Why Canopied boats are better...

[Pachanga_rick]

Seat Belt for safety, thats why... :D The wife feels much safer when buckled up, but I keep the speeds down when shes in the boat. :cool:
385991

[CI STV]

I can attest to the safety of a canopy boat. I've run a few different boats over the years, including an A/O 2600 at 121.8mph, and I always used to think that canopies take the fun out of boating. But the most fun I had was a few years back in a local poker run, strapped into a single Seatek twin turbo diesel powered Buzzi canopied hull, with a friend of mine on throttles sitting behind me. We eventually spun out taking a sharp left corner, and flipped the damned boat, well, we would have, had it not been that the thing had twin tails like a F15, so when the boat spun and rolled, it hit the right tail fin so hard that it snapped it back the other way violently and then the other wing caught it on the roll to the other side and it snapped back upright in the water. We ended up spinning 180+ degrees and going from like 78knots (what I recall seeing on the GPS) to zero in a matter of a few feet. But neither of us had even a bruise (except for our egos, of course) and we even managed to get it started and limped back to shore. Everyone thought we were done for, because all they saw was a huge geyser of spray when we spun out. I seriously doubt that after witnessing that, the wife would even get into submarine with me now though...:D
If you're running 100++ in rough water, a canopy is infinitely safer. And it's still fun. The "wind in your face" thing is grossly overrated, IMV. I find that anything over, say, 78mph, makes me much even uglier than normal and then after that my contact lenses start flying out anyways...;)

Edit: Here's a picture of us in the boat in question, on the outer leg of the race, getting some big air:

386057

[Pachanga_rick]

Never thought that much about it.. I just liked my wife's seat belt boobs..:D

[CI STV]

Never thought that much about it.. I just liked my wife's set belt boobs..:D

hahahaha

[Tomanytoys]

Never thought that much about it.. I just liked my wife's set belt boobs..:D

You just made coffee come out my nose!
BTW, you got a point......

[AZMIDLYF]

CI STV...serious looking piece of equipment you were running. What is the beam on that missile?

[Da Bull]

I can attest to the safety of being strapped into a safety cell. Nine times I`ve been out of a boat since 1978 when I started racing (all barrel rolls) and two of those resulted in hospital time. Last time I rolled one was while driving for Hydro-Tec in St.Louis on that sharp cornering track. It was while testing props and I pushed to hard going into a turn and over she went. I was strapped in good and tight and it felt more like a ride at the fair. Only thing bruised was my ego.

DB

[CI STV]

CI STV...serious looking piece of equipment you were running. What is the beam on that missile?

It's an awesome piece of equipment, designed by one of the best offshore boat builders of all time, Fabio Buzzi. The beam is very narrow and it takes some getting used to, especially since the rudder is on the bustle astern of the prop, so the rudder hardly bites until it swings outside of the prop wash. Hairy, scary, FUN, bitch of a boat.
It's designed to pierce waves and return to the surface apparently, hence the little canards on the front. I was told that this particular boat in 1400hp trim had set a UIM single engine flying kilo record. It was detuned the day I ran it though, and all I ever saw out of it was 104, but it was still plenty of fun. It belongs to a good friend of mine, who owns a bunch of other boats, including a 42' Doug Wright, a couple of Fountains, and an Allison drag boat, to name a few.
BTW: My apologies to the OP for the unintended hijack, but I tend to go on about this kind of stuff, apparently...

[sonicss33]

We all liked them too but didn't comment. Gotta respect another mans lady.:):thumbsup: