We're loosely on the same page Wil, but I have a scenario that I want you to keep in mind. I agree that you can get a minimum of 100 hours on a rebuild, however on my yearly maintenance program I change out the electric fuel pump, ok no biggie, but I also send my injectors out to get cleaned as well. This ethanol stuff is killing me. The only way to get to my injectors is to break the top seal. Knowing the fact that Mercury will only provide seals or a reseal is if they do a complete rebuild at a cost of $10,000.00. Now to do a general maintenance on my motor that should only cost me $300.00 for the injector cleaning, I have to pay $10,000.00 to get a freshen that I dont need? That scenario is only an example, but as I said before if I have my motor freshened, I would much rather have Crockett, Scorpion, Saris, Innovation or Wazzup do the work as they have proven that they show up and support the organizations and the work they provide. Mercury does NOT support any organization anymore, why are we putting money in their pockets. Mercury does build a hell of a motor, but last I checked, all of the engine builders I named can easily get Mercury parts and build it back to spec and I promise you, at a more affordable cost.

Lets keep the productive dialogue up, cant wait to see ya in Key West, my job allows me the luxury of being able to afford going, oh and remind me to get up with Muller as I need to thank him for the advice he gave me on having a successful Landscape business

As far as I know no one with a sealed 525 has had to have there injectors sent out for cleaning. Even with a rebuild they don't do that as far as I know. 100-200 plus hours then rebuilt and put back on a dyno and I have never heard them call someone and say your injectors were bad. Maybe the guy's charging you $300 are laughing like the rest of us.

It would be great to see a uniform set of rules developed.I think long term, SUPER VEE (LIGHT) has the potetnial to be the featured class for the sport.The boats look and run great.And with the relative affordability when compared to the other classes, the potetntial for alot of boats certainly exists.Can you imagine a competitive fleet of 20 SVs ?That would be something that that the fans would want to see and that sponsors would be interested in.

I agree Hendo !!!!!!!

I think with the new technology that is out there today and the new boat that should be done for next yr you will see the class growing and the rules cant exclude them this is the futhure of the class. There is some new teching that will be looked at in KW, very simalar to the new Superboat class,. They had issues for yr growing the class also, now with the motor changes and the reliability that they have shown plus the strong teching you have some great racing and much better boat count. We have to look to the futhure and try and not make the same mistakes that classes have made in the past. It has to be cost effective to race with reliable power , solid schedule, prize money , and the boats will come. The 3-4 new teams that i have spoken to that are looking to race next yr are excited and said this looks like the time has come for them to get invollved in the class. There is still alot to be done but it is work in progress with good things in the futhure

Thats great news.While I understand the wow factor of the UNLIMITED and SUPER CAT classes; I never see those classes having a real large boat count for obvious reasons.The 15 boat SUPER CAT days are most likely never coming back.This is not only true here in the U.S, but around the world.UIM CLASS 1 used to have 20 plus boats in its heyday..now 5 or fewer seems to be the norm. It would be great to see some of the big teams in the sport look to field a SUPER VEE(LIGHT)..or maybe more than one!I think that the SV class is also ideally suited to the shorter tighter courses that are now the trend in offshore powerboat racing.Competitive and exciting racing with a large field of equally matched boats needs to be the goal.

Hopefully we will see a 10 fleet in the Superboat fleet next yr, it is slowly coming back witch is a good sign best in yrs.

"Instead of being cryptic, I'll just come out and say it. Kevin runs a very successful 100 year old multi-million dollar business, Pirate has a very successful Liquor store, You yourself Wil have invested into several businesses the past few years. Point is you are all VERY successful businessmen in the real world, and obviously have figured out how to survive in the bad times as well as make more in the good times. Why, with all of your impressive resumes, do ya'll follow a complete moron? "


