We know Sutphens are great big water boats and proven in years of offshore racing with many wins. What speeds are you getting and with what hulls & HP? And what speed do you start to “drive it” with the 26 degree bottom.

I’ll start – 26 Rumrunner, T 2.5efi OS, 85mph, around 75 you need to keep it centered.

Late 80s early 90s i had the last 30 Rich made .Tripple Merc outboards (240 hp each.)The boat ran low 80s with 3 people and half a tank of gas.Today with the new stepped hulls that sounds slow BUT back then you were flying if you got near 80 out of a v bottom.Great boat i miss it alot.

For me on a 26 hull mid 80’s is more than enough fun! Trip 2.4’s must have sounded great on your boat. Where is it now??

hey guys....
some guys at branford river marine thought that a 1987 26 with 2.5 bridgeports ran in the high 70's (78), 26 i/o's (350 mags) ran around 70...(mine does that)
..an outrageous from the same era according to a friend who's dad had a couple (one kaama, one trs, i think) with twin 440's was also good for the high 70's...according to a friend...i think the kaama boat did low to mid 80's...
but i'm getting old and could be mistaken...
c

Harrah’s, Tsunami, Buckshot all 34’s that kicked but in the big water of the APBA in the 90’s. I made it a point to visit Key West for the Worlds just to see the Sutphens run and win their class. What HP and speed did they typically see in smoother 2-3 foot chop?

Untill the big water kicked Buckshots butt !

What was the response from Rich ??

I spent the day on the Hudson river running with James Gang. He has a 31 with triple 300x motors. The water was perfect light chop and he saw 96.2 on the gps. Pretty awesome in a 16 year old hull.

There's a story behind that one. If the boat was left alone it would still be racing.

After seeing the pics I was wondering what the story was?