36ft Skater At Over 100mph
 

I took my first ride in a cat late yesterday afternoon. Man what a rush!!:cool:
The boat is a 2000 Douglas Skater that used to belong to team Yahoo.
It is powered with twin Merc 500HP EFIs running through Mercury racing #6 drives.
We ran from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs (Marthas Vineyard) in 3 to 4ft seas at over 90mph the whole way.
The boat has the most solid feel at that speed! When we would catch air the boat would just fly level feeling like you were on a cushion of air.
Upon our return "flight" as we entered Hyannis outer harbor we excellerated up to 105mph, WOW!!!
We turned around and headed back out onto Nantucket sound at which time I had the oppertunity to try my hand at the wheel, driving at over 95mph, had to be the most exciting boat ride that I have ever had.:) :) :)
I can't wait to go out for another ride like that!
The only thing is, my 28ft, 75mph Scarab is going to feel Slow!!
I gues I'll need to add a little more HP!!
:D

I'm hoping one day myself to enjoy something like that!!

Of course it will spoil me !!!

:D

Re: 36ft Skater At Over 100mph
 

You need to add a tunnel.

Maybeee...... a good winter project:D

Tom, who bought the Skater? I heard that Curtis got an outboard in trade for the Skater, what a difference.

The Yahoo 36' is a cool boat, the 6's slow the top speed but will keep the boat together in the rough stuff. I remember Yahoo's first 36 with Bravos, it was the fastest out there but the Bravos wouldn't stay together in the rough and bigger seas.

Curtis had that boat running very close to the Bravos in the flat. Look at Ft Meyers in 2001, the bravos couldn't pull away from him at the start and he stayed with them the entire race. In the rough there is no, NONE, Bravo boat of any kind that will stay with a 36 Skater running #6s.

Mr. Velocity,

You certainly are correct.

See Daytona 2001.

TulsaLarry,

The boat was bought by John Trotto from Cape Cod.
He traded a 30' motion cat with twin Merc outboards.
I met John thru work. His shop does all of the body work for our dealership, as well as my own vehicles.
The boat is awsome and John does an excellent job throttling it.
When I drove the boat last night, it had been the first time that I had driven a boat without having the throttle in my hand, what a feeling at 90+ mph in 3 to 4ft water. It was a blast!!

mr_velocity,

According to Mr. Hledin, the #6 boat is faster than the ones with bravos.

Who could forget Daytona '01, that race was not a matter of keeping the boats together, it was more of trying to keep the racer's bodies together. If I remember right Advil and alcohol were needed in large doses after the race.

Neither Curtis nor we could even come close to the Peppers 36 with Bravos, although he had imco boxes stacked on #6 boxes.
Other than top speed accelleration was not even close since we had to weigh 1000# more than the bravos.

A Bravo/XR boat will have a faster top speed than #6's. The Six drives suck up more horsepower but will live a lot longer. Rough water is where the Six's will really perform.

That was a tough race although I still think Corpus takes the most out of you.

I rode in one on the lake, calm water, at 150mph it was like sitting on my couch, with alot of wind of course. A ride in a Skater is something every boat enthusiast should enjoy at least once in his lifetime.

The drysump 6's don't suck more hp to the prop than Bravo's, in fact they draw less hp when comparing drive to drive. The main differences are in hydro-dynamic drag (long torpedo, big thick blade section props, large skeg), weight, and hp loss in the BW tranny. I contend that if the boats running 6's in SuperCat Light could have the same minimum weight, run thinned props, and run crash boxes instead of BW's, they would probably be more than competitive.

Tom R
 

So, how fast is Yahoo 2 with what load? I have the original Yahoo 1. It tops out between 108 and 114 (gps) depending on load, wind, etc.

John B

Speed
 

John B,

We had five people in the boat with 3/4 full fuel and hit just over 105gps. We took two passes running into Hyannis outer harbor, negotiating a little fishing & ferry boat traffic and just plane ran out of room to keep climing in speed.
John had been out a couple of hours earlier with 5 people on board with less than 1/2 load of fuel and was able to hit 109gps.
He feels that given the right conditions that it should run 112 or 113mph.

Tom, that's very respectable for a 6 drive 36. Curtis told me he was going to move the motors forward so the boat would fly level. I wonder if he had that done before John bought it. Thanks for the reply. Keep us informed.
JB:)

With the double verticle shafts I think the six does eat more HP. Then you have the transmission to deal with also.

The biggest problem with SCL boat weighing 1000#s more is acceleration. We got our clocks cleaned coming out of every turn. The Bravo boats would just pull away. As for the rules, man you read my mind.

Shane
 

With the extra weight of a 6 drive, plus the transmission, plus the bigger gears and prop, their is only one way a 6 boat will beat a Bravo in a similar hull. And that is the X dimension location which can change top speed more than 10 mph on a cat.:D

We can disagree;) JB

PS This seems to be the basis of the protest in Super Cat Light class at the NYC race. Bank Beaters (6's) was pulling away from the Bravo boats in the straights.:confused:

It may have been suggested his motors are superior.:eek:

John B,

The ONLY way I will disagree with you respectfully is to get a ride in that bad boy next summer!;) Hey, I have to go with what you say...YOU have a 36 I have only a 24 and can only speak from what I have on read from Skater. So, therefore, I will concede to you, an OWNER of a 36!:)

Shane
 

I keep the boat in Buffalo. We had it in the Thousand Islands Poker Run in 2000 and 2001. I would be happy to give you a ride.

:) JB

I think we are in agreement on everything except that the bigger gears and shafts in the "drysump" 6 cause more hp loss. I "know" that this isn't true. With the BW tranny the MC6 may be a wash to a slight hp loss disadvantage. Also the hp loss in drives is rpm sensitive. As you start turning the r's up above the normal 5200-5400, the MC6 gets a clear advantage over the Bravo (of course, how many are turning over 6000rpm with a Bravo!). Weight and drag are the main culprits. Think of how many people you could put in your boat to make up the difference in weight( about 425lbs per side). A huge skeg and props designed for 1000hp don't help!
As for racing, acceleration is really a huge drag problem. You are carrying an extra 1000 lbs to accelerate up to speed (is this the APBA number?), now that the boat is lower in the water, the full MC6 gearcase is dragging as well as more boat because of the extra weight, and now you have to accelerate up those massive props which might hookup too well at lower speeds which hold the engines down from peak torque rpm a little longer. If the intent of the APBA weight number is to keep the "boat" weight the same for safety purposes, why not allow lab finishing a standard prop to some spec and allow SCS lockout trannies (which also weigh less than BW's so the weight spec could change accordingly)?
I have heard comments that these boats handle at speed better with 6's, probably because of the skeg. Along with a huge improvement in reliability, it could be the choice for more if it were just a little closer in max speed. I don't think that it's really that far off, but to some a couple of mph is too much, especially when it costs more to go slower (although it's probably made up for in resale value and peace of mind).