Congrats, isnt break in fun:lolhit:

How's the boat doing? Any top speed numbers yet?

Hey Corey-

Was only able to run once last week before key west. Ran 102mph @5700 rpm. Had prop slip all the way to 6400rpm. New props came in today. Will go out and test Saturday. Hoping for 110mph.

Hi Rick-

Yeah it was so boring........ 30 mph to 70mph. Felt like it took a year!

Cool, good luck! Keep us posted with numbers

Hey don seen you and brad at picnic island. We went by on the red and white fountain. Any luck with the new props?

Quote

My AC unit seemed to work ok, need to make some modifications to make it work better.


What type of a/c system do you run in a canopy setup?
What type of layout and what area is unit installed in? Is it water cooled and 12V? Thanks

Don, The cat looked good in the pics from the Turkey run. I hope everything ran good for you. How did it perform? I looked for you in KW, not to hard though, and didn't see you. Are the motors broke in and what numbers did you see?

Yes, a water cooled "swap cooler". Currently it is located behind the batteries and wall. I ran ducting to the passenger cockpit. This ducting was too long did not have insulation. Need to make them much shorter. Its a work in progress.

Hi Bob, the boat is running well. During the turkey run the boat ran 105 mph @ 6000 rpm. I know I still have some set up issues, shooting for 110 plus.

We decided with the high winds not to bring the boats with us to KW. We drank and rode scooters instead.........

Nice thread and cool boat, good luck with that 110 goal!

The water was a little rough on Wednesday. We made it as far as Islamorada again and blew a motor for the second year in a row. We ran the first leg to Gilberts in 3s' and 4s' with the occasional 5 footer or more running between 80 and 100. It was the best drive I have had so far in my friends 36 skater. It scared the chit out of one of the girls. Phuck the ***** in the boat next year!
You will have it setup soon and will be running 110+ in no time. We got the "other" DW running 115+ with the 280s' so I know your hull will do it easy. Your right it's all setup. Peace.

A couple pictures from FMO's Turkey Run. Photos by Jay Nichols.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jay2boa...57632094326078

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jay2boa...7632094326078/

Hey don, boat looked good on run got a ok video of you passing are friends boat. If u want it I can send it to you. Pm me with your number if you want it

Hi Corey-

Send the video to [email protected]

Thanks
Don

Don & Amanda's, 30 Doug Wright Cat


I was in the Skater, anchored on the beach, as you went by towards Boca Grande Pass.
A few minutes latter you came by, going the other way. I grabbed my camera, but I did not
have the real big lens with me, so this are just out of my reach. Enjoy.


to see all of the pictures, click here


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8348/8...44c8494c_b.jpg
overview-121612 by Frank Fasulo (appsyscons), on Flickr


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8485/8...3a5e40f5_b.jpg
IMG_2806a001001 by Frank Fasulo (appsyscons), on Flickr


to see all of the pictures, click here

sweat ride

can you run 4 seats in the boat or is there only room for 2 ??

Currentely it only has room for 2 seats and some storage behind the seats for bumpers, ropes, cooler, ect. For my wife and I it is more than enough becasue its just the 2 of us in the boat.

Just an update, been playing with set up and props. Ran 107 mph @ 6000rpm this weekend with 1/2 tank of fuel. I still think I can get to my goal of 110 with a few more changes in the setup.

Looks like Jay caught you going 110 + in this pic, Don. Sweet.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8...4cd97ab9de.jpg
Don & Amanda by bobthebuilder707, on Flickr

Your right bob this is a sweet picture that I will be buying from Jay when he gets some free time. Actually when this was taken we were running 75 to 80 with a group of 6 boats on the way up to Sarasota. Jay is so good he can make 80 look like 180!

Just out of curiosity can you compare the 30 doug wright to the 30 motion you had?

Thats a good question, The DW is a carbon boat, and the motion was all fiberglass, so the ride is much stiffer in the DW. You feel all the bumps in the water. The motion was heavier and was made of glass so the ride was smoother. For an all around pleasure boat the motion was hard to beat, but for speed the DW wins hands down.

