Rouen : April 31 - May 1 2008

[FrenchPhil]

The 45th Rouen is coming up fast so don't miss it.

So far we're looking at over 40 teams competing this year.
Besides drivers from france, there's a Belgian team & Italian Boat designer & racer Tulio Abbate.

More to come.

[Gusto1]

The 45th Rouen is coming up fast so don't miss it.

So far we're looking at over 40 teams competing this year.
Besides drivers from france, there's a Belgian team & Italian Boat designer & racer Tulio Abbate.

More to come.

Keep us posted please. How many E-Tecs this year?????? & who's running them?????:) :) :)

[Faster than ever]

GO GO Belgium !!!! :p

[FrenchPhil]

Registrations are over & there's a whopping 53 boats participating this year:

16 Class 3
14 Class 2
22 Classe 1
1 X Class

Still only 1 Etec team : RMSM

Phil

[Fish]

man I want to see this race!!!

[Eric T]

Hello , French Phil, is that # 9 boat in the first picture a BAba hull ? and what kind of hull is the #11 boat in your second picture? a 24 hour race that is really cool, is it televised?

[Gusto1]

Registrations are over & there's a whopping 53 boats participating this year:

16 Class 3
14 Class 2
22 Classe 1
1 X Class

Still only 1 Etec team : RMSM

Phil

GO GETT'IM RMSM, YOU DID IT BEFORE SO DO IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!:) :) :) :)

[FrenchPhil]

Eric # 11 is a Moore hull, don't know about #9. Usually the race is brodcast on an internet tv, I'll let y'all know which one.

[Eric T]

Thanks for the info,I will be watchin!:)

[FrenchPhil]

Yep # 9 is a Baba Hull but did not race in Rouen.

Also Norwegian F2000 futur F1 driver, Marit Stromoy, who'll be participating in Rouen again.

Class 1 boat pic, world speed record of the category is over 102mph with 70hp Yammie.

[FrenchPhil]

Nationalities participating :

French
German
Belgian
British
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Spanish

Motors :

Class 3 : 14 Mercs, 1 Etec & 1 Johnson Carbed V6
Class 2 : 14 Mercs : 8 Carbed & 6 Optis
Class 1 : 18 Yammies, 3 4Stroke Mercs & 1 Etec
X Class : 1 ???

[Gusto1]

Nationalities participating :

French
German
Belgian
British
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Spanish

Motors :

Class 3 : 14 Mercs, 1 Etec & 1 Johnson Carbed V6
Class 2 : 14 Mercs : 8 Carbed & 6 Optis
Class 1 : 18 Yammies, 3 4Stroke Mercs & 1 Etec
X Class : 1 ???

Only 8 Nationalties, very disappointing. Where the heck is the backing from the U.S.A. and Canada from BRP??????????????????

Don't want to get into it, good luck to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) :) :) :)

[jmnorthsea]

It's maybe a bit hard to enter for drivers non european (administrative formalities, testing before the race, trials..., obligations to come and go to France several times).:(

French phil, viens-tu aux essais le 5 avril ?
JM

[FrenchPhil]

JM is part of the CMN team that races every year at Rouen & during the French championship. Their website :

http://lecmn.com/

Phil

PS Oui j'y serais.

[wing nut]

whats the X class?

[1BadAction]

whats the X class?

Experimental. :D:D

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/2889/popcornyf5.gif

I asked him the same thing last night, LOL.

[wing nut]

so theres only one boat in the X class? what motor? or.. what brand?

scott

[jmnorthsea]

so theres only one boat in the X class? what motor? or.. what brand?

scott
Top secret !!!
Hull Moore: it may be Classe 1, 2 or 3 :confused:
Motor : Masselin ? it's name of team manager and driver :o
why not a Tohatsu bi cylinder diesel :p
Frankly, we don't know. Sorry

[FrenchPhil]

But we'll find out ;)

[jmnorthsea]

so theres only one boat in the X class? what motor? or.. what brand?

scott

It will be class.1 (850-1050 cm3) - May be four stroke :confused:
Still secret ! I was not able to find more information (probably alien technology !):D
JM

[jmnorthsea]

Ambiance pictures and practice for Rouen 24 hours
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5475/p10001351wf6.jpg

Lynx Mercury S3000

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4370/p10001361uk4.jpg

Moore Merc S3000 (TOUAX team)

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5513/p10001521hk6.jpg

Moore Merc S2000 (TFI Team)

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/3328/p10001451zm4.jpg

S850 "Fanny" the youngest driver

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3662/p10001411wa1.jpg

S850 Touax

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/964/p10001541ob1.jpg

Burgess Merc S2000 (PRIVILEGE TEAM)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6725/p10001551jv5.jpg

Moore S3000 Neptune team

[FrenchPhil]

JM's pics were taken last Saturday as there are a few practice sessions authorized by the federation before Rouen. I'll be there with a camcorder next saturday.

