In the begining

[BLACKBIRD]

this is a letter that I wrote after my first ride in a Super Sport boat. Thought that a few of you might get a kick out of this

[BLACKBIRD]

this way didn't work either. anyone know how to get a letter from microsoft works on to this board??

Laker fire up that big RUDE RAM PUTER.

[Dale]

I read it fine in wordpad
my suggestion would be just to copy the text
and paste it in

by the way I would love to see some pics of the blackbird out of the water

..Dale

[H2Onut]

good read ...

[Rickracer]

Save it as a .jpg and nobody will have a problem opening it. :cool:

[TTriton]

Let’s talk Super Sport! I admit when I heard of this new class, I said “150 hp motors ? GAG ