What was the length of the Twin inline tunnels where there any 17 footers?

**Bob V** · 06-21-2015, 09:05 AM

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**2us70** · 06-21-2015, 12:30 PM

I think that is Earl " Red" Wahl in the drivers seat in that picture. One of the real characters of early OPC racing along with a few guys who post here regularly. When the wind was right I could hear that boat all the way out at my house in North Miami from the bay.

**Bob V** · 06-21-2015, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by 2us70

I think that is Earl " Red" Wahl in the drivers seat in that picture. One of the real characters of early OPC racing along with a few guys who post here regularly. When the wind was right I could hear that boat all the way out at my house in North Miami from the bay.

Yes, that is Earl...

**Bob V** · 06-21-2015, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by OLEGATOR

that's a 15 footer. I have one like that with twin 1500xs

That has got to be a lot of fun to drive with twin 1500XS's. It is probably like the go kart we built many years ago with a Kawasaki 500 H1 three cylinder two stroke engine. Way too much power for the application, but a blast to drive. I never was able to take that one to the red line. However, it is always better to have more power than you need than not enough...

**3rd Gen** · 06-22-2015, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by OLEGATOR

that's a 15 footer. I have one like that with twin 1500xs

Great stuff!!! Twin 1500 XS woow what kind of speeds did it hit ??

**Powercat** · 06-22-2015, 10:55 AM

http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/jh_15c/bf017.jpg The Power Cat 15c actually measure 14ft 8in

**3rd Gen** · 06-22-2015, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Powercat

http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/jh_15c/bf017.jpg The Power Cat 15c actually measure 14ft 8in

This thread has confirmed what I had hoped...Building a twin!...

**2us70** · 06-22-2015, 01:38 PM

Remember those old cats and the later tunnels are very different animals.

**T2x** · 06-26-2015, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by 2us70

Remember those old cats and the later tunnels are very different animals.

Very different and, to the point, a Powercat was good to about 80 mph before really trying to back flip. Ballast tanks or weight in the nose can help as well as a tunnel tab for rougher water at slower speeds. Tunnel hulls , on the other hand, had/have design limits from 75-150 mph, depending on the year they were designed, lift and compression, and , most importantly the designer/builder. I was in Elyria when the PettyCraft (aluminum Dutchman) stuffed and pitchpoled at about 90 mph, killing the driver when it entered the water upside down and backwards. As has been noted earlier, the Magnums, Dutchman, and Petty craft designs were very early variants and did not take speed nor big horsepower very well.....

Bottom line..... Be very careful with small, old style tunnel hulls and dual power (yes I know , my Powercat goes against the grain). May I suggest that you take some of your project money and come join us at a few V&H events. You can learn a lot from the guys who are running them today, who also ran them back in the day competitively.

**3rd Gen** · 06-26-2015, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by T2x

Very different and, to the point, a Powercat was good to about 80 mph before really trying to back flip. Ballast tanks or weight in the nose can help as well as a tunnel tab for rougher water at slower speeds. Tunnel hulls , on the other hand, had/have design limits from 75-150 mph, depending on the year they were designed, lift and compression, and , most importantly the designer/builder. I was in Elyria when the PettyCraft (aluminum Dutchman) stuffed and pitchpoled at about 90 mph, killing the driver when it entered the water upside down and backwards. As has been noted earlier, the Magnums, Dutchman, and Petty craft designs were very early variants and did not take speed nor big horsepower very well.....

Bottom line..... Be very careful with small, old style tunnel hulls and dual power (yes I know , my Powercat goes against the grain). May I suggest that you take some of your project money and come join us at a few V&H events. You can learn a lot from the guys who are running them today, who also ran them back in the day competitively.

