well...if past performance is any indication of your future performance, You will not finish races.

Here is the question......can the boat be competitive in Class 4.....Yes.....but you may have to put in a little more HP.....But I hear you...that you don't want to ....but if OPA takes that approach and puts boats in the next class down becasue they don't or can't step the HP up...then they will find themselves with opening a can of worms with every other team...now do you not see your boat with a big advantage with a canopy racing against open cockpit boats in big water....so what happends is your at a disadvantage in big water in Class 4 with your boat but will be at a advantage in big water against Class 5 boats....

I think its great guys like Heater have come out to race OPA and OSS....hats off to him.....but if the boat is not compeditive in SVL...and is unsafe in calm water at 87 mph.....why not cut the lid of and run it as a open cockpit boat with no seat belts....its then like the F1 boats.....and you can run it at a safer speed.....

I don't speak for OPA in any way.....I'm just looking in from the ourside and can see how this one boat could open the doors for a number of complants for other teams in the future....

Heater....I hope some way things can be worked out some how so we can see you this year in OPA.....

Quote from Heater63
"Actually the boat is no longer in my hands,Its somewhere warm.I'm told it is finally breaking the 90mph mark and they think they can get a few more out of it.So I guess we'll just have to wait and see"

"last report 93.6"

So I think your speed may be a little understated. Also a bat boat is 22 x 4 or 88 spft and all have small blocks with 260hp -400hp.
Your are comparing 26 x 6 or 156sqft and 545 hp, not even close to apples to apples.

NO,,,its not,,,, but i learned something !!!! it the performance of the boat was changed dramaticly,,,,thats all i can say for now.

C-YA,,,behind me !!!! LOL

Gino, Thats the same argument I am making for the twin eng. 30 ft. plus boats in 5, which really is the topic of this discussion. Those boats can be competitive in 4 if they added more power. Maybe for Heater too. But they dont want to or cant afford to. So where do you draw the line? As I stated before. Everyone cant be happy. Enforce the rules to keep parity.

Bruce....I agree....I'm not that current on the twin engines in Class 5 other then the 2 O/B......that are running.....and its just my opion that I would not like to see twin engines in Class 5......Class 5 is a good entry class for single engine boats that are 27 - 30 feet....the speeds are safe at 75mph in a open cockpit boat.....and I like that Class 6 is there for boats at 26 feet and under.....at 70 mph. the speeds are very safe and if you have notivce there are very few ejections accuring with a lot of good racers pushing the limits..I think OPA found a great combination here for safety...the speeds can been safely run without putting a lot of teams over ther heads to keep up..plus...I like that its puts these boats in a good hp range that have good reliability.....it not a show if 15 boats start in Class 5 and 9 brake in the first 3 laps.....not to mention any names....but his initals are DAREDEVIL.....

I think another thing that needs to be looked at is that the OPA makes the final desision not the racers in that class.....just because the racers think its OK to let a boat in....dose not mean that it will bring in more boats to the class...it could also just do the oppisit.....we need to keep it simple.....and not change alot of rules to chace down a few more boats.....OPA has a open door to discussions.....and if someones boat dose not fit in....there are enough good people in OPA to find some sulutions to do something with out changing the rules...........

The foundation was set 3 years ago for OPA and there rules....and I'm not saying tweeking should never be done.....but if its not broke...don't fix it....

.....not to mention any names....but his initals are DAREDEVIL.....

OH boy ,,,,now u start with me aswell,,,,mmmmhhhhhh.

I need to figure something out now !!!

C-YA !!!

OH did i mension that i met some guy's from jersey down here ,,,they where def. lost though.

That aint right Scott! On my way down tomorrow have a cold beer ready

LOL

I think you ought to watch your mouth and respect your elders. Your a kid on a keyboard. You might get away with that talk in your house, with your dad. And thats fine. But learn some respect. You wont get very far talking like that in the real world. If you you want to play with the older kids ....GROW UP!!! Obviously you have no clue how lucky you are to be 15 and racing boats on someone else's dime. But understand these guys work very hard to make the money required to race boats, and in my opinion, they have the right to voice their opinions. You haven't earned that right yet.