[jmnorthsea]

Practice sessions april 5

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5608/amfreville32dt8.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4307/amfreville101bd6.jpg


My team's boat

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/1601/amfreville15dk9.jpg

[FrenchPhil]

A Vid of last Saturday's tests near Rouen :

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1096395916795973360

[jmnorthsea]

Saturday 12 april - Free practice before Rouen 24 hours - Molinari Johnson

http://www.dailymotion.com/blackpoisonxs/video/x5264b_mvi2067_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/blackpoisonxs/video/x526l1_mvi2105_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/blackpoisonxs/video/x526o5_mvi2106_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/blackpoisonxs/video/x526zc_mvi2107_sport

[stokernick]

wouldn't it be nice to have similiar races here in the USA and Canada!

[Frank Molé]

YES:D
wouldn't it be nice to have similiar races here in the USA and Canada!

[Mark75H]

Like the Parker race?

[stokernick]

that's a start.some more between the 45 and champ boat classes.I really thought the Yamato recycled boats and motors would catch on20 years ago,but it didn't happen!

[jmnorthsea]

april 25 - Free practice - CMN Molinari Johnson n°15 :thumbsup:

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/8007/molinarijohnsonm2qy8.jpg

New DAC merc.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/273/dacmecqr5.jpg


MOORE Merc. classe 3

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1615/moorestarboat12mnn3.jpg

[jmnorthsea]

No race for CMN team of the "24 heures de Rouen" !
Because : idiot driver ! (in french : "Gros bourrin" - Approximately in english : Bad fat horse !)
Sorry for the OMC fans

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9022/p1000308ye6.jpg
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9878/p1000309nj7.jpg

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/3318/p1000310dy6.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/8075/p1000311be4.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2782/p1000314th7.jpg

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/564/p1000316co4.jpg

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1981/p1000317fy6.jpg

[GoremanRacing]

Do you know what it takes to join this race ? What size of engines is it in the different classes, i am thinking about especially the classes they use 4 stroke, and or yamaha`s?

Can anyone join the race ? This seems like a lifetime opportunity to try out ? I know about a fast cat with a Yamaha 70 CES, and would be interesting if the team owner would consider to make a plan to try this race in 2009, (norwegian team)

What type of budget are you looking at ?

I do offshoreracing, but this seems like a amazing race!!

Any information/tips/ideas will be highly appreciated.

Thank you

[jmnorthsea]

whats the X class?


http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/1826/img93571ya1.jpg

[minto]

Great Photos :thumbsup:

[Eric T]

Hey jmnorthsea , so what happened to the OMC boat, did it hit a bridge or something ? Great pictures ! Thanks !!

[jmnorthsea]

Thanks Minto & Eric T.
No, it has just flipped at 180 km/h !! :eek:
We had to make our Classe 2 MOORE MERC. SST 120. n°37 run instead and finish 2nd in CL.2 and 4th off all classes. We are happy despite the loss of our Molinari OMC. The race was really hard. Many boats were damaged (24 heures de Rouen is hell of race !:reddevil: )

Run in Merc. SST120 ... little smoke ! (My team :rolleyes: )
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8396/rouen2mso3.jpg

Start !
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/292/p1000337mke5.jpg

Submarine ?

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/435/p1000344mvu1.jpg

no ! Classe 2 Hulley Optimax n° 24

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7853/p1000346mmvp8.jpg

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/121/p1000347mmcq3.jpg


http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4162/p1000356mmuz7.jpg

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1186/p1000368mmre3.jpg

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/7610/p1000372mmoa0.jpg

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/2357/p1000377mmjo2.jpg

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/148/p1000382mmza0.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3922/p1000434mmib0.jpg

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3936/p1000398mmfx0.jpg

For more pictures go to website of Christophe, CMN team photograph
http://christophe.photos.rouen2008.over-blog.com/ (http://christophe.photos.rouen2008.over-blog.com/)

[Fish]

jmnortsea, those are amazing photos, thanks for posting them. Sad to see the OMC boat crashed, it would have been great to see it do well.

[Instigator]

To the comment about comparing this to the Parker 300...,you're kidding right?

This race has no speed limit and lasts 24hrs no matter how fast you are or what motor you like.
The U.S. has never even thought of having a race like this.

I dream of some day going there.

[jmnorthsea]

Thanks
I hope that you will have someday similar race in U.S or Canada.
You know how to organize great races ! :thumbsup:

[Eric T]

Those waves in that canal are pretty dam big for a tunnelboat to go through, I can imagine trying to navigate that waterway in the dark is extremely difficult, especially at speed ( me and my buddys used to take our Allisons out in the middle of the night, and find waves the hard way ), I have a question, what speeds are these boats running when they reach the rough part of the race? are they tip toeing through those 3 to 4 footers ? Thats pretty radical, I can see why alot of boats flipped or broke. I hope you can fix your boat. You guys across the way really are a inspiration for all the tunnelboat drivers and fans here in the U.S. Thanks!