Don, what happend on the way back ?

Hey Bill-

At the time I thought I popped a lower. We idled into Burnt Store Marina and found out that the midsections that were shortened ended up cracking at the motor mount area and breaking, casuing the vertical shaft on the starboard engine to snap above the water pump.

I have ordered (2) MAD EFI 15in 300x cans to replace the cracked ones. This will eliminate the weak link , which is the bolt-on lower mounts. Should be here next week. I should have in up and running by the March 2nd run.

Talk to you soon.

Don

Thank you very much great info and you have a beautiful boat.

Don , how's the boat running? pics? great work with this boat!!

After a year of breaking lowers, mid and having to replace the fuel tanks and most of the wiring in the boat, I now think we have the boat set up right. Runs well Best we seen so far is 108mph. My goal has always been to see 110 with this set up and I think with the cold weather coming it will be possible. The canopy gets hot in the summer so we debated between cutting the top off or buying another boat. We ended up deciding to purchase another boat for the hot days.

So the new project is 24 Aronow Cat open bow. Bought the boat with twin 280's, sold them off and now in the process of installing a 230hp ( Can turn up the boost if needed) Diesel Outboard with a Mercury Sportmaster lower. Should be a fun deck boat that runs 65 to 70.

Pictures are in this link:
http://www.boats-florida.com/boats/P...Aronow-24.html

Cool boat don looks like a fun little boat. Hope you have fun with it!

Nice!!!!!!!!!!

Don, How did you end up fixing the gas tanks?

Hi Ray- I ended up installing new fuel tanks. XLPE tanks have no issues with ethanol. I also moved them back 4 feet to help with the handling.

Don, when get a chance would you please post some pictures of the motors?

Hello All-

It has been a while since I gave an update on the boat. A lot has changed in the last six months. So after a year of using the boat with the canopy on My wife started to dislike being in the canopy ( I actually agreed with her) so we had a choice to make either sell it or convert it to a pleasure boat. We went back and forth but at the end we decided to keep the boat, cut off the lid and convert it to a 4 seater. On New Years day we cut the top off and within two weeks made it into a 4 seat boat. It is so much better without the top on. We have ran the boat like this now for 5 months and really like the way the boat is now.

Now for the fun part, we (Amanda and I) are in the process of making it look like a pleasure boat instead of a race boat with the top cut off. We are redoing the interior, dash, side panels, floor, windows and all the hardware, touching up the paint and a new cover. We are getting the boat ready for Lake Lanier Poker Run in 6 weeks. It will be a lot of work to do but we have a good start. We painted the rear of the seats last week and all the interior is at the upholstery shop.

Here is the link for the pictures of the build, We will update as the build goes on.
http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/Ma...bed/slideshow/

Thanks
Don

Don, I was going to cut the lid off for sure when I was thinking of purchasing it. I bet I spent 5 hours in that hull making engine noises and dreaming. Never got to run it ,but drove the sister 32 to 107 in testing. Im 6'2" 225 and Spark was 6'3" and 325 and there was no way we could fit in the 30 comfortably. The 32s' have to be twice if not three times the room. Let me know when you get tired of her. I saw your motion pop up for sale and was gone in 24 hrs. The 30 deserved an owner like you who would do that hull justice with her track record. Best wishes to you and Amanda.

Bob

Hi Bob-

Thanks for the kind words. For pleasure use the boat is night and day better without the top on it. You are correct about the lack of space, it is always fun to try and work under the dash without getting stuck.

Now that we know we like the boat, how it handles, and got the reliability issues taken care of we are going way over the top on the interior, we are going to try and make it look similar to the 4 seat MTI's with the painted dash, custom flooring, ect.

Thanks
Don

Looks great! Thanks for posting pics

Added some pictures of the Interior and all the interior parts that need to be painted. Going to be a busy couple of weeks before we leave for Lanier!

http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/Ma...bed/slideshow/