ScottB

Mel, one more thing, with all due respect because I consider you Dave and your family friends. We grew up in this sport together when we new who was leagal and who wasn't and you should know me better, You guys got beat by Albert as well in Miami Boys, and I know his boat is set up to run 76 and change. So before you ***** about us running too fast and sandbagging, get your boys out testing so they can run your boat to its potential.

ScottB

Joey, we ran F1 last year and its no longer an option so our boat runs 78 and change so we ran P4. No one *****ing about illegal props, We are indirectly being accused of sandbagging and I am challenging anyone to get our boat to go 80

audacity

we'll if we are talking about sandbagging,,,,there are WAY bigger fish to fry out there! p-class is about run whatcha brung...not building purpose built boats for the class.

Ron P

The only people that ever use the word Sandbagging are people who have never raced in P class. They don't have a clue.

audacity

so ron...with out F class rules...i guaranteed F2-21 to run 100mph...what p class would that be??? why is it there are other F1 and F2 boats running p4 and 5??? ANY type of bracket racing is ABOUT sandbagging...shall we compare drag racing?!...see my point. sandbagging is just part of the game...just like bracket drag racing.

Offshore Addiction

ya gotta love the drama!mel the boats sittin here,haven't even pulled the drain plug,come on down for aride anytime,I saw herbotts weights,and his gps,and we just flat out beat wild ride,I know he was runnin hard,I saw him spin about 7 seconds behind us,and you don't spin if you ain't flyin,even you should know that,so you have a great day!


and scott,wha chu talkin about tired motor,shoot,It got your tail around that course!

Rob M

one thing that i think is important to notice is even though the difference between top and lap speeds that sbi is using is a good approach and is generally accurate, it won't apply to every race course. sarasota is a different course than any other due to its length. the straightaways are miles long, and most of the turns are less than 90 degrees. if a boat navigates the course properly, it can maintain top speeds (in ideal conditions) throughout most of each lap. the turns at the ends of the course will result in some reduction in average speed and when you make a turn you increase the distance you travel since the course was measured point-to-point and doesn't include the extra distance you travel by navigating on the outside. now if it were a rectangular course measuring 5 miles, the average lap speeds would drop 8-10 mph below top speeds because boats spend a larger percentage of the time turning and the extra distance traveled in the turns will be a greater percentage of the measured course distance. you need to consider the vector effects of velocity in turns to predict how lap speeds and top speeds will differ.

if the P4 boat in question is still F1-legal (engine, weight, etc.) it would have not exceeded the max top speed in any conditions imho. (though it did get disqualified from a P5 race back in 2000. )

on "illegal" props... all props are legal in P class, but race officials do need to prevent teams from running larger pitch props than what would normally be used on a boat that only goes so fast. for example, how much prop should it take to make a P5 boat go 70 mph? for most any performance boat 23" and absolutely no more than 25" should do it.

on sandbagging.... it is a term mentioned quite frequently by most P class racers... let's face it, it's just a more polite term for cheating. i think sandbagging has become such a common word in the P class ranks because it is a fairly common, and sometimes accepted (yes, even by race officials), practice.

ScottB

Rob, It did get DQ'd in 2000 but Al let his wife drive it and didn't want her to get hurt, he wanted her to go out and have fun. It still should have run P4, but your right, we can't break out in any conditions considering it still has the same motor from back then

Offshore Addiction

ya it did get d'Qued back in 2000,good memory,the boat was brand new at the fountain race,and we ran the P-5 becuase thats where dee put us,I think it was due to the fact we had been running P-5 in our old boat,but also remember,jobes had beaten me in sarasota,while driving and throttling a 27 baja P-5 illegally,and I never protested at sarasota the month before,so when he creid to mike a. in washington,I let tomilson know about it and his boat was also d-qed..we had planned on running factory that race,but the boats were turning some severe speeds and we didn't want to get in someones way,especially after just climbing out of the formula!thats good to see people remeber though,that really impresses me!

ScottB

They should just implement a challenge rule. If a top three boat is suspected of breaking out, get an APBA official to go for a ride with a GPS and see how fast it goes.
Most of them are experienced x racers anyhow. It can work the other way too.
If you feel you got dq'ed by a GPS spike and you know your boat can't break out, challenge that as well and prove it to the officials. Any boats that have a challenge against them must stay in the water until this is completed.