J Class records

[vintage v4]

what about UJ ?

The UJ kilo record was 106.907 set by Terry Leatherby in 1976. That was with an OMC KC13R stinger v4 on a Nauss tunnel. This held up for many years and it eventually became the Formula 100 record. I don't know if it was ever broken before Formula 100 became defunct.

[vintage v4]

Check out the link I added above for the APBA Records that are available on the current website. Would be nice to know the kilo records for these older OPC classes.

I have a bunch of old reference books, let me know what you are looking for and I will look it up.

[woodbender]

David Lee set the NOA sport J record at 104+ in the late 70's. Shorter distance than kilo and the xs lower unit with lwp made it possible to run over 100. He also set the APBA kilo record at 96+ before the lwp unit became available.

[largecar91]

I know it's not a J class(still 100 cubic inches) but I was thinking the Mod 100 record was like 117??

[vintage v4]

I know it's not a J class(still 100 cubic inches) but I was thinking the Mod 100 record was like 117??

Mod100 was 117.434 set by Craig Hanson, Klopfer hull with a Merc in 1980. SST class (also 100 cubic inches) record by Jim Merten 121.522, Ron Jones hull with Merc way back in 1975. I have a Mercury press release with a picture somewhere.....I need to find that.

[Tom Smyth]

i know Terry Leatherby ran an OMC back then . any idea what motor / boat combo he used?

[99fxst99]

[QUOTE=Mark75H;2936819]That record always makes me wonder why would anyone want to put a nosecone on a lower unit proven to run 100+?

With the XS low water pickup the SJ, or JS depending on the year, boats ran with the bullet just skimming the surface.

[vintage v4]

i know Terry Leatherby ran an OMC back then . any idea what motor / boat combo he used?

Yes, it was a V4 Johnson KC13R on a boat built by Harold Nauss. Besides building the boat, Harold did all of the motor and propeller work as well.
They swapped powerheads and set the Mod90 record that same day in Kakauna running over 94 mph. That one held up until 1980 when Jimbo beat it with his Mod50 Evinrude/Molinari exceeding 110 mph.

[OLEGATOR]

Minimum weight for J Production was 1075lb. I don't remember SJ.

the weights changed from time to time

[2us70]

The FS class also ran the J class motors. This class had a much higher weight limit, required a co-driver and motor height was limited. The motor height rule kept the lower unit well below the pad on these boats. This resulted in a serious prop "blowout" problem. At Action Marine we built several boats for FS class and Barney and I spent quite a bit of test time trying to solve this problem. Eventually we decided that shoving that big blunt object through the water at the speeds we were getting was just going to generate sudden blowout every once in a while.
I did a couple of races in FS boats as co-driver. I DID NOT LIKE IT!
The Hydrostream Ventura FS boats seemed to have fewer problems in this area than the boats we were building at the time.

[crazy horse]

Wasn't there one of the OPC classes that powertrim wasn't allowed?

[2us70]

Originally none of the sport or production classes allowed power trim. The FS class was the first of those classes to permit power trim. The Sport classes were allowing power trim when I last ran in SD but my boat couldn't make use of it.

[DanUmbarger]

I didn't realize Harold was a jack of that many trades! I know he was involved with the OMC prop division and he actually built the Evinrude X115 I ran on my Hustler tunnel in the early 70's in UI. Is he still around? Funny side story, in 1970 or 71 I was running FG with my 13' Hustler and an 80 Merc and I had hit bottom in one heat...Harold took my prop around the back of my truck and beat it back into shape using my trailer hitch ball and a sledge hammer! He told me to NOT tell anyone who fixed it...LOL

Yes, it was a V4 Johnson KC13R on a boat built by Harold Nauss. Besides building the boat, Harold did all of the motor and propeller work as well.
They swapped powerheads and set the Mod90 record that same day in Kakauna running over 94 mph. That one held up until 1980 when Jimbo beat it with his Mod50 Evinrude/Molinari exceeding 110 mph.

[Mark75H]

Lots of good stuff. Turned into a great thread!

[2us70]

The J classes were the high watermark of consumer production based OPC racing. These classes allowed us to race durable and reliable motors week after week. Motors and parts were readily available and were relatively reasonably priced. These classes had very large boat counts all across the country and at Nationals usually required several elimination heats to get to the finals. As much as I lusted after those speedmaster equipped U class boats my time in the Sport and Production classes is still a highlight of my life.