Charlie..are you going to be around Sunday...let me know and I'll come pick up that drive.

call me on my cell 513-477-2780 see ya on sunday cory :D

AO results are likely accurate
 

Scott (Fastcats) has talked with me a lot about getting cats dialed in. I do know that he's proud of the weight and balance improvements made to the 31- that can make a big difference in older and newer boats.

He also likes some of the prop work Merc has done for him, typically taking a 28 and tweaking it so it behaves like a 28 out of the whole and getting top end results like a 30 or 31.

I do believe the mags go all out to get the big number and that the average boater would be hard pressed to duplicate it due to a myriad of variables. I'm sure they prefer to test in cold air, cold water, salt water at sea level of course with favorable winds and chop for that particular hull, oh and maybe 20 gallons of fuel.

So how many of us can hit even two of those favorable variables on any given summer day?

Before buying new I looked at used Daytona advertised to do 93 on GPS. 4 average adult males, 40 gallons, 70ish temps and 82 was all it would do. That boat might have done 93 behind my turbo diesel on the interstate. The GPS is our friend.

Accuracy of HotBoat Article
 

Hi All,

I heard about this post and would like to reply as politely as possible.

While I too believe that there are some bogus numbers out there, the one thing that We have done is post realistic numbers to our customers and back them up with the actual GPS. Our speeds testing in the south Texas gulf waters are sometimes faster and we tell the customer up front that it will not run this number on Lake Mead, for example, where there may be altitude or a heavier load etc.... I think that it is far more important to underpromise and over deliver. This is one of the reasons that we do our "house engines" the way we do them so that we can make up for hot summer days, heavy loads, or high altitude. Our 600Sc engines make 650, our 750SC engines make over 800. More bang for the buck, we think!

On this particular boat and test, I warmed up the boat at 131mph that morning and showed the gps to Wilkes when I came in, and explained where I believe it liked it's drive settings for best speed. The weather turned worst before the speed run so he did not achieve what we thought it would run. They did the photo shoot first because of the weather getting worst, and the chopper was in the air shooting other boats. Read the reports of all of the florida test and pay particular attention to water conditions, ours said ROUGH and the others were moderate to rough to calm.

In this particular case instead of them pumping up the speed, I know that we did not achieve what was real except for the water conditions at the time. The boat ran to 6100 rpm turning a 36p prop that had been bent to a 37p with a 1:30 geared BMax. Do the math. Jim ran the boat to 126 and we accepted it for the test. We have seen speeds in access of the 10mph rule in the other direction. Merlin is aware of this as I talked to him on the phone the first day that I tested the boat at 132. DUECLAWS saw us at the fuel dock and we showed him the Gaffrig GPS speedo recall, and there is only one way to make that thing work and that is to actually go out and do it. My diesel truck is turned up, but not that much! So I can't pull it that fast. JK.

As for the advertising. look at our ad, it's a 1/4 page, not the big 2 and 3 page spreads like some of the guys. Maybe I should run bigger ads so we can get our real numbers published, they are actually better than what was printed.

Cattitude is right, I do a lot of prop testing and find what works best for our hulls, Catmando is right in that we have reduced weight and enhanced the balance of the boat and it runs and drives much better today that in the past, Isn't technology great!

This is long I know and I appreciate those that take the time to read it, read our article again and notice the comments about our boat not having any cupholders and look at the picture beside the comment that shows about six cup holders! Or read about our boat being 6800 pounds in weight as being heavy yet eliminators 30' at 6800 pounds is light, biased towards AO, I don't think so. This is not a shot at eliminator, they build great boats and are good people. But please don't say that our number has been padded, it was the opposite. For those that do not believe what I say, email me and I will be happy to give you the customers number that now owns the boat and confirm with him.

I thank you for your time spent reading this very long post and apologize for it being so long.

Scott Hutchinson
American Offshore Powerboats
(281) 534-1904:)

ive owned them all ELIMINATOR AMERICAN OFFSHORE AND NOW SKATER. i agree with scott and if you guys want to put your money where your money where your mouth is im sure scott would bring a 31 up to the ohio river to show you so call 100plus boys the big number!!!! BUT BEWARE OF THE NEW SKATER IT WILL BURN YOU DOWN.

I think the tests conducted in any mag should be done by a non-affiliated entity. Meaning, someone neither associated with the mag nor the manufacturer. Also, all boats should be tested at sea level and not at various altitudes where the numbers get skewed.

One of the main reasons for reading these things is to read the test reports and get the stats on various boats either for research purposes or simply to arm up on knowledge for the weekly beach-ups. There's simply nothing more frustrating than to see unreasonable numbers, misprints on the engine configuration and generalized "powder talk" about the interior. Some articles look formatted like all they do is change the names and a few specs...."It's so great!....Performs so well!....Solid construction!....blah, blah, blah!

I say guest drivers should be chosen from OSO to conduct these tests and do the write-ups. I'll gladly be the first one to volunteer my impartial expertise.....:D

Rick

I will be in the market for a single engine cat in the next few years, and let me tell you I will go for a ride a demo or another customers hull with my stalker radar gun before I even consider buying. The last thing I want to do is drop my 750 HP motor into a new $50000 hull only to find out I'm underpowered. Car magazines are the worst. My buddy has a sweet 454 1970 Chevelle that has won many car shows. A popular car magazine did an article about the car and basically printed whatever they wanted. The car has never made a pass down the 1/4 mi and the magazine reported times of 11.50 at 122 MPH. At least the boat magazine reporters take the boats they are reporting on for rides. That car would be lucky to be in th 13's.

Scott;

I appreciate the time you spent on the response. My thread was not meant to pick on AO or any manufacturer, but more directed towards the "accuracy" of the information being printed by or in some cases passed on to the various magazines. As I read some of the performance reports it becomes very obvious "something" does not add up. I understand your logic in underpromising and overdelivering, but you've said yourself the 750's are making in "excess of 800hp". Your buddy Dueclaws, (also catmando) seem confident in reporting 900 hp motors. My point is with that kind of power, coupled with the right set up the speeds are more believable. I hope you agree with my thoughts that 2-300 more hp than reported could have a meaningful impact on the big end. I do know that when I spray my 900hp motor with a 175hp shot of NOS I pick up about 10 mph. The "extra" 175hp makes a difference. By the way, that would be one Diesel truck I'd want a ride in....;) ;) ;)

jdnca1

I said that the engines dyno'd at 900. Dyno hp is corrected to a standard, that usually cannot be repeated in the field. If you carefully read the article in Hot Boat, you'll see that they report the engines were about 800 hp at the prop shaft. I believe that the BMax drive has higher loses than a Bravo due to gear size.

My uncorrected hp is about 775, the dyno corrected hp is about 825, but I lose about 125 (each engine) through the transmissions and the speedmasters.:)

Regardless, I agree with you about the hype in some of the magazines. What is important in this case is that Scott with American Offshore is being honest.;)

speeds and hotboat
 

jdncai

I believe you don't know what your taking about. The speeds hot boat are posting are real speeds. If you don't believe it ask the boat owners for a ride. I sure if you fly to their locations they'll gladly make you a believer.