A very big
Thank You !!!! to Mike Spirito for the use of his 28 foot Magnum for a test run on Saturday.
Under the cover of a local poker run, I was very interested in the results of a real world running hard of this 28 footer with our hull design .........with 600 HP.
Knowing Mike from long ago, I knew that he would run the boat as hard as it could be run, old school style, and we could get some honest evaluations of how this hull design, non step that it is, would perform in comparison to today's boats.
This 28 foot Magnum is of course the same hull as our new 28 foot Banana Boat that we are starting the new deck plug work on next month. The Mercruiser 600 HP sterndrive package, is what I am considering making the standard boat
and drive combo.....so this is the exact test boat and HP match and the exact water conditions I was looking for.
There were a lot of brands there....approx 25 plus boats entered, from a 46 foot Skater with turbines, to a 24 foot Carrera with a single sterndrive.
There were 5 stops. I don't want to get into any negatives here and please remember that we were out to prove how hard our package could be run in sloppy water,
we knew that we would be pushing the whole time, while others probably did not.....add in some old school racing experience and lots of local knowledge re the course and the waters involved, let's just say we didn't feel at a disadvantage at all.....we had a lot of fun.
By the third stop, two of the faster boats broke and some people got lost, but for the first stop, we were 5th...... the 2nd stop 4th....... and the third stop which was Newport for lunch, a 32 foot Sutphen and a 38 foot Larry Smith Scarab, was a little surprised that our 28 footer was right there at the entrance to the harbor with them in third place. I won't say any more beyond that, but the results got even better by the end of the day as the afternoon winds came up with the tide change.
End of the day....we had a great time and proved to our own satisfaction that this will be an incredible package with 600 HP in a single engine sterndrive. I am really excited to see this new package come to life....all I can say after this test day is......
I WANT ONE TOO !!!!!
Again...thanks to Mike and his son Nick and HIGH LIFE too>
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