302 nice video. Are they the same engines in the boat now? Is the Sutphens owner the same guy racing it in the video? That Powerplay is kickin azz and takin names!!!!

no, the engines in the boat were the old b-class engines which were 499CI i think and made about 600hp. my engines now are 540's and are making anywhere between 550-600hp. that video is from the mid 90's so none of the owners are the same. Also, my boat won the national championship in b-class that year i think

How cool is that tsunami and your boat racing in key west and both are here in CT now.

Must be nice to have a race boat someday you'll have a family boat like I have.

Theres a reason mine has the compromize name on it.LOL

I have fishing mota's on mine compared to you guys a lowly 300HP

300HP....X2 ! Did you get it up to speed going to Claudios????

yeah opened it up a couple short bursts.

Still need to get used to the set up on her. theres so much adjustability to the thing its almost too much.

Kinda like a 4 link in a drag car. you can get yourself into trouble theres so much range.

heres some pics in this thread and you can see all the adjustment in the jack plate.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...ome-today.html

Actually got it into some nasty chine walk at one point and that was the end of messing with it for the day.LOL

The boat is TOTALLY different to drive than my 26 sutphen OB.

I need Jimmy (james gang) to school me on the 31 hull I think.

Practice makes perfect !!!!!

I am no wild man in a boat maybe in a Drag car but I would put Jimmy Knowles and ernie (BOXER) up against just about any other make in there sutphens out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V4H_CEyHxI

heres some sutphen info:

In the archives of boating, the name Sutphen is as old as the weathered hull of early sailing ships. It’s a name that traces back at least five generations to origins in Holland. In this country, three generations ago Henry R. Sutphen gave the name real meaning. As vice president of Elco, America’s leading builder of cruise boats in Bayonne, NJ he was one of a select group of boat builders the British called upon for navel defense advice. The year was 1915. And it was apparent that the British were taking the brunt of the German’s submarine force. Sutphen suggested the British outfit themselves with a substantial number of armed, high-speed 80-ft. motor launches (Mls )The British liked the idea-so much that they ordered 50 such boats....provided Sutphen’s firm could deliver them all within the year. An order that size is enough to give pause to any shipbuilder, and especially so 90 years ago. Even today, large boat builders rarely turn out more than one boat per week.

Just twenty days after signing a contract with Elco, the “Lusitania” was sunk and the British upped their order to 550 boats within 448 working days. Later, during World War II, Henry Sutphen was again called upon to design efficient high-speed torpedo boats and the Elco team turned them out by the hundreds. This time they were for the U.S. Navy, and one of them included John Kennedy’s PT 109.

Among the shipbuilders at Elco at the time was another family member, Samuel Sutphen, a young married man and father of a young son, Richard. After the war ended, the ardent wish of almost everyone was a quick return to normalcy. People wanted to pickup their lives where they’d left off before the war, turned things upside down. For Sam Sutphen, the answer was in owning his own marina where he could build any kind of boat he wanted but at his own speed. There in Lake Hopatcong, NJ, he turned out fishing boats, sail boats, speed boats... even an occasional barge. And inevitably by his side was his son Richie, father and son, elder teaching younger like a sponge soaking up everything his dad showed him about how to be a master boat builder. That’s where the knowledge for plug and mold building became etched in his mind for use in later years



“When fiberglass hit the market I started racing skiboats, then hydros. In the early 60’s I competed all over North America” he recalls. He drove boats for factory teams and himself; seat time in 165+MPH boats gave him a look at a new dimension, persistence. That’s where he developed his skills for what was to come...his own company, he continued to work out of his dad’s marina till 1965. It was then that he made the decision to break away and devote all his time and energies to manufacturing fiberglass boats. “If you are to build something unique, you had better have the ability to do it on your own merits and not copy someone else’s design which is so prevalent in this industry.



