Ron P

Look under the heading of Jessie James.

ScreaminDemon

Let me say something...this T2x is REALLY knowledgable! Obviously, he is condensing the story, but man, he is ight there...bot tell me this T2x, WHY did George fade away when the cat seen was getting ready for a HUGE (skater) transition...i think he could have been side by side with skater!

KenP

Hey Phil, I could not agree with you more! I like all of the commentary by T2x. I agree with everything he said including the comments on Skater and I do not own a Skater. I also agree with all the comments in the deep V section. I enjoy this board and the serious high performance boat people who use the board! Also your statements on lawsuits are totally correct including the impact it has had on boat builders and owners. Lawsuits do nothing but destroy this sport.

Qst4IT

Finally some Cat recognition on the board. Not that there isn't ever any, but it is usally like 80%-Vs, and 20%-cats on here.
Well Props to you T2x for having your finger on things when it comes to cats. I found your writing very interesting, and informative. And just my two cents on alot of the unmetiond companies & names, but the greater majority of those unmentioned were some good knock-offs in some way shape or form. (mind you not all of them just Some)
I'm a firm believer that the boat racing community would be much further ahead if in alot of instances the industry would stop chasing its own tail so to speak. How many times can something be copied & called new. For he who copies the man before him has gained only what that man has now & not what he has ready for tomorrow. Innovation & Tecnology will still win out.
Hey ScreaminDemon I touched in someway or another every one of the Luhrs\Linder\Adams cats, From the time I was 5-15 my dad built each one of those boats by hand in our shop in South Carolina.(have pics to prove it) And Im confident still to this day that anyone of those boats could run side by side w\equal HP as todays boats. Just ask Tim Ciasulli, i think he still has his old wooden cat and raced it a few years back too.
My Dad and I both work with a really well known Boat\Racing company now, and I think We Along with two other Very,Very well known names would be more than interested in tooling up,and building some new (innovative)big cats for any Interested parties willing to Invest & win.

Thanks for the great posts guys.
Kenny Adams jr.
Quest Racing

ScreaminDemon

Qst4IT - Good Luck. Would love to see someone create a little competition out there, but Skater does have one hell of a head start...be tough to get people to try something different, BUT not impossible! You need to team up with a manufacturer who has a name and could use a strong line of cats...AND WILLING to give it a shot! Any ideas? What manufacturer would/could do this? Keep us up to date!

Goody76

I am a cat owner and love every bit of it especially when I am looking in my mirror!

T2x

Random replies:

Sharkey-- You wanted me to mention Jaguar, Motion, Cobra, and Spectre.......... Okay, I did.

Tom Cat--- #1 The Excalibur Cat was a "Brownie Cat" originally built as the first fibreglas Cougar when Alan "Brownie" Brown ( the 2nd funniest man in offshore... Fabuloso Buzzi is the funniest)was president of Cougar U.S.A. ...........
#2 Gary Armington's Talon is an original and deserves some note but it has never quite achieved dominance in racing... maybe it needs a top team... Sadly, he sold the molds to someone else.

MagicFloat--- Thanks for the nice comments.
#1 John McCall passed away a few years ago, but his ideas live on. I saw the secret "flying boat" at Oshkosh , or at least the wreckage, at Mercury racing, Oshkosh, in 1974. It didn't fly well.... or long.....
#2 Kenny Kitson ("El Diablo") was a great "wing" driver.... Bob Switzer was probably better. Kitson's boats were a little light in construction and "snap flipped" a lot. They, like Billy Sirois' "Zonker Craft" and Doug Pearl's "Scorpion", were all copies of Englishman Ken Miles' "Milesmaster" tunnel
hulls. I drove a pickle fork Miles in 1973...flipped it, barrel rolled it, and swore off it, all in 2 months. Never drove anything but a Molinari or Seebold in OPC after that. The lesson for offshore guys......... buy a Skater.....everything else....... isn't.
#3 Bingo on the T2X identity....I like your style......sad only one guy knew this piece of history.

Screamin Demon---#1 George Linder didn't fade away. After Mark Lavin's death he claims the excitement of boat designing abandoned him for a while.... He got heavily into Safety and is the primary architect of the Lavin guidelines. Until this year he was the Tech Chairman of APBA Offshore. Best tech mind in the States...... by a BIG margin. There seems to be no coherent reason why he was replaced....... certainly he left shoes that are much too big for anyone else to fill.
#2 I'm sure that George would be glad to design or build a winning cat .....(There is a 5 year old boat of his running now, but race wins require engines, driving talent AND a decent hull). Unfortunately, the major teams are either dedicated to Peter Hledin (with some justification), bewildered by hype, or too busy asking George's advice to consider him as a viable resource. Bottom line..... just ask him.

Ron P

Who is this guy? He needs to write a book that is more interesting then Crouse's.

Ed

Let's talk Twister's! In-Line Six(99.8 cu.in.)125 H.P."BP"(Model 1250 BridgePort) with either a Speedmaster or "BP" lower-unit(REALLY COOL GEARCASE that had drop-in gearsets), spinning 12" diameter, 32" pitch 2-blade or 3-blade stainless "BP" counter rotating props...Now that's a GREAT sounding stereo @ wide open throttle! Have owned all of them in my youth.Including the Twister l(T1), Twister 2(T2), Twister llX(T2X for experimental) & Twister lll(T3) motor's. The T2X was an in-line six atop a new exhaust mid-section, simular to what was introduced the following year on the first V-6 Hi-Performance motor...the T3. The T3 was a stock 175 Merc powerhead with a flex flywheel, plastic reed's, & mild porting, producing about 185 H.P. That midsection is also simular to what is still used today on all the Hi-Performance V-6 motors. The "BP" motor's I owned, had both dry stacks & chrome "wet"(water-injected) stacks. EXTREMELY loud! Merc even built a T4 motor, which was the 3.4 Litre E.F.I, in 1982, which produced 340 H.P. Very few were produced. I rigged the first three "Offshore" versions ever produced, on the back of a 36'Carrera Offshore race boat named "Inferno", owned by Stan Pike. I also rigged the first three 2.4 Litre E.F.I. Offshores ever produced by Mercury in 1982 & many more that same year. Three out of every four motor's blew up within the first 1/2 hour of running, that first year. Anyway...I could go on and on...

ScreaminDemon

RonP - i second that motion. This guy, if he hasn't already, should be authoring a book that is straight to the facts, and telling it like it is...i would buy one...$49.95! How many members in here would buy this book? At least 20%? Do the math!!!