Old Shadow Hull
03-07-2002 | 08:54 AM
#21
Registered
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,548
Likes: 1
From: Niskayuna, NY
THANKS!
Gentlemen,
And I use that term loosely! It has been great to read about the history of these legendary craft. You mention names that bring back memeories of days hangin in the shop of Dick O'Dea with my
father. He and Dick grew up togeher and raced hydro's together. I grew up with and am still good friends with Dick's daughter. You guys are really neat and I have immensely enjoyed both of these
threads. I didn't know when I was racing the Pennzoil boat in 1996 it had such a rich history prior to Nicky Cutro owning it.
Thanks again guys!
Shane
And I use that term loosely! It has been great to read about the history of these legendary craft. You mention names that bring back memeories of days hangin in the shop of Dick O'Dea with my
father. He and Dick grew up togeher and raced hydro's together. I grew up with and am still good friends with Dick's daughter. You guys are really neat and I have immensely enjoyed both of these
threads. I didn't know when I was racing the Pennzoil boat in 1996 it had such a rich history prior to Nicky Cutro owning it.
Thanks again guys!
Shane
03-07-2002 | 09:49 AM
#22
Thread Starter
Registered
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
From: washington NC, USA
Im ready for it who else is game!!
Hey T2X I can think a couple phrases to compliment your reply concerning Peter.
(A) Competition makes the race world go round
(B) If Its anything worth doing it's worth working hard to make it happen.
Top Of the morning to ya Gentleman.
Ken Jr.
(A) Competition makes the race world go round
(B) If Its anything worth doing it's worth working hard to make it happen.
Top Of the morning to ya Gentleman.
Ken Jr.
03-07-2002 | 04:58 PM
#24
Allergic to Nonsense
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 5,007
Likes: 21
From: Granite Quarry, NC
Most efficient hull I ever heard of...easy question.......... a Switzer "wing". 19 feet long 8 feet wide twin 125 BP "stacker" outboards (270 total horsepower) ....... Stone age props (circa 1967).............. 115 mph.
Nothing else even comes close
Nothing else even comes close
03-09-2002 | 08:00 PM
#25
Guest
Posts: n/a
TX2 - BIG QUESTION - the shadow and chris cat ran very successfully and of course, the Skater is the most dominating hull to date, BUT, without saying that there are more Skaters than the Shadow/ChrisCats, haven't the Skater KILLED a lot of people? It seems to me the Shadow/Chris design is MUCH, MUCH safer, and the speeds back then were fast (El Boss, King Sting, and so on)...just VERY curious as to you take on this. So?
03-10-2002 | 10:24 AM
#26
Gold Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 232
Likes: 0
From: Norwalk, CT
My two cents (for what its worth):
Having been racing on and off for fifteen or so years, it is my observation that boats per se don't kill people, but boats run BEYOND the limits of the particular hull design and/or the skills of the riding crew CAN and HAVE killed people. The bottom line is that the wheel and throttles are in the hands of the crew, who are ultimately responsible for what happens. If you race safely, you have a much better chance of coming home safely. If you race out of control, your odds of coming home safely are greatly reduced. Its just common sense.
That having been said, it is my observation and experience that the Chris/Shadow design is EXTREMELY forgiving, whereas the Skater is not. I was formerly a Chris-Craft dealer and sold many of the Chris-Cats as pleasure and race boats, and campaigned a Chris-Cat pro-stock boat for many years. While not as fast in flat water as a 32' Skater, it was a PHENOMENAL rough water boat which tended to run "through" waves. With its large "impact" areas on the front of the sponsons and "spoon" in the tunnel, it was very forgiving if you made a mistake. The Skater 32' tended to be "flown" on top of the waves, and was therefore not as forgiving to crew error.
As I am new to these forums, I just am offering my opinions and observations, and not claiming to be any kind of "expert". I would be interested in other people's experiences with these two great designs.
Tom
Having been racing on and off for fifteen or so years, it is my observation that boats per se don't kill people, but boats run BEYOND the limits of the particular hull design and/or the skills of the riding crew CAN and HAVE killed people. The bottom line is that the wheel and throttles are in the hands of the crew, who are ultimately responsible for what happens. If you race safely, you have a much better chance of coming home safely. If you race out of control, your odds of coming home safely are greatly reduced. Its just common sense.
That having been said, it is my observation and experience that the Chris/Shadow design is EXTREMELY forgiving, whereas the Skater is not. I was formerly a Chris-Craft dealer and sold many of the Chris-Cats as pleasure and race boats, and campaigned a Chris-Cat pro-stock boat for many years. While not as fast in flat water as a 32' Skater, it was a PHENOMENAL rough water boat which tended to run "through" waves. With its large "impact" areas on the front of the sponsons and "spoon" in the tunnel, it was very forgiving if you made a mistake. The Skater 32' tended to be "flown" on top of the waves, and was therefore not as forgiving to crew error.
As I am new to these forums, I just am offering my opinions and observations, and not claiming to be any kind of "expert". I would be interested in other people's experiences with these two great designs.
Tom
03-10-2002 | 10:41 AM
#27
Guest
Posts: n/a
The crew is operating the boat, but racing on water means you are dealing with 2 unstable conditions - water and wind. This does make the Skater a much more dangerous boat since it seems to be working more on aerodynamics where the shadow/chris designs worked more on hydrodynamics. The shadow/chris design allowed the boat to act simular to a vee design in rough water and still have the speed of a cat. I believe the Skaters are faster due to the advanced construction, both materials and technology. If there was a modern version of the shadow/chris built today, Skater couldn't touch it. Advanced, to me, would be better materials and slight changes to the bottom to compensate for a lighter boat. So, yes, the Skater is much more dangerous than the shadow/chris.
03-10-2002 | 12:29 PM
#30
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Posts: n/a
must be spiders in the cable modem or something. Anyhow just want to ask the board about the Awesome cats. I currently have one and am quite happy with it. It handles just as I remember the Chris Cat did when i raced.( Many moons ago) Some of you guys may remember the boat. Originally called Instigator, riged by kurts. Later ran as Wild Turkey. I have to agree that although maybe not as fast as the newer Skaters, back in its day it was still the boat to beat. Even speaking to previous ownersof similar boats Shadows etc. (jim d King Sting etc. ) Most have good things to say about design/handling of these era boats.
