SOB Performance Dying?

**tux974** · 07-29-2015, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by transomstand

Absolutely no question, the sport is in decline. Virtually dead in many places

Pete, is guys like you, Rich Owen and Tom Foley that help this sport immensely by putting some great gatherings together!
Without the effort from you guys to pull a good bunch together it would be that much worse......

**gary slagle** · 07-29-2015, 07:31 PM

first, a dumb question,,, what does SOB mean? now after reading thru the threads,i guess we are lucky in florida also the LTB guys are at it all the time.most all of them are 35 or younger with the exception of me at 61. all are a great bunch of kids & i like hanging with them ,it keeps me going.i bought my first boat, a checkmate mx 15 with an 85 , 4 cyl merc.at 17,r towed it with a 69 camaro ss to the lake at least 2 to 3 times a week,ran the piss out of it, installed an inline 150 ,raised it 5 inches of the transom & bought a 27 pitch cleaver from joe ward( rip my friend) & the speed fix took over....1978 we removed the inline to replace it with a v 6 175 merc,i barrel rolled that boat , repaired it & kept into the sport. most everyone here back then had small boats with big motors. i was the only one of all my school friends that got into boating as they all were into drinking & drugs at that time.i didn't go down that road very far...i have slowed down as of the last few years & don't get the hotrod out near as much as i would like to ,but on any thursday evening you can hear the song form kevin,beef,bobby ,gentry & others out on our lake having too much fun . guess i'm just lucky!

**transomstand** · 07-29-2015, 09:05 PM

SOB is "single outboard" and generally applies to the popular 21 foot class of outboard V-hulls, Superboat, Challenger, Progression, etc.

**CNC_Guy** · 07-29-2015, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by gary slagle

first, a dumb question,,, what does SOB mean? now after reading thru the threads,i guess we are lucky in florida also the LTB guys are at it all the time.most all of them are 35 or younger with the exception of me at 61. all are a great bunch of kids & i like hanging with them ,it keeps me going.i bought my first boat, a checkmate mx 15 with an 85 , 4 cyl merc.at 17,r towed it with a 69 camaro ss to the lake at least 2 to 3 times a week,ran the piss out of it, installed an inline 150 ,raised it 5 inches of the transom & bought a 27 pitch cleaver from joe ward( rip my friend) & the speed fix took over....1978 we removed the inline to replace it with a v 6 175 merc,i barrel rolled that boat , repaired it & kept into the sport. most everyone here back then had small boats with big motors. i was the only one of all my school friends that got into boating as they all were into drinking & drugs at that time.i didn't go down that road very far...i have slowed down as of the last few years & don't get the hotrod out near as much as i would like to ,but on any thursday evening you can hear the song form kevin,beef,bobby ,gentry & others out on our lake having too much fun . guess i'm just lucky!

I used to have 1 of those Checkmates with a TOP 150 that I towed to the ramp with my Vette. As in Chevette that is. lol
Dave

**dnelson964** · 07-29-2015, 09:50 PM

1982.....only one car...78' 320 BMW (break my window) towed...my only boat (1979 21' superboat)....was bit forever, wished I never sold the first one !

I'm old too !

**Dirk Pitt** · 07-30-2015, 04:06 AM

Originally Posted by dnelson964

1982.....only one car...78' 320 BMW (break my window) towed...my only boat (1979 21' superboat)....was bit forever, wished I never sold the first one !

I'm old too !

that picture is pricless

**0rabbit7** · 07-30-2015, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by XstreamVking

The amount of spending money I had when I was young (in the 70's) was way more than a lot of young guys have today. Job's were easy to find too. We didn't have all the bs things that eat our pay checks like now either. Life was simple! I had a used 15' allison with a new 1978 150XS, ( bad azz for the times) nice trailer and pulled it with a 72 trans am. (wish I still had that car) Total for the whole rig including the car was 5000.00 tops. I had a construction job and made payments of maybe 250 a month for both. Gas was cheap, and girls were easy if you had a nice boat and car. Money just won't go as far as it did. Same rig now would be 25,000 easy.

Money is a big thing. I'm middle class, friends of mine are middle class, we cannot 'easily' afford houses, let alone nice cars, motorcycles or boats. None of my friends have any of these "mechanical" hobbies. None of them have cottages or live near lakes. In Canada, most used boats are quite often fairly expensive and not in good shape. Not in the shape I'd like to run them hard. And most of the time they're not performance boats. This is not always the case, but often. There are only a few people in the country that can do performance, so if you're not mechanically inclined, you're getting stuff shipped from the US or dealing with what comes from your 'local' marina.

