Full size race boats

[greenman407]

When we build model submarines we are almost without exception modeling our sub after a full size counterpart. No less is true with fast or scale model boating. So here is a brief exposure to some of the boats(full size) that I have personally had dealings with.41274126
4128 Here is yours truly at a recent Clearwater Offshore race. I was very privileged to be able to tour the boat and actually sit in the drivers seat. Here I am with my son Nathan having our questions answered by the crew chief. This boats name was "Aquamania". It came in second to the Miss Geico. Both boats are twin turbine powered boats easily running upwards of 200 Mph.4129 Here is Nathan again posing with the son of the crew chief, they made friends very quickly. Hey! maybe thats why I got the tour!

[greenman407]

41334132 Ok , on to somemore hardware.41304131 I was able to spend sometime at the crane where they put the boats in the water. Most rewarding.

[greenman407]

41384137413641354134 This race was run right along Clearwater beach, only about 5 miles from my house. I used my digital camera at full zoom to capture these images. Dopey me, I forgot about taking video!

[greenman407]

41404139 Alot of rooster tails out there.

[greenman407]

4144 The previous posts under this topic were boats that are considered offshore boats. 4143They are designed to be used in water conditions that can vary from mild to heavy. The following pictures are of Unlimited Hydroplanes. 4142They need water conditions as smooth as they can get. Except for one entry , they are all turbine powered.4141

[greenman407]

414841474146 All the water that you see being thrown around mostly comes from the turns where the large turn fin,4145 on the port side bites hard into the water and throws a huge geyser. Depending on a lot of facters, sometimes the boats take a hop in the turn, making for quite a show!

[greenman407]

41534152415141504149 Because the big money teams have left the sport(Budweiser,Camel) the boats that are left are much more evenly matched.

[greenman407]

4155 You can clearly see the long hood scoop sticking out here. That is a dead giveaway that this race is being run on a saltwater course. The salt in the water, once injested, will destroy one of these turbine engines in a hurry. On the fresh water courses you will see much shorter scoops.
4154 The turbine engines are left over Lycoming engines from the Vietnam era Chinook helicopters. They are performance inhanced and produce "somewhere" around 2800 HP and weigh in the neighborhood of 800 lbs. That is the recipe for a fast ride.4156 The wall of water that can be seen behind O Boy Oberto gives you some idea of the forces involved in this sport. Unfortunately this sport is not so popular with the masses and tv coverage is always scant and rare. If it comes on at all it will be at 3:15 in the morning with no warning. People would rather watch Nascar cars go round and round and round again than watch something truly exciting!

[greenman407]

The speeds on the straights were getting upwards of 215 , 220 years ago when the Winston Eagle and the Miss Budweiser were dueling it out , neck and neck, that the official decided that they were going , too fast and they introduced fuel restriction. They did this not only for safety but also because the teams were burning thru there limited supply of engines.

[greenman407]

4158 I am bringing this to the fore because these boats are what Proboat is modeling their 1/12th Hydros after.4157 To be sure , everyone should have one or be thinking about it. Another thing that youll notice, if you watch a televised boat race and then watch a model boat race , it looks like the model boats are going much faster. Thats because the model boats are going much faster than scale speed. They are indeed traveling 3 or 4 times faster and this makes for enhanced excitment, especially so as YOU are in control!

[greenman407]

47454744 I attended the Saturday Clearwater boat race event to take pictures. The actual race was not until Sunday. I was quite disapointed as4743 the big fast boats were not in attendance. So I just took pictures of the smaller classes and some of the Poker run boats that were there.He's on his favorite4742

[greenman407]

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47654764476347594758476247614760 Notice the three pictures of the twin turbine powered boat. No Sponsor names or logos and no numbers tell me that this is a private owner boat as were a few of the others who would not participate in the races.

[greenman407]

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[greenman407]

47784777477647754774477347724771 Another local boat. The owner reported a speed capability of 160 mph. Seems like a little bit of a stretch to me. But there is no doubting that in the appearance dept. this boat was topnotch.

[greenman407]

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[greenman407]

4792Three outboard motors are usually the max for a boat because of weight, vibration , fuel requirments and other considerations.4791 But some people like to push the envelope to see what will happen.4793

[greenman407]

Miss Geico slow drive byhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziAdCNkFI0Y&list=FLwwtESQvtCTdZ7qa85AqwGw&index=3&feature=plpp_video

[greenman407]

Views from Miss Geico in Key Westhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeOs0Bt-0vE&feature=related

[greenman407]

Miss Geico close in racinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z038c1YGLS8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

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[greenman407]

Some more unlimiteds.
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[greenman407]

I remember with great fondness watching the Miss Budweiser with Chip Hanauer battle the Winston Eagle and the Tide and T-plus and Kelloggs Tony the Tiger. This occured in the 90s. I taped every race for years on VHS. I still have them and go back and re-watch those years of racing. Very nostolgic for me. Im going to check youtube for some of them so that you can relive some of those races with me. I remember one race in particular. It was in Madison Indiana, the home town of the Tony the Tiger boat. The most exciting race ever for me was the second or third heat, Budweiser was deck to deck with Mark Tate in the Winston Eagle. The Winston Eagle took it but it was flat out racing right on the edge the whole way. You could hear those Gas Turbines screaming and you knew that the pedal was to the floor and there was no more. AWESOME!!!!

[greenman407]

All right, I found this one of the Madison race in 1990. Its not the one I wanted but its a good one. If youve never seen one before, itll give you a feel for it. Try the next screen for the link.

[greenman407]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0oE9kqA9ts

[greenman407]

Heres another one. Its from 1989 Seattle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sub0a5VKQU&feature=related

[greenman407]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og_ulxBfbMI&feature=relmfu Gold cup 1999 victory for Picos American Dream and Chip Hanauer!

[greenman407]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=rCkM6oRfwRo 1993 Seatle flip by Winston Eagle. GOOD STUFF!!!

[greenman407]

The Tide Flips!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enN6mh8YgeM&feature=relmfu

[greenman407]

Collection of Unlimited Hydroplane crashes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=Zy2FHqsS5r8

[greenman407]

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[greenman407]

This is a video of a Offshore twin Turbine but in the first minute you will see an example of the props that are used on these things. The Unlimiteds are not too different.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIsqjAzkhXI&feature=related

[greenman407]

History was made in 2009 when this "Piston Packer" driven by Jimmy King, BEAT a whole field of turbine boats. Great stuff!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ2XCwm9jsg&feature=related

[greenman407]

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[greenman407]

The last two:
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