[Instigator]

Thanks
I hope that you will have someday similar race in U.S or Canada.
You know how to oragnize great races ! :thumbsup:

We used to have endurance races (Parker 7 and 9 hr among others) many yrs ago but when the gas crunch hit in the 80's it took it's toll on boat racing
as well as cost in general.
I ran kneel down boats for 9 yrs and we used to race on 1 and 2/3 mile ovals but were then shortened to one mile and many were/are even shorter and I lost interest when that started happening.

They also keep the course size down to keep speed down which improves safety.
As a boat race fan though, it is not close to the same as watching a group of boats battle down a mile long straightaway.
May be safer, but also way more boring!

I am also a big fan of UIM F-1 racing although it's almost impossible to get televised here in the states where if it don't invlolve a ball or freagin cars going in circles no one cares!
I especially like the UIM races where they force the drivers to turn right and left instead of just left like they do here in the states.

The Rouen race is an amazing test of man and machine with changing water conditions and then having to race at night which is diffiult to even imagine.
Some of the scariest footage I've ever seen of a boat race was from last years race where they had some on boat video of a driver doing his night stint.
You guys have to be absolutely FEARLESS!!

Being fast doesn't win that race w/o being tough and well prepared too.

Also great to see an OMC back in the mix.

I heard a racer from the Baja 1000 race describe it as a 24hr plane wreck and I think the same applies to the Rouen race.
Absolutely amazing!

Gary

[spn#43]

I especially like the UIM races where they force the drivers to turn right and left instead of just left like they do here in the states.

We do have right turns in Champ Boat Series....and it's FUN!!!

[NNT]

Some wild a#@! pics!!!! :thumbsup:

[jmnorthsea]

Yes, ERIC T, the waves are very big against the current. You really have to dose the speed to avoid the "splash" ? (enfournement in french). In this part of the race (against the current), the canal is really changing. During some rounds the water is calm, there only the current and the speed of the fastest boats can go over 150 km/h. Then suddenly the waves grow, the little boats (Classe 1) don't stop going under the waves. The speed of classes 2 & 3 can diminish by half and even go in slow motion as it's so hard. Impressive but rarely dangerous.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/899/pps031fc1.jpg

On the other side of the circuit, it's the downstream section, it's larger, calmer. The speed this year went at 210 km/h !! . In this part there is more risk of flipping. (It's here that one of my friends was badly hurt and stop racing)

For Instigator :

I understand that you are not interested anymore in races like "Parker"
that seems boring for me. You are right.
The most impressive it's by night, but weirdly it's here that speed is the highest for some ! Absolutly fantastic !
You must see that at least once in your life (the noise in the town, the sent of oil !!!). I can't go without this race ! (yet it's cold, raining often, the water is cold, we are tired !)
I think that all of us, drivers, mechanics, assistants, are all bit crazy !!!

[FrenchPhil]

JM it was a crazy race for you guys but it ended well : 2nd in Class 2 & 4th overall. Plus lots of champagne, nice going !! :thumbsup:


Short Video of the race :

http://www.nielsenaa.com/24hrouen

[jmnorthsea]

Thanks Phil !! :cheers:

Until next year for the 46th 24 heures de ROUEN !

(Je serais aux courses à Vichy les 24 et 25 mai)
JM

[afr]

wow so what are the rules on hulls ?? does the boat have to be a tunnel
and where do i find them

congrads to all the teams for a job well done

[jmnorthsea]

Thanks for all teams AFR !
Yes, you have found Rouen races rules. (U.I.M) (I saw your post on the other topic)
Sorry, I wanted to give you more information on the rules but I don't have the time now.
Only "catamaran" tunnel boat can run this race. Until before 2000 there was also V. hulls with YAM 70, but it was too dangerous and it was forbidden. And they were stopping for the night and restarting at 8 a.m.

[afr]

so catamaran style is good
or does it have to meet sst and champ boat rules
i havent see that outlined yet

cause i can make a boat to run in that sloop

[jmnorthsea]

No, it not exactly the same rules for sst and champ boat but I think that its quite similar. The class 3 (ex S.3000) exist only in France

Many pictures on this site.
http://motorsport.com/photos/select.asp?S=BOAT&Y=2008&D=&I=&N=&E=24_Hours_of_Rouen/Wednesday_practice

Here are some of them, one with pretty pilot !!
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/6306/boat2008roupc0176hr6.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7505/boat2008roupc0319ho6.jpg

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7293/boat2008roupc0241ko4.jpg

[afr]

whats the pay outs
yea buddy shes a looker