ocean express
 

I went to the ocean express factory yesterday, interseting place.Talked to the owner ,Ross Focht, he seemed like a pretty cool guy,lotsa stories from "back in the day".Anyway a friend of mine just bought a 39 express cat,1983-84 i think.The hull is in great shape , its got ssm#4's and he'll be pushin around 850/900 hp a side.Just wondering if anybody had any thoughts on these boats or if theres anything to look for, also wondered about there new boats and how are .Thanks all. :cool: :cool:

Oh yea?

Yea catman ,i wish.Mostly we just hung out and swaped boat stories,i love that kinda stuff.He had a couple of 48's that he was rigging, that is one sweet MONSTER of a boat.I was lookin at the deck and think'n the only thing miss'n is a couple of basketball hoops,i think they should start measuring them in acre's.He also was working on a 40+ prototype cat, should be pretty cool when its done,way radical like nothin i ever seen.I did a search for express on this site and boot came up a couple of times, hopefully he'll jump in here.And Ross also said the same about the arnesons working best.
:cool: :cool:

Greg must of made it back OK I take it phatkat and I also have 39`s the new 38 is going to be a very nice boat and fast. And the new 48 will be unreal, fixed surface drives optional diesel power it will be a nice package for poker runs.

Yea Sylvester Greg made it back OK.We took the boat off the trailer on thursday and put it on dollies.I'm sure he's over at the shop working on it now.I'm gear'n up to do some graphics on it. The cat i saw had fixed stern drives, it was very cool. Unique lines too.Not sure about supercat legal.He was also workin on a canopied poker runner that was neat, i believe that was the 38. :cool:

Glassdave, tell Greg he is now a member of the R.C.C.C. "real cool cat club".He will love that hull,and with his power he will be at the front of the pack.

Hi glassdave are you a fellow LEOPA`n I no phatkat,greg and I belong just wonderd if I no you.

Ross is building his new 48, and is planning on equipping it with non-steerable Arneson's with a rudder in the center of the sponsons like they do in Europe.

I believe he will use a “Hurth” drop transmission connected into an in-line ASD8 drive unit.

If he allows the drives to trim up and down, the boat should perform well.

sylvester- i'm not a member yet, i dont think my boat qualifies.it's only 23 foot long and i think the cut off is 24 foot.i do go on some of their porker runs and partys, stuff like that.usually im with either reno or jim runion.i do glass and graphics for some of the members,lance ,meads,runion, reno,and a few others.they bang'em up i make'em pretty again. :D :D :D

because Glassdave painted my boat I think it qualifies as a member of the RCCC :D

Hey ,I'm here !!!
Sorry ,just got back from Florida and started reading posts . Tell your friend Congrats on that big ol beast of a machine he bought ! ;)
I got one and love it ! (After I got the air out of the steering !)
THat boat is real impressive for it's age and equipment ! As I stated in another post somewhere , I know of a couple 40'skaters of equal power that only have a couple mph on mine and my drives are not even trimable yet ! :D When you have a full house on board , room for 8 or 9 friends to sit comfrotably ,and room on that 12'wide deck to put that little 40' skater, what more do you need ? :D
I've got Arneson's on mine .Don't know how the Speedy's will do but I'm sure it will get you by just fine ! There are a lot of guys that like Speedymasters on cats and can probably give you some tips on set up !
Any quesions about the boat ,feel free to e-mail me direct . Joe

New power boat mag has artical on new 38 express cat on page 30.

Thanks Joe, Ross said the boat will be 5 to 10 mph slower with the speedy's but other wise fine. It originally had arnesons,and at some point got changed.How does your boat handle ruff water, not the big rollers but 5 to 6 foot choppy crap we get here in the great lakes.Also what kind of power and MPH you gettin ,if ya dont mind me askin. :D :cool:

I ran out Tuckerton inlet through some huge mixed up choppy rollers from a couple big yachts at about 80-90mph and almost didn't feel it !Shocked me too ! It was my first experience in big water with it . One guy on board was stricktly a fisherman and had to be forced into a ride with the other 7 of us ! When he saw those waves coming and the speed we were cruising at ,I thought he was going to jump out ! He was speechless for an hour after we went over the waves ! He finaly said (with a smile)"I can't beleive it ! It ate those wave up like they weren't there !" You will love the ride ! It is BIG and HEAVY ! Just what you need in the rough stuff !