T2X Thank you for your input! I have been pondering and collecting for my project for the past several years. I'm a die hard Old School boater my favorite error was mid 60's til late 70's love the 90- 99 CID!! favorite engine's of all time.I love the old style shovel nose tunnel hulls! So that being said I've collected a 1970 Duo Mystry and 2 70 135's on 15"tower's i also have several 150 J blocks and 2 15"towers to set them on. All just for this build. I had HUGE concerns with the length of the Duo and putting twins on it but im convinced more than ever that I'm going to build a twin Duo. I'm going to try to attend a Vintage Event in August in Maryland!(very excited)with my Tunnel T2X powered and I will have plenty of questions! The object of my build is OLD School Cool and to run against the grain! ....Again My thanks

**2us70** · 06-27-2015, 12:08 PM

The problem with old school tunnels was that the builders were just guessing. While they have been great craftsmen they pretty much built what looked good to them. I recall several boats that were supposed to be world beaters but turned out to be widow makers. In those days I was running on a shoestring and always looking for a better ride than I could afford on my own. As a result I tried just about any boat I was offered. Several of these were truly awful. One was so dangerous that I told the builder to "burn it" before it killed a driver. I never saw that boat again. I am not knocking these builders because "they didn't know what they didn't know". These guys weren't engineers or scientists and that was the problem. When they got it right it was great but when they got it wrong it was ugly.

**lilabner** · 06-27-2015, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by 2us70

The problem with old school tunnels was that the builders were just guessing. While they have been great craftsmen they pretty much built what looked good to them. I recall several boats that were supposed to be world beaters but turned out to be widow makers. In those days I was running on a shoestring and always looking for a better ride than I could afford on my own. As a result I tried just about any boat I was offered. Several of these were truly awful. One was so dangerous that I told the builder to "burn it" before it killed a driver. I never saw that boat again. I am not knocking these builders because "they didn't know what they didn't know". These guys weren't engineers or scientists and that was the problem. When they got it right it was great but when they got it wrong it was ugly.

Great advice from all the old guys. One problem i saw, and I was part of the problem, was taking a boat like a PowerCat, and when designed the largest motors were 60HP inlines. Then came out the 70's. Next were Sportmasters and Speedmasters, then 80 and 85's, and when I quit there were 100's and 110's. During this time, we cut the decks down to almost one half the original sides, which also shortened the boat. The bottom never changed much at all. So in the end, we doubled the HP and made the boat smaller and lighter, and complained about how hairy it was. Actually Ray Ledger could be called a genius for such a historic design. I loved the PowerCats, but the Stylecraft was like a Cadillac. Also a later design.

**2us70** · 06-27-2015, 01:06 PM

Butch. Did you get to drive a Stylecraft? I never got to drive a twin engine cat or tunnel but the Stylecraft was always at the top of my bucket list for cats followed by the PowerCats.

**lilabner** · 06-27-2015, 01:34 PM

I got to drive Skip Talbot's in California just before the race where he was hurt. It had Triple 110 Speedmasters on it. He said it would run 88 mph. It handled great and was never flighty like PC's had grown to be. Just like a downtown ride in a Caddy. I never got to drive a tunnel boat or a vee like Nick built but did get into ocean boats at Holman Moody, and GN boats. I was Dick Bertrams mechanic/co-driver until he quit racing. It was always just the two of us. He was a world class navigator.

**2us70** · 06-27-2015, 02:26 PM

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In 1973 I was involved with a boat which illustrates the sometimes accidental nature of success or failure of these boats back then. I was working part time at Action Marine and we acquired an 11foot tunnel boat that had been intended by its builder to run in B alky hydro. The boat was a failure as an Alky boat so Action wound up with this orphan. I was tasked with converting this boat to an OPC class boat. The shortest class in OPC was D at 12ft 6in. I raised and raked back the transom and extended the tunnel at the bow and wound up with a 12'6" boat with 11' sponsons. This boat was run several times in SD and was competitive. That summer we were taking several Action Marine boats to Nationals and at that time I was running as 13 Action with a 3cyl 650 in EP but it was not competitive with the OMCs. It was decided to try the little tunnel with my 650. So I then had to extend the length another 4 inches. We took advantage of the rule provision that allowed a -2 inch tolerance. We rigged the boat tested it once and took it to Nationals. I was able to easily qualify the boat for the finals and in the first heat of the finals we broke the 5 mile record. The Cinderella story ends here as Bobby Drewery got a great start in heat 2 and broke the record again regulating us to second place. We ran the boat in SE one more time back at home and won that one and the boat was sold. This boats performance was almost completely accidental since everything we did to it was purely expedient.