Normal speeds
 

If you have a boat running GPS speeds right at 70mph.

How often on a river do you think people will be able to beat you?


I know most boats stay around 50. but what about the average sport boat that has a little more motor?

Depends on the RIVER:D

no doubt , at 65 on the Potomac river i get passed almost every weekend , hopefuly this year i will make it a little harder for em to do , building bigger power

at 70 miles an hour your faster then most under 80k production boats , but few "go fast guys" are ever happy with stock power , a blower or procharger is the kick that puts those people out front , and convincing me to spend more bucks :(

We boat on the Chain-O-Lakes in Illinois which is home to a lot of fast boats. I have a deck boat that run 33 mph and at that speed 80% of the family boats do not pass me cruising. 70mph will probably be an average speed of a sport boat So very few boats will be going by you. It takes 100 mph to be sure that only a handful of boats will be going around you.

Unless you're Ken Warby, someone else is always going to be faster.

Is there enough room on the Chain to enjoy a 47' Fountain?

Great responses.

FYI
I boat on the tennessee river. Mostly between guntersville dam, and Decatur. sometimes go up to guntersville, and have taken trips to chatanooga, and to pickwick. so that the normal areas. most people will race out od the dam and back. so i feel a ture 70mpg boat will run with the best of them, and I will have no worries aobut it breaking becasue ita a bone stick 454 mag. but if i did by a whipple 454 boat i think no one could touch it up here. (runs 82)

Someone will always "touch" it!

been on the the chain my whole life, lots of fun. i'd run a 47' if i had the $.. i have a 30' scarab run about 75-76mph. funny though, i sure pass alot of guy's that say they do 80+.

Close enough for me to bring my Pachanga this summer! Don't freak when ya see a blue streak go by! :D

I have never been there, but the Tenn River to me seems to be on the small side. I just assume putting a 47' Fountain there is a joke :)
Having boated on the lower Potomac between D.C. and the 301 Bridge (near Enforcer24) for 20 years, I can tell you that 90% of the boats cannot go past 60 mph. Maybe 8% can touch the high 60's, and that leaves 2% that can make it past 70.

Most of the 60mph + boats are higher powered bass boats, those with 200hp and higher outboards, but they dont tend to venture that often below Quantico due to the river chop on all but the calmest days.

But then you get the few Fountains and other go-fasts that sometimes get past 80, and the odd marine mechanic with the huge Fountain or Velocity with twin 1000 hp motors that might hit 100 or so...they just aint that common- I think I can recall fewer than 10 true 90mph+ boats on that area of the river (maybe a 40-50 mile span- any farther south and there are just much fewer boats). I called out the guy who owns the shop at Ft. Washington Marina to race- we were passing each other in the approach to the marina, and we raced. Me and my 330 hp stock Velocity with the Torque Shift got him slightly out of the whole, and I lead him up to about 50, where he rapidly overtook me to at least 85 mph before he backed off. It turns out his 23' Stingray had a 600 hp engine, while I was topping out in the high 60's at the time. But I was young :) I gave him the salute he deserved (a real one, not a middle finger) and started planning on my revenge.

I do recall a 24' HTM, blown, that hung around Tim's Rivershore that was an honest 100 mph boat, and there was a approx. 30' Skater with twin Merc 3.6 I believe- I think he could break 90 at least.

But to get back on point, my opinion is that there are few boats that can break an honest GPS measured 70 mph. Now that I am on the Chesapeake, I think the numbers are still accurate percentage wise, its just that there are more total boats. But dont go by OSO !! You have a skewed population- most of the guys here are way faster. My Velocity tops out at 75 mph on a good day, while my Searay struggles to inch past 40.

Dogturd21 (love the name)
any given sunday at Tims II in fairview , i can point out at least 40 boats that will break 80 mph (real speed , not speedo) , in fact there radar runs usually get a dozen boats that get tripple digits
how big is your Velocity?
me and a few friends raced with a velovity last year , 22-23 foot with a blower motor , he took me but wasnt able to catch my buddies 28 Eliminator with the 540 blower motor
your not the same guy right?

Well, I doubt it was me- I pretty much have the boat on permenant loan to my brother who uses it occasionly in that neck of the woods (DC to Quantico/Mattawoman). Its a 1987 23' with a 450 hp unblown 454 with a Alpha SS drive- I actually have the engine tuned back a bit (except on special occasions) cause I am afraid of blowing the drive. Red- badly faded red at that. I stick to the Annapolis area now with my Searay. My Velocity is the type of boat Joe Dirt would feel right at home on....kick ass motor, drive and hull with the 3-tone primer paint job and the Hurst Shifter below the fuzzy dice.

I used to go to Tim's all the time- I just dont see that many honest 80+ mph boats. Plenty of 60's though. I wonder how fast that ultralight plane with the pontoons would go? Is that still at Tim's ? Gawd, the p*ssy at Tim's on a weekend ...what it sometimes lacks in quality it more than makes up for in quantity.

Ah- thinking about it, I dont go to Tim's II at Fairview that often, mostly Tim's I closer to Quantico (Dumfries ?) Freeking Tim is a gawd-dam genius if u ax me. And the food is decent too. And one of those tables has a photo of my wife looking good.....for those not familier with Tim's, he has photos of good looking girls (and some family photos too) laminated onto the tables.

Funny !!

Around here in the Northeast, a true 70 mph will get you past 99% of what floats.

A true 70 on my river will get yo ass killed!

Hah, running in the low 70's on Center Hill lake will get your ass smoked by Kenny's Baja. It will send you back to the house to get your checkbook and some big power from Eddie.:cool-smiley-027:

Ah so thats what started this.............

Alot of guys do 90 also, but they are always behind me on the Chain!!! :p

They must have those +10 speedos!! :D

LOL. That's great.



Darrell.

Got passed once and It cost me $100K and 3 years.

Ya know, the question of average speed is an interesting one. We boat on the lower Colorado river. And there are plenty of VERY fast river boats out there( 9sec, 140mph 1/4 mile). But if I were to guess a true average boat speed, I think it would be somewhere in the 50's. Most all ski and wakeboard boats are under 50(mid 40's) and MOST runabouts are mid 50's That leaves hot rodders and performance boats to run over the 60mph mark. And that's a much smaller percentage of boats out there.


Darrell.

I totally agree with you Dmoore.

I'm staying in Nashville to keep my record intact! You'll have to come find me to put that Donzi spanking on me!!!!

Oh I am sure that I will come up and hang at Nashville some.