Well I have only been in a car at those speeds. 172 MPH at Datona and that little bump in the 4th turn felt like the car was gonna fly off the road.

Just can not imagine what 180 feels like when you hit a 2' chop.

Water force or pressure vs speed:
50mph = 36psi
75mph = 81psi
100mph = 145psi
125mph = 226psi
150mph = 326psi
175mph = 443psi
200mph = 579psi !!!
Think about it!

Its extremely fast......we all know that....

in a cat the faster you go the sensation that the water is causing the boat to react is replaced by the sensation of flight. it's kinda spooky when you feel the boat start to be influenced more by the wind than the water!

The drag boat guys figured it out years ago. They were going past 200 decades ago and many died. They came to a conclusion that crashes were going to be frequent and have perfected capsules to give the drivers a decent chance of survival. I got hooked on performance boats years ago in a blown flatbottom. Started racing it at age 15. My dad and I put it together and I drove most of the time. I learned a lot about the "edge". To know where the edge is you have to approach it. The only way in my opinion to learn 200 mph boat driving is in the controlled setting of racing where boats are enclosed with all available safety equipment and emergency support. We dabbled in it for a while and came to realize all to many of the really pro people were getting killed. I knew I wasn't willing to take such a great risk.
Now break away capsules have saved many drivers. The break away design is something I think that the offshore boats should consider after analyzing the failures that killed the Class 1 drivers recently.
Matt's point is exactly right. Not many people have been there and it is incredible that pleasure type boats can achieve this speed. This speed requires a whole new level of skill set that I hope the owners take time to master......
I had dinner with Bob Teaque last Fall. He told me he rides in the boat with no one. If he's in the boat he's going to be driving....Think he's well aware of the risk.

i just wonder if collectively one day boat manufacturers and engine builders will say thats fast enough......they did with the superbikes after they rolled out suzuki hayabusa which went insanely fast. now i no these 2 environments are oceans apart as far as making comparisons,way to much $$$ in the boating bus not to continue to push the envelope but man im actually surprised there havent been more accidents whike running in the triple digits.

really cool reading the thoughts from you guys who can run that fast, gives me white knuckles just thinking about running at 150 and then seeing a few large waves from a monster yacht that just rolled by a couple minutes before. do u even have time to react ..........

Paintman,
About waves, I always assume there could be one so I never drive faster than I am comfortable crossing one unless I know there's not one there. How do I know?. I will cruise down the lake observing conditions, if it looks good, I will turn around and drive the same path back and let it rip. If I see much traffic especially PWC's it is a no go.

I am also very picky about where we go real fast and if there are other boats or jet ski’s around we back off. At 100+, stuff comes at you so fast. I don't think people on the waterways ever think about a boat approaching at these speeds, so they don't look that far out. I always think about who is with me and who is on the other vessel we are overtaking. The wave that comes out of nowhere is alway the one I worry about. You ask yourself, what made that roller?

I'm still thinking about that guy going 170 through the dessert.

Been around Daytona 100's of times on motorcycles, you should go though 4 on a 180+hp F-USA bike. Trap speed at the line was 186-191 depending on draft, the front wheel is off the ground for a while over that bump in 4, about the time you think you are going to hit the wall you get the front back on the ground.Do that lap after lap never gets boring. Been right around 200 on some turbo Busa'a and ZX14's, and 180's in some race cars. Allmost everytime on a track, I have no real need to go over 100ish in a boat, not with people on it or other people not knowing whats going on around them. Just not worth the risk for me anyway in a 250k-1.mil in a boat, I can jump on a 10k motorcycle get my fix then go relax on my boat and not crash it.