Jon H

Hey Guy's Chill,

This is now officially the Velocity Chill Zone.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion - thats cool. no sense bashing a guy cos he thinks differently.

However, Pit bull is bang on the money.

When it comes to performance transport whether it be car, motorbike or boat, i like to know my vehicle inside out. How many people have bought used boats to then find themselves replacing half of the mechanicals because basically, most people skip maintenance and think that it is an unnecessary expense. I have had a few boats over the years, some good and some not so good, and now i am at that stage in my life where i want the right boat (whatever that is). The other thing you must take into account is the Country that i live in - England, just about the most expensive place in the world to boat in. We have lost most of our boat builders over the years so the option of a british hull of any quality is small. A new 30' deep vee bare hull in England would run to approx' $45000 and still need rigging out.

So, $9,999 cash for a low use quality proven hull with trailer, even taking the cost of shipping and import taxes this end is bloody good value in my opinion, and after all thats the only opinion i really care about.

"You pays your money & takes your choice"

Oh one other thing to put it into perspective, I paid just over $10,000 cash earlier this year for a watch whilst in the USA on business and to be honest whilst the watch is very nice the Velocity VR-1 is much better value to my mind.

Now lets leave it at that unless anyone can give me any advice regarding handling, rigging or props or any other aspect of Velocity VR-1 ownership.

Thanks Guys

Padraig

Jon, have fun putting it together and please update us with pictures etc.

notda1

I would not suggest putting more than about 650hp if you are going with a bravo . Should be able to keep the motor and drive together easier that way . Looking at the numbers posted here seems you could make it work well with a lot less . Like it was said about projects before , this way you know what you really have . Mine was a project , had great results . Took longer and cost more than expected but , it was worth it !!!!!! Hope you have good luck

Jon H

Thanks Guy's will keep you updated on progress.

The boat was originally fitted with a 575sc, ITS and XR drive but i will probably be looking at a 496HO, ITS and XR drive to start with. Good used motors are very thin on the ground in the UK so may go for a new package for reliability and warranty. Later i would like to get another motor and build it to 600hp.

Really interested in high cruise speed and reliability as i live on the south coast of England, 60 miles across the water from France which is good for day trips or breakfast on a good day.

Velocity Tom

My friend has the 1st vr1 sold as a pleasure boat . 72-74 gps with a 496 mag ho. 425 hp. The 1st was a race boat.

DisturbedVelo22

If I were you I would pay a lot of attention to prop selection, x dimension and prop shaft height. At least my 22' it seems to be sensitive to prop torque and I would assume yours would also be a single engine application. With mine the higher you trim it the more stable it becomes at 70+. Have you given any thought to using that NXT drive that mercury makes specifically for single engine application? I've heard it works very well.

Jon H

I have been following Pit Bull's posts regarding props with interest as it may save me some dough.

Not familiar with the NXT drive, is it a duo prop? I will look into it, thanks.

DisturbedVelo22

No its a single prop (which is great because reproping won't cost you an arm and a leg). The skeg is actually turned to make up for the prop torque so that the bullet and the rest of the drive can stay straight while the skeg makes up for the prop torque.
On second thought it might be more like #6 then a bravo. This boat has it, it has a separate transmission. I don't know, I read an article about it from 2007 that sounded pretty neat. Might still be worth looking into. The article made it sound like its a very tough, very dependable drive so if you're going to be bombing around in heavy chop at high speeds it might be worth your while.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o27600-en.html

Revelocity

Unless things have changed (bad economy etc.), Mercury Racing only sells the NXT drive with a blue motor. At first it was with their 700 package but it's now available with the 525. Merc Racing only warrants the drive up to the 700 motor.

notda1

If you go with a 496/425 , the bravo should hold up pretty good . I have seen friends get 100's of trouble free hours on those
496's