Great ,you guys are right on time with this class 5 or p5 debate!,many of the SBI teams have been making noise about some changes to their class or revamping the F-1 class? Only speaking for the CRAZY CHICKEN team which will be an active part of OPA this year I would like to see the class keep the strong boat count that it has been able to and that will only be done if you keep the 700+hp engines singles in their right classes.Everyone knows that bracket racing is all about acceleration, team setup and cockpit performance,clearly there are boats that run well above the 75 mph cap but are somewhat handicapped running against longer twin engine class 4 boats !!! Without turning this into spec class racing maybe the speed cap can be raised a few #s maybe 80mph ? this would at least make the cockpit crew work a little harder and would take away from the big HP packages from having such dominating acceleration at the starts,just my 2cents. PS, I respect the 3 year rule plan that OPA has in place, not trying to buck the system just my thoughts as a fellow racer. Randy can't wait to see you next year "BEHIND US"

How about average lap speed then? I think that is what POPRA does. Now the advantage is on the boat that can power thru the corner and a steady throttleman for the straights. Just a thought!

Dave

The POPRA system of average lap speed plain a$$ sucks. Smitty is on the right track with the GPS for tracking breakouts and testing boats for proper classification. Average Lap Speed quickly turns into checkbook racing. Mega horsepower and high torque to go 75 MPH. Why?

Man just tech em and run WOT! I'll never quit beating this drum!

Excuse me...contrary to popular belief, Smitty did not invent GPS P-Class racing...the credit goes to Bob Bull when he iintroduced GPS data recording into the SBI/APBA Rules. With his experience with the Garmin GPS units...he was way ahead of the curve on that one.

Smitty/OPA was a copy cat....but it WAS a smart move.

their are 3 things to control hp. 1 cid of engine 2. cylinder head flow 3. compression ratio. if you control those 3 things everyone would be very close. this allows for you to use any engine builder and is alot more easy to control. two of those are very easy to check by pumping the engine. the cylinder head would have to be a spec head and could be several diffrent makes an intake runner cc would have to be set.
but with the break out rule i do not see a need for policing.

It is kinds funny, every year this conversation is had and every year small changes are made. How long will it be before we are back to

P4= 79.9 top speed
P5= 69.9 top speed
P6= 59.9 top speed

It seems to me that used to be the case and the same boats were racing against each other. Changing the numbers does not change that.

Although it does seem wierd to me that in 04 we could win P4 races with the bat boat and now I see them running in 6. Does not make sense to me.

Honestly I think propping down makes you a big ***** and you should be ashamed of yourself. Run the boat as hard as you can.

Individuals who prop down are not racers, racers push the limits of their equipment.

With the speed changes of the divisions it appears the bat boat is now a class 5 boat, thus that is what we will run with the new engine which has a bit less power than the last one had.

Looking forward to this coming season.

The more you post the more we become friends.

Thanks, how about you bring the family over for dinner?

Joker,

I hope your putting an F1 boat together.

J