When I first came to this board, I asked SEVENTY TIMES how to handle a boat at speed. The only answer I ever got was,

WHEN IN DOUBT, TRIM OUT.

gee thanks. I tried that very thing and I almost got launched to the moon.

I would LOVE IT if somebody on this board would talk to all us newbies with USEABLE AND SERIOUS information.

I grow board of the endless, mindless babble.

I wish somebody would have told me about these thing that I have learned over the last six months driving:

1. When your redlining, one engine may lose power befor the other, causing the boat to turn hard, adjust your throttles and rev limiters carefully, and always on a new boat you have not driven.

2. Never run at high speed with uneven trim tabs, one may catch before the other causing a severe handling problem.

3. Generally, dont run full throttles with trim tabs lower than even.

4. Always where a lanyard!!!

5. Powersteering is run off of one engine!!! it runs a little hotter than the other.

I mean, this **** is obvious to most of you, but I have asked about every one of these things, and always got nothin but smart ass answers. Had to learn the hard way in EVERY CASE.

Why are you guys *****ing that no one is helping you learn to drive a boat. First, you are asking in a sarcastic manner so who wants to deal with that? Your question is so general it would need a full book to answer.

I have seen many people ask specific questions about boat handling and everyone seems to have an answer or opinion for them. Those who don't are learning. Those that answer are learning. Just ask in a polite and respectful manner or the threads loose their value. Recently someone asked about how to use tabs. The answers were varied and several had great value, so if you have a specific question, post a topic and you'll find most people to be helpful as long as thier answers are not riduculed for the sake of your drunken Ricky Martin fan club members.

Or I could sum up my years of knowledge in this one statement, DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID and KEEP THE DRY SIDE UP AND WET SIDE DOWN.

Over the years I have been both a pleasure boater and a racer. There are remarkable differences between the the two groups. Most noticible is the definition of high speed operation:
Typically a pleasure boater will pick a perfect day, find a light quartering sea, set the boat's trim on the little marks, bring the boat up to WOT, maintain maximum speed for 15 seconds or so, and return to the dock with a great feeling of satisfaction and competentness.
A racer will typically take a green flag at WOT, maintain maximum speed for an hour, run through every concievable sea condition, adjust the trim about a million times doing so, and return to the dock prepared to describe every lap and condition to a crew chief in order to spend the next three weeks working to improve the results for the following race.
At the end of a boating season, a high performance pleasure boater will have far less high speed experience than a typical racer who just finished a season on a national tour racking up at least 10-15 hours at or near WOT in various sea conditions.
When was the last time a pleasure boater went out, found huge swells, ran in the trougth at WOT, feathered over the crest, repeated the process for two miles, then took a 45 degree turn to face them head on, only to continue. Then repeat the process in a following sea willingly?
My point is, no racers aren't higher on the food chain than high speed pleasure boaters, but they do gain experience exponentially each time they enter a race compared to thier pleasure boating counterparts.
Furthermore, where can a pleasure boater go without racing to gain such experience? For a pleasure boater to try these neat little stunts and survive, well fantastic, but try them and fail i.e. stuff, barrel role, hook, or delaminate and who is going to save you to try it again another day?
Let me guess, Sea Tow. After you remove the VHF that was just implanted in your *** after the crash simply remove and transmitt. Or maybe the fisherman. You know they love us. When you pass them at 80mph they are not giving you the finger to remind you they will be the First to come save you. Or maybe your buddy in the boat that was pacing you all the while. Don't think for a minute that he won't be stunned into paralysis looking at you with your annodized throttles sticking out of your forehead. Unlike pleasure boating, professional EMT's are standing by at race sites to help when the difficult situations arise.
In closing, we are all boaters that respect equipment and human well being. But please remember when old racers like TX2 sound too sensitive about safety just take a look at what the racing community has witnessed this year. If each race was to translate into each time a pleasure boater went on an excursion, then most trips would return with accounts of broken bones and broken equipment. And on one of those such trips unfortunately a loss of life. Racers are constantly reminded by example of the dangers of high speed pursuit.

Wow. Please forgive me, I am a simple pleasure boater. As such I only put 200 hours per year on my boat - admittedly only 150 of those hours are at speeds greater than 90 mph. But then again, you do have a point - at least 20 of those hours are on water with less than a three foot chop.

There are far more pleasure boaters with "big" hours than there are race boaters. You said it yourself, many competitive racers can put an hour a week on their boat at WOT then talk about it for the next three. I know of local F2 boaters who's entire boating experience is limited to competition events. Between events the boat is on the trailer. Run it between events? rarely. Two hours a month is all it takes to be a competetive racer today.