It wasn’t until sometime in 1971, he says, that he hit upon the idea of designing ocean racers. This would require different kind of hull-one designed for speed and durability. He mulled the idea over for several years, but didn’t begin building an offshore boat until 1974 the year he moved his operation to Cape Coral, Florida. Richie acknowledges the move from the lakes up north to the choppy waters of the Gulf of Mexico were probably responsible for his advent into offshore racing, but his intent was to build offshore pleasure boats.

His shift to the design and building of offshore racing machines met with quick success. “Our first attempt was production class I felt so confident, I throttled never having done that before and won, “ he says. Richie Sutphen became nationally recognized as one of the foremost designers and builders of offshore ocean racers in 1978 a Sutphen boat “GREAT ADVENTURE” won nine consecutive national races sanctioned by American Power Boat Association...a record unparalleled in offshore racing history.



Sutphen’s are unique not only because of their performance but because they’re structurally more sound. Their hull strength and superior design make them infinitely more seaworthy. “The real difference is in the bottom of the boat,” Richie says. The most unique aspect of Sutphen-built hulls is Richie’s own lamination method. Today we use vinyl ester and Knytex glass and he chooses to sandwich marine plywood specially designed for the marine industry between fiberglass laminates in the bottom of the boat. He also uses aerospace material in the deck and sides to maximize strength and prevent fracture under extreme impact. Although cost prohibitive, he believes the use of full-length stringers, bulkheads placed and bonded in strategic locations and the use of the deck and floor as an integral part of the hull, produces an exceptional performance boat - one designed to withstand the same abuse that offshore race boats are built to take on today’s racing circuits.



Chris and Rich SUTPHEN in their 38 Open class boat at the 1981 SUTPHEN INTERNATIONAL OFFSHORE RACE

But that’s not the only difference. “Our hulls are also designed with a deeper vee for superior performance ”Richie explains. “It’s a different approach - not only is it deeper, but it has to do with where the vee is.” And he knows precisely where the vee belongs on his boats although he rarely puts designs on paper. Richie Sutphen has a sixth sense when it comes to boats, an ability to transform design to performance. “I grew up building boats that’s why twenty-five plus years ago we won our first Offshore World and National Championships. Through the years with teams like Harrah’s Megabucks, Buckshot , Tsunami , Boxer and Team Sutphen we continue with the tradition of still winning championships.

In 1987 TEAM SUTPHEN found a new challenge, with the earlier experience in hydroplane racing they decided to build a Turbine Unlimited complete with T55 Lycoming engine program at their boat factory. Without a national sponsor TEAM SUTPHEN ran a limited number of events, including the 1988 GOLD CUP in Evansville, Indiana. With driver Mike Hanson, the SUTPHEN SPIRIT U-66 received a first and third place in eliminations. And went on to finish 2nd for the GOLD CUP to Chip Hanauer in the CIRCUS-CIRCUS.



RACE BOATS HONOR ROLL

INFERNO S-1 * GREAT ADVENTURE P-1 *
BUSCH M-1 * HARRAHS C-1 *

SUTPHEN # 88 ^ TEAM SUTPHEN F2-1 * TSUNAMI 1 * BUCKSHOT *

Very interesting reading! Great history. I always liked Sutphens. Always heard they were great rough water boats. Never been in one. Im a big fan of the flat decks. You dont see many, but when you do, they are recognizable and unique. BUT, nobody on this thread was questioning sutphens integrity ....or the integrity of the people that own them! You made a small mistake by judging people and their boats because of the brand of boat they own, and then posting it, KNOWING that a handful of Cig owners are on this thread! Your allowed to have your opinion of Cig owners/boats, but dont get defensive when they stick up for themselves. I may have accepted a " I was just joking/ dont be so sensitive" plea, put you have made post after post saying negative things about Cigarette boats and their owners, so your true feelings are shining through! Even funnier, now your giving us the history of Sutphen and challenging boat races with your friends boats??? Us Cig owners will gladly accept your apology and gladly accept you back into our performance boat club !!!!! Tag...your it.

the truth hurts

I edited my post, that statement was removed. I reread the whole thread and realized that MOST of the thread was in good fun! So stop causing trouble or the Sutphen boys will turn on you next !!!