Trent, I don't really know where you're goin with this?? You don't know jack sh*t about me, my business, or my family.. In your statement you make it sound like we all have these high end budgets and deep pockets to support our boats in this class, and the reason we are dealing specifically with Merc is because we're loaded??? My family's business supports my racing with spirit, not financially whatsoever.. I support my racing with businesses That I have built by myself.. They do well, but this is no multi million dollar company to field a race team with unlimited funds.. I am a blue collar guy who busts his ass to make a comfortable living.. I have no kids, no wife, no alimony checks, etc (probably making me the smartest person in the class), so I may have a little more in the budget to throw at the race boat than others..
The key reason myself and many others in this class chose SVL is because of our budget, lifestyle, and the longevity of the equipment.. This is an affordable class overall and the racing is awesome.... Now this year was a bad example because of all the carnage in our class, but if you take out all of the fiberglass repair that us, Lilly, Typhoon, Wild Ride, Pirates, & Phantom 9 had to endure, you basically buy the boat, lay out the initial hit for the motor, run for a solid 4 seasons plus with minimal maintenance, and occasionally pop a drive.. Look at how many teams were unable to come back because of the hits, physically and to the wallet... Take out this season, now how many races have teams been able to run with little or no breakdowns??? Quite a few.. My team is set up for the long run.. I want to race for as long as my body or budget will allow, and this class is the ticket..
As far as following that moron around, I agree he is that.. That moron is the reason I got into racing, he is a major reason I continue to race because he is very knowledgeable, he obviously knows how to stretch his racing budget as he has been in the class longer than anyone with the exception of the moron that drives my boat.. With the guidance of these 2 morons, they have helped take my racing skills to a level I never would have dreamed to meet in such a short period.. So I will end by saying, if you race with a stock sealed 525 from Mercury you are probably a moron.. But you will be a moron that can race affordably for a long time..

Kev

Kevin,
I could really care less about your financials, dont care if you are white, blue, or yellow collar. We both put our pants on the same way, one leg at a time. Actually it was a compliment about your intelligence and smart business decisions. I assumed yours is a multi million dollar business as I walked into the other office and saw a picture of your facility. Then I remembered, maybe I should have spelled it out as it seemed nobody took the time to read the rulebook, how the hell can they properly interpret simple english on a forum... I have been pestered all year long, to the point of annoyance, that you are a great guy and "he is starting to see through Randy's BS" so after Solomons I reached out to a mutual acquaintance of ours in order to get in touch with you and throw some things by you and got the response about a week thereafter, "Dont bother, he's still got Randy's **** in his mouth" I think that comment was a little extreme, but I cant control the information that I receive....

Then again, I see that trying to work on obtaining the same results while saving $10,000.00 is kinda pointless. I beg of anyone to point out where I said we shouldnt race with stock motors. Yes seals are useless, as long as you have the proper tech enforcement you DONT need seals. For those in the cheap seats, I'll say it again, OPA already has the proper tech equipment in order to enforce any specs that is agreed upon. It just needs to be utilized.

Short history lesson, my 29 has a stock 500EFI, the 38 has twin stock 525's... Me personally has gotten how many races(hours) with 1 freshen in 2007 on a 2001 500.. Then again, I do have a pretty elaborate maintenance program. I'm not really into bastardizing motors as I do feel that it does diminish the lifespan and reliability of it. Yet you guys are so hung up on sending your motors off to get sealed, you assume that I am saying that we need to run non stock motors. Once again, I have to keep reminding myself that I am dealing with guys that cant read a rule book. Keep in mind I ran with stock setups in Bracket classes(after F1 &F2 no longer existed) as if you race you have to have some confidence, I begged my class to look, touch feel, do whatever they wanted to, to my motors, but they had better realize that it wasnt the motors beating them, it was the team in the cockpit.

The current mentality up north svl is if your not in our click and you can beat us, we'll change the rules and get rid of you. Look at what you did with Sunprint and Boatfloater... You guys can cry motors all day long.. you flat out got beat by two tremendously talented teams. The inspector went through the data logger and your(the rest of the class) speeds were faster than theirs...

In summary, all the political crap all over Facebook, I saw something that really applies here:

A Liberal is somebody who wants you to think like them
A Conservative is somebody who just wants you to think

In those terms, Randy is a liberal, I am a conservative

When you can find where I ever said we shouldnt run stock motors, please respond, but my suggestion is that instead of being a keyboard warrior like your spineless master(you did call yourself his apprentice) look me up in Key West and you can tell me to F myself like a man(and I wont even fine you lol) or take 5 minutes and sit down in order to discuss how to save money(you did say you are on a budget), keep a level playing field, while having fun. Its real easy, but I leave the choice to you. Best of luck and safety to you and Britt in KW.

Trent

Trent,

I am only going to respond to the comment about last years OPA worlds. Steve and Gary and Steve and Steven are both great teams as you noted. My only objection is that there engines by their own admission are not stock. In all of my days racing we never felt so helpless. I am a bit biased when I say I have raced with the top throttlemen in the sport like Jay Muller and Larry Fontecha. Larry and I as we all love to compete as long as is in the same playing field. Both of the boats you speak of had an extra gear!
I will not speak for Kevin but I will say that as far as his toughness and abilities in the boat, you would be hard pressed to find somebody tougher! Sometimes he can't barely walk and once in the boat never says a peep!
Put a stock engine in your boat , I am sure the powers at be are working on teching and let's start racing on the course. As the great Glenn Murray says " nobody spins out at the bar"

Wil