And honestly, if one more person says that you sould not run your boat at WOT without being under the watchful eyes of a chopper or the APBA...

rwilson and others, like myself are looking to experienced racers for advice, not condemnation or belittlment because our boats do not have sponsor decals.

Give us a break and show us some of the same respect you expect yourself. It may not be our fault that there are no race classes that allow for hulls of our design or configuration. It may also be that we are the racers of tomorrow.

Adiv
Nothing said to belittle you. An earlier post asked to hear from more racers. Anyone with 150 hours at WOT would not be looking for respect, they would be selling it. Anyway, I am leaving for Ft. Lauderdale, no more post for me.

adivaman, beggers cant be choosers.

read the responses for what they are worth. I guess that your comeback is sure to encourage other "racers" to jump in and offer the opinion you are seeking. I think not.

Remember, be careful what you ask for, you may not like the answer.

busterscott – please don’t misunderstand; I am not disappointed that our boat has too many engines to fit into an APBA class. This is simply a “pleasure” boat. It sure would have been cheaper to buy an F2 boat if it was something I wanted to pursue this year.

Perhaps it is you who should take another look at the responses and take them “for what they are worth”. To my thinking the point of this board is to allow for the free exchange of thought and to initiate debate amongst enthusiasts. When x started this particular post, that was his intention and it has provoked far more debate than any other post I have seen on the board. Likewise, that is my intention as well.

I mean no disrespect to class racers in APBA or any other competitive body, however not all racers are equal. In my reply I stated that I personally know of a couple of F class racers who race only in competition and never between events. That is not to imply that all F class racers take this casual attitude toward competition, just my personal experience. As you imply, don’t be offended when presented with facts contrary to your own opinion.

When participating in the Worlds two years ago this very fact seemed in evidence. Amongst racers in many classes the lack of experience of some of the F2 racers was of concern. APBA had developed the class away from an “introductory” class to a very fast, very crowded class and the fact is some racers probably did not have the skills required to be there. That is a fact of life. Not all racers are great. Look at nascar – just because you come from a racing family (petty, andretti) and race every week does not mean you are a good racer.

Lets face facts; F2 today has two groups of boats – lead boats and also rans. It has been this way for two years now. Giving the ABPA the benefit of the doubt, and making the (optimistic) leap that the boats are approximately equal, this infers that skill makes the difference. Overly simplistic but true (in an ideal world). Racers cannot paint all pleasure boaters with one brush, nor should all pleasure boater paint racers with the same brush.

There are no right or wrong answers to the questions we are asking, however when everyone who takes personal offence to alternative points of view (as you apparently have here) belittles us “lesser” mortals, it makes it tough to have a sensible debate. You have to admit, advice such as “never operate at WOT” is not worth much, unless you know something about the operator, his abilities and his vessel. However, advice such as “always wear your lanyards” is worth its weight in gold.

Be careful what you wish for, you may not like the answer? I welcome answers to our questions. Perhaps if you had offered one, that statement would have made more sense. Don’t equate what you have on your lift with what I have on mine.

This is your second post on this thread and to this point, you have offered neither advice nor constructive criticism regarding the sport or the technology. Idle banter about women and personal attacks on those trying to make an impact is not participation. It is post whoring. Don’t threaten me with possible contrary opinions to my own...try providing one.

adivaman
pardon me, I did misunderstand the following post you made.


""It seems that the "professional" drivers have decided that (1) they are the only ones qualified to operate a boat a high speeds, (2) this information, if it were to fall into the hands of lesser boaters could be more than the poor soles could handle, and/or (3) they would rather the sport die with them than move forward.

Considering the fact that these people are present and are monitoring these posts (and others), I do not understand why they won't at least pipe up with something. Even a crabby "mind your own business, I need to tune my chainsaw" would be welcome, as opposed to the very conspicuous silence. ""

I thought you were soliciting advice. And once some was offered you spit in its face. Therein is the bulk of the issue, it has nothing to do with boats. So yes, this response is off topic, if only to encourage the thoughts to return to constructiveness. Perhaps you think yourself to be wiser on the topic of your question than those you ask it from, thats fine also.

One of my questions on this thread has fallen on deaf ears, another has been answered - thanks, I will deal with it.

I'm going to start a couple of new topics here, Performance driving and Boat Safety, I hope you guys all chip in and keep them going

Are these GREAT MOMENTS IN VEE BOTTOM HISTORY?