Bilgerat

Gino, do you really call that "beat up on" ?? the thing has more power in it than the space shuttle, and i hope you agree certainly capable of much higher than class 4 OPA speeds, ( do you also remember what that boat did in cambridge ?? speed wise ?? ) I think those hulls with the 525 like Bruce's provide some good positive competition in class 4, his 30' won in the rough of Point Pleasant ( not by much ) and the 34' has won in the smooth waters of Cambridge ( again not by much ) and i believe everyone is having a blast, but again ? " beat up on" ?
Hometown Mortgage 525 boat, and miklos 525 boat both tied for the Chattanooga Closed course record. Had a tie Breaker run, These are running 95 down the straights, give or take. one boat runs the race in class 4 ( to race Bruce ) the other in Class 3. and the A class boat with a lil more than a 525 in class 4 ??

MANITIE

Bilgerat...sorry.... it was a figure of speach....I always joke with the Simmons team....
I don't no exactly what HP they have in the boat...but I do know the boat was just sitting around and Art Lilly wanted to race with his son and asked if he could run the boat....
But problably not more HP then some Class 5 or 6 boats....

We all know Art is one of the best....but I don't know how much seat time his son has racing....but if we put them in 5 footers...I think the outcome would have been different...
...I will joke teams like Simmons racing and say things like beat up....but I hope we again look at the big picture....if there is a problem or concern with a teams HP or speed we should take it up with Smitty....he has a open door policy and when we have the opertunity to get a new racer out and another who is a great asset to the sport....
its not the 1st time a new racers comes out with a little more HP then others to see what they got....

We are racing against boats the same size with 750's and 850's...they have some advantages in certain conditions and us in others....but its still close racing...in the calm us and Wanted will get beat...in the ruff Wanted and us will be out front....

I could give you a list of boats top speeds if they are set up for a kilo run...and it will baffel you how fast a lot of boats are...but its because they are speed runs...boats are set up with there drives producing the least amount of drag with a big wheel that takes them forever to get up to speed

Outside of Wanted...we would be the slowest boat on a kilo run even with us putting big wheels and a 1:35 gear on...with the other teams doing the same...but yet us and Wanted ran up front in the majority of races this year...

I hope you understand....this is not taking sides on anything...
Bruces SVL is a little slower then other SVL's....but he still comes on out and lets his racing abilitys try to overcome that differance...and at the same side Simmions has been racing that boat since it was racing in F2 in 2000...so he is going to be tough to beat...he know that boat inside and out....

Bilgerat

I agree completely with all that you have said. and new comers are important to the sport. One sure wouldn't want to put in a new racer and get them in a class that would have em in over their head ( speed wise ). I also am amazed at how close some of the competition is with such different style of boats and such different power combinations. That is what makes the OPA so much fun.

MANITIE

I have to agree...even as close of racing we had in F1....I have never been in so many races deck to deck then this year with so many different teams...

thedonz

I'm still smarting from the spanking Miklos gave me in KW last year! I'm bringing a wind machine this year........

MIAMIBOYZ

Miklos got his wish last year in Key West, dead flat water. We are hoping for a big change in weather this year. After winning on Wednesday when it was a moderate chop, Miklos got the best of us on Friday and Sunday buy three boat length from the start. Gary can turn that boat perfect at every turn, no mistakes....

Xtremeracing

Albert,
I'm sure you guys will be ready for all comers this year, should prove interesting.

thedonz

.........ahhhhh, but we have a little sum'n, sum'n for them this year, don't we Al.......??????????

Wazzup Racing

You better have more than A little sum'n. I hope the water is BIG. Which one ya want to race, the Coupe, or the Convertable?

fastedy

do we need to add P's to our numbers, Also, will we be running both GPS Systems, The OPA and SBI or must we have the SBI System.

Eddie