Lowblue320
If Apache1 was Don Aronow, and we know that's not possible, I still dissagree with a couple of his Apache comments. Just so you know.
Ed

Ed, I understand were your comming from but that is his opinion. The only reason I wanted to let you know is, in your post before (you wrote) that this sight has many experienced people on here and I wanted to let you know that Apache1 is one of them. Maybe he would reviel his name. I will give you a hint...He built the rarest Apache, took it to the keys and won the championship right out of the box. BTW it was a big wave crusher that won many races ( He also has raced others). I would consider him an expert in this field especially when it comes to rough water and Apache. By saying that if he would like to test his rough water skills against kemosabee (which is a bad asz boat) is like telling Dave Scott that he doesn't know what it is to go fast in a boat. Not saying that I agree or disagree with what he or you are saying about Apache, but the man has got a resume......

carry on......

Lowblue320
That sounds great and I believe you about his impressive resume. My points about his Apache comments remain unchanged. For this simple reason........just about any offshore powerboat is not better than an Apache in rough water, and just about any offshore powerboat is not built as tough as an Apache.
Ed

AND WHO IS OUR MISTERY GUEST ???????

Thats what i would like to know !!!!!!!

In ruff sea,,there is NO open canopy V hull that could beat an apache,,,exept for my Aero-Tek ofcorse .LOL

BINGO......Ed... Omar Daniel and Ritchie Powers won many races in that beast and cool to see them still run boats together till this day..

Welcome Omar!

Reading this thread took away minutes out of my life that I'll never get back.....I think I just threw up in my mouth a little

You should not drink to much.LOL

Hi Comanche3six!
You should work in the banking world, your due diligence is perfect! That is me!
Dont read me wrong, I love Apache's all my boats are called Apache's even some of my companies in souvenir to the most memorable experience of my life. My frustration is these hulls have a vintage aspect which could be enhanced with new technology and still be what they are. If Apache are really good rough water boats it is also due to V's, most hulls now are much flatter without counting steps, the beam is also narrow like making the 47 hull a real knife in rough water. I rebuilt Apache Heritage in 2003, ran it a few times but we had such trouble with the headers falling apart that I had to abandon the high performance scene with it and turned my passion to Cat's.
I am still looking for a boat which can perform in the rough like an Apache. The first time I ran one was in 1991, a 47 in seas of 10-12 foot and it ran thru like a train, that's the day I decided to build Apache Heritage. Until this day I never sat in anything like it but I am still hopeful I will find a "new" hull which can do what an Apache does. I haven't seen any new one or ran against them to know, all the Apache are refits.
My refit didn't work out too well.
My most recent V is an Outerlimits 42 which I sold last week, it ran fast, did well in the rough but not my style of ride, the balance wasn't fantastic at high speeds.
I have heard amazing stories on Donzi 38 ZRC's, it's a little short for the rough but was told it's amazingly surprising rid in the rough.

Omar welcome. Your frustration is shared by the builders and the old timers also.

A couple of things have happened in the last year that have made me reconsider the high performance world of today as compared to yesteryear.

Last year we, HORBA, put on the first open ocean race in over 20 years....a real blue water event, out of sight of land, from Miami to Bimini and back.....the entrants had no Apaches at all. Zero, no one entered the race.

Second item was a few weeks ago at the St Pete poker run, the wind had been blowing for days and the water was running pretty good....73 boats entered and 8 made the lunch stop. The others turned around at the bridge and went back to the docks. 3 deep Vees and the rest cats.

My opinion is that todays boats are capable of such high speeds, that that factor has become the only benchmark that is important to these guys.

The ability to handle a boat at speed in rough conditions doesn't equate anymore, they just want to say they have a fast boat that is capable of running, but they don't want to do the running.

As banana boat co, www.bananaboatco.com we could build the famous 41, as I have access to the Chief molds for the 42 footer. However, anyone that has been interested has always been concerned with the "How fast will it go?" rather than any of it's seakeeping abilities. Todays boaters are a different breed for sure.

As far as today's boats go....take a serious look at the Statement boat made in St Pete. Not only was it one of the boats that made the lunch stop, they were taking people out for rides durng lunch to show that rough water was no big deal...they had a boat and a skipper that could handle that. The boat does 128 MPH with full fuel load and 5 people on board.