ToMorrow44

Fountain used to have an entire division of the factory (separate building) devoted to racing. Thats what Reggie did, he was a racer. So those Fountain race boats bare very little resemblance to the production boat and they spent a lot of time and money in R&D, setup, and testing.

I don't think OL has any desire to spend that kind of time or money to devote to racing, they're doing just fine cranking out beautiful pleasure boats.

I'll second what others are saying as well, it depends on the driver and throttleman. You take the "race" conditions out of the equation (prop, ballast, turning) and who's faster? Who holds the vee bottom speed record?

Interceptor

Sorta like in NASCAR where teams will reuse a chassis for years only changing the outer skins.

J-Bonz

iTrader: (3)

Is it snowing out already....

TYPHOON

Call me crazy for thinking this way but if I new my competitor had a faster race boat and I knew what was making it go faster I would probably start there and try to make it faster going forward. We are talking one off race boats no production boats. I don't believe OL is out there just to have fun. Im sure winning a few would help cement there brand. I think its great that you are willing to try something new but you are going to need more than baby steps for any manufacture to get closer. This goes out to all manufactures not just OL most wont even take a shot at this point. I would try running the same power as the Fountain for starters. Maybe they do?

RaggedEdge

For years I too have watched these races, need to put going there on the bucket list, and wondered the same thing you mention here. How the F do these old race hogs still run the pants off the competition so often. Some of these boats have been rode hard, broke, patched back together and yet they go out there and run with some of todays best every time. I know I sound like a Fountain head, simple, cause I am. Long before I was lucky enough to own one I would watch them run on any Sunday and think to myself that there was something about these boats that separated them from the rest of the pack. I have owned two now and IMO these are some of the finest running hulls to ever hit the creek. I have had faster, more cushy, but none compare to them when it comes to just plain chitin and gettin across the water.

I have read thru this entire thread and I am glad you brought this up. My only hope here is that it continues as a conversation, not some pizzing contest.

So,,,,,,,,, Why do these tired old Beakers still run ???

Interceptor

Actually who gives a crap about racing anyway. Outerlimits is in business and has been building boats for the past years. Fountain has been out of business for a significant number of years and is only building C.C. boats with rumors of possibly building production boats.
So win on Sunday and sell on Monday does not apply.

outonsafari

iTrader: (4)

that ol might be as fast or faster, not saying either way
only way to find out or prove it is to get in between instigator and cooper when they're not touching rubrails and play bumper boats till someone can get out front, or someone backs off.
if some sponsor was gonna flip the coin out to patch the holes, replace / rebuild whatever mechanical got thrashed and then repaint the sponsors name on it, and keep the checkbook open.
then what the he!! bang it off the rev limiters, bang it off channel markers, bang it off other boats whatever, just ring it out and win at all costs. (like those other 2)

the other boat in that class isn't hangin it out there either, but there out there racing.
it's another real looker too, some boats are to pretty to be out on a race course, my opinion

this is a good thread, i hope it stays interesting
that instigator boat is stored about 5 minutes from my house, they test on the river just north of me.
i passively know a sponsor, nice guy runs his own non boat related shop, says the bottom is a secret, everything i asked is a secret
but the engines are per spec rules and start pulling very hard at 2700 rpms. they get rebuilt quite a bit i'm told as does the boat in the off season.
big money commitment.

frickstyle

I would love to race, as I'm sure many others would too. Big $ required.

I am one of the Cig owners who also likes Fountain. You can't deny they are bad to the bone, fast, well built boats, much respect. And to be able to own an OL one day, that would be sweet! Love those too.

TYPHOON

If no one gives a crap about racing why would OL even be out there. I will help you out with this one. Racing is a proving ground that lets you see how you compare to others with equal specs. Very few manufactures
even dare to play in this arena because IMO they don't want to look bad. IMO winning race manufactures do help sell boats. If Skater, MTI, OL, Fountain, Activator, Superboat didn't dominate on the race course they may never have gotten the exposure to be where they are today IMO

hustlerguy

Because they like to have competition and a challenge of winning. Its fairly well known the guys on the Instigator team and the OL team are friends every day and on the race course compete for more than anything bragging rights. Most of us have buddies with that same spirit in us.

Power boat Racing may be somewhat of a proving ground, kinda sorta. (how many people are buying new boats with spec 750 HP motors? Stepped hull designs change drastically with the type of speeds they are designed to run. A stepped hull designed to run 120 mph will not work that well at 140 mph, step placement is important for the right leverage points on a boat to be stable, and fast. Put a set of 2000 hp motors in a boat designed to have 750 hp motors and its probably not going to work. Changing the attitude also plays a big role in how the steps work. Speed, drive heights, prop types, weight distribution will all play a role whether or not the steps are in the right spots.) A boat designed to run 1350's probably wont run as good as it should with 700's and vice versa. That is why Race boats mean something but don't, they are constantly taking time to find the sweet spot. Some setups work good in the rough, some work good in the flat very few are the best for everything. Instigator boat has had years to fine tune it and obviously has found a pretty sweet spot. People like to throw out it is a 12 year old boat. Well yes it was originally made 12 years ago, and they changed it, upgraded it for 12 years straight now. (taking zero away from them, in fact that is awesome that they keep on working at it) The OL 43 boat got made and probably had the bottom setup somewhere where they guessed it may be good. Not for the speeds of a 1350 boat, and not for the speed of a 700 boat but somewhere in the middle. They continue to make changes for the past 11 months to make it better for racing with those engines HP and speeds, acceleration on that syle course. Once again if you think your going to buy a new boat with the setup of any brand race boat, please reconsider your expectations.
I'm going to venture out on a limb and say very very few people ever went to a boat race and thought man that boat ran good I'm going to buy that brand boat and get THAT SAME BOAT. If someone did, I got alot of things to sell you.
Being in races does give exposure and name recognition for sure.
Why dont more play in the arena? Because its not a winning venture, you would spend way way more money on racing then then you ever would get back. If it was more lucrative more would race in a series, this is why the fleet of boats is so small, its people with disposable income, there not trying to make money doing boat racing.
Most people are buying boats because they saw one or rode in one and liked how it worked or looked or both, or there buddy told them it was a great boat, or it was affordable or many other reasons. Race course influence I would say is on the lower end of what influenced others to buy.

IMO opinion this is the old school real race course. lets see who can compete in this race! Still Going Great

Take nascar as a example. No one should go see a nascar race and say man that Chevrolet sured kicked but Sunday, I'm going to go buy one of them.
Why do teams like Dodge pull out of that series? They spend more money than they get back by a long shot.