hour... And yet some people get all in a lather over the odd boat wake??? Puhleeeze...
'Guess the EPA, et al, will have to begin 'citing' and 'fining' Mother Nature.
(It now dawns on me this subject might be one for The Paddock", Cliff...so, I'm 'bagging' it here...)
Julian
Lifetime Supporter
Zollis,
What a trip to see your pics. I grew up in a house overlooking the boat launch and as a kid, the river was our playground.
What a trip to see your pics. I grew up in a house overlooking the boat launch and as a kid, the river was our playground.
Hi Barry, 2 more pics just for you.
Notice how much the hospital has grown. Also what used to be open green field next to the boat ramp is now build up. In the distance on the left you can see the wooden deck that reaches into the river where the kids still play during summer time. Called "something" beach.
For this race the flow height of the river was raised in co-operation with the authorities that regulate the discharge from Lake Karapiro.
Z.C.
Notice how much the hospital has grown. Also what used to be open green field next to the boat ramp is now build up. In the distance on the left you can see the wooden deck that reaches into the river where the kids still play during summer time. Called "something" beach.
For this race the flow height of the river was raised in co-operation with the authorities that regulate the discharge from Lake Karapiro.
Z.C.
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I have a Sea Ray 220 bowrider with a Mag 350 bravo 3 drive and it shifts plenty fast enough for me topping out at 51 knots on the Solent. What beats me is that they offer an option for a thru hull exhaust. Why do you need to add noise when the boat is powerful and quick enough as it is? The family have a shore front cabin up on Lake Sicamous and it is only noise that spoils it. Waves or speed don't really impact at all. Obviously you need speed limits in the right places for safety reasons but noise limits should be universal as sound really travels a long way over the water. On race day though I would be supportive of noise for the spectacle of an event.
Water ski racing is one of best sports I ever competed in. I drove a 2.5 SMOC (Std motor open cockpit) boat for 3 seasons for a mate of mine. He was the skier and I drove. We ran a 1750 Bullet with a 250hp Yamaha. Pulling 2up (2 skiers) it ran 90mph and 95 with a single. We were NZ champs in class, 97/98 I drove at the Bridge to Bridge twice and it is the best race of the year. 80kms of flat to the floor smooth water , our time in 98 was 36mins (136 kmph average) I think the record back then was 28mins (171 kmph) set by a boat called "Undersiege" 1100hp BBF power. In Australia inboards rule but in NZ the quickest boats were the twin rig outboards. Sorry to jack your thread but fast boats and skiers, there is nothing like it. Zollis, do you compete??
Cheers Leon.
Cheers Leon.
Is That Cambridge.
I spent a few years there as a kid.
Bridge looks familiar.
Jim
I spent a few years there as a kid.
Bridge looks familiar.
Jim
The boat I drove was called "Predator" it was blue hull and silver deck. We used to do the Multi sport races as well, "Crater to the Lake" was always a good day out. The real quick boat on the full circut was "Stinger" a 21ft Bullet with Twin 300hp Merc's. I went for a ride in it at Lake Rotoma WOW! 80mph in the turns and 110mph on the straights Mind blowing. we quit about 99 as the skier/boat owners body had enough, Lots of Knee recons and bad falls at 80mph take there toll. Cheers Leon
Hey Jim. It is Camebridge, the race starts at the bridge on state hwy 1 as you head south out of Camebridge, you run full noise north to Taupiri (50km) they stop the clock when you cross the line. Once everybody is there they restart you in the same order you crossed and run back south to Hamilton (30km) the 2 times are added and that is your total. They run 4 classes. Open, MOC (Modified open Cockpit), 3.0L SMOC and 2.5L SMOC. The MOC and SMOC boats can only run Outboards, open class anything goes. Sorry to go on, its Zollis fault, he started the thread. Cheers Leon