All of these things are combination of factors that are slowly drying up the SOB scene

**powerabout** · 07-30-2015, 06:38 AM

unfortunately the middle class in most western countries are being made poorer and poorer
Just calculate out a std job wages and a bmt package over the years, they are getting harder to buy

**Dirk Pitt** · 07-30-2015, 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by 0rabbit7

Money is a big thing. I'm middle class, friends of mine are middle class, we cannot 'easily' afford houses, let alone nice cars, motorcycles or boats. None of my friends have any of these "mechanical" hobbies. None of them have cottages or live near lakes. In Canada, most used boats are quite often fairly expensive and not in good shape. Not in the shape I'd like to run them hard. And most of the time they're not performance boats. This is not always the case, but often. There are only a few people in the country that can do performance, so if you're not mechanically inclined, you're getting stuff shipped from the US or dealing with what comes from your 'local' marina.

All of these things are combination of factors that are slowly drying up the SOB scene

You say there are only a few people in your country that can do performance just curious are they all on lake Joseph ? Were Mr.Tuff has his cottage ?

**JPEROG** · 07-30-2015, 07:57 AM

I have to agree that the financial world is much different now then it was when I was first getting into boating. If I wanted something, it was a call to the bank and come pick up your check in a couple hours. It would take superman (in todays world) to get a signature line like I had to play with 15 years ago.

Joe

**dnelson964** · 07-30-2015, 08:43 AM

Originally Posted by Dirk Pitt

I could have gone a lot of different ways , but in the end you hit it the nail on the head, there's nothing like driving a 21 early in the morning on a hot summer day NOTHING!!!

Glad you agree ! Many others would also 'IF' they only would experience it.

PS. There is also nothing like seeing 'Block Island' and also 'Martha's Vineyard' in early morning Sun in calm seas. I recall averaging 60 mph thru the ocean on 2 different calm days in 1983' going to these destinations and staying over a few days ! My deck mounted compass was my GPS !

**Dirk Pitt** · 07-30-2015, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by dnelson964

Glad you agree ! Many others would also 'IF' they only would experience it.

PS. There is also nothing like seeing 'Block Island' and also 'Martha's Vineyard' in early morning Sun in calm seas. I recall averaging 60 mph thru the ocean on 2 different calm days in 1983' going to these destinations and staying over a few days ! My deck mounted compass was my GPS !

wow that must of been incredable, and that
was right on navigation, 1 degree means alot over that distance

**Greg G** · 07-30-2015, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by HStream1

You couldn't have made a more true statement!!! You wouldn't believe how many times I've said before lunch time "here's your pay". "Take your Phone and go play games or text on someone else's time". I've even had a few that said but we see you do it. I said yes!! But I'm conducting business/communicating with customers that send in the work that generates the money for you to get paid. Oh and just incase you didn't realize it. Last time I checked Its my Name that's on the business license, Own the building and the equipment.

I guess its one of the very reasons Im as hands on as I am with everything that comes in and goes out.

The fact you are hands on plays a big role. I think today, it is just harder and harder to find high quality, responsive shops to work on the smaller faster boats. Ease of service makes all the difference in the world to owning one of these faster hulls. I don't know you from a hole in the wall, but when I sent you my Merc Paralift a ways back to be coated before we put it on my Ultra 23XS you not only did an incredible powder job, but you also emailed me saying "I have this thing apart and you should upgrade the bolts to Grade 8's as it's simple to do now". I said do it and thanks for thinking above and beyond. The lift was returned to me on time to boot!

I'm not as old as some of the guys on this post but I can say that a real young guy getting started in fast boats is going to be hard pressed to find good shops. You can make the extra money, but you can't buy the time back when you can't get to the water because shops take forever to turn stuff around. Two years later they sell the boat to an old guy in his 40s like me. That's exactly how I got the Ultra out in LA. Guy blew his motor and it sat for an entire year waiting on a motor re-build.

**magnum2.5** · 07-30-2015, 07:17 PM

Living in So. FLA the boating capitol of the world, you see all kinds of boats, big , big, and bigger tied up behind nice houses like show pieces...funny thing they never move anymore...I bet 50% or better wont even start..they can't sell them...knowbody want's them...so they sit and hope for a hurricane to collect insurance...at least I can still afford to use mine...we accually hunt for roostertails when we go out...most of the time it's only us and the MARINE PATROL...a few fishin boats and a bunch of sailboats...I have to admit the BEST friends and longest lasting friendships have been people I have met on the water...I guess cause we have the same intrest...but very true...I know I'm addicted to boating and have been since early childhood...will alway's have something...been working on my 23' CAT with JOHNSON 300 V/8 for two years now, almost ready, I'm 68 yrs old and still at it...shure brings the kid out of me every time I here that open exhaust...

**FastLaser** · 07-30-2015, 09:24 PM

Originally Posted by Dirk Pitt

You say there are only a few people in your country that can do performance just curious are they all on lake Joseph ? Were Mr.Tuff has his cottage ?

Actually, the performance boat scene is quite solid in Canada. Always has been. For sure it is changing with the times. There is numerous shops that can provide performance builds, parts and rigging. I boat in Ontario and Michigan. The main difference I see is that for small performance boats, Ontario is populated more with O/Bs while Michigan has a more equal mixture of O/Bs and v-drives and jets. Due to the proximity of the Great Lakes and numerous large inland lakes, like Lake Joseph

, the larger boats are well represented.