I just got the boat this year and have little time on it .I have 2-1000's .I have been about 115 at around 4500rpm's .Lots more to go . I had engine problems right after that .I think with fresh motors and bigger props ,125+ . We will see this spring ! :D

this boat is early and has a lighter layup than later boats, that should help.Ross did say they eat up big water as long as you stay on it.Have you been to the factory?Man i cant wait for spring :cool: :cool: :cool:

Hey boot,have any pic's of your boat sounds like a hell of a ship.Did you get it out of Fla.

hey Sylvester... which Greg got the 39'Express????

J.M.

Hi Jerry, Reno found one down in Fla.you still looking at O.L. nice boats but yours is very nice too. Or did you sell it.

There is a guy on the board that worked for ocean for many years named "viscious one" he can tell you anything you want to know about them. We'll see if he hops in here, he's a busy guy, without alot of time for chatting like us stuck behind a computer all day!

Advantage_ROB you must be talking about Sparkey know him well. He is doing his own thing now building boats in Detroit area last time I talk to him.

You got it!! He's on here once in a while, but he's pretty busy working on boats all day and night, including my survey last week!!!

Glassdave ,Which one did he buy ? No I haven't been to the factory .I bought mine from a guy in Michigan though and was out there but the guy pissed me off so bad I couldn't wait to get out of there . I should have gone anyway .

Sylvester , I'll e-mail you a couple pictures later ,when I find them .

boot- he got it from some guy in fla.,lauterdale i think, it was listed in the back of hot boat.where in mich. did you get yours. send me the pics too if you dont mind.i'll be scanning pics of this one soon, gotta start some graphics layouts.

there is an artical on express on page 30 in the new powerboat. you should have your by now glassdave :eek: :eek: :D :D

theres magazine stand on White street in Bedford i usually get them from, i'll hafta stop and pick it up.

sylvester......thats cool! I called Burtcher earlier and found out it was Reno. I really like those 39's...I gotta get a ride in yours this year!!! Anyway, no I'm off the new boat band wagon for now... See you at the winter party if not B4.

J.M.

Yup. Powerboat Mag. Twin 540's, 124 mph. Not bad!! I saw that very boat in Grand Haven. Man does it shine!!! Their rigging and paint work is second to none.

Mike

I hear that news stand is pretty cool, USED to be alot of mags.

Glassdave and sylvester , Check your e-mail !! Pictures may take a little while to load ! Enjoy

I know where you can get a deal on a 91 or 93 48'er with new 900's ,new everything !
Suposed to be real nice .Trailer ,extra motor and lift too ! under $150k ;)

thanks boot for the pic's, that is a very nice boat you will love it with the new power, great rought water boats.

thanks joe, i got the pics. good lookin boat.
i'm putting togather a side and top view line drawing of the 38 (for graphics layouts).i could e-mail you a copy if you'de like.just somthing to play with, see how diferent graphics look .

glassdave ,yes ,thank you ! That was my original idea to do a complete ,wild paint job . But since I am doing motors now (not by choice ) it will be this way for a little while .

We should try and hit a poker run this summer. It would be fun to see a whole "litter" of us .That gives me six months to put my motor back together...

Yeah ,lets do it !!

Give me a little time too . :(

Yea! count me in aaah! wait a minute, did you say 6 months or 6 yrs! lets see I have ####yrs in it so far!!!!! well maybeeeee! not.

Boot,
Post them on the board if could so we all can see. Never get bored looking at boats!!!

oops nothin new here , i just wanted to see my post go thru page one again. :D :p :D :p

WOOOOO..HOOOO...MADE TWO PAGES !!!

Ah huh ! :D I like seeing the name Ocean Express up front all the time ! It sure is a change !

BAJA342 if I could figure it out I will .But I need to get some beter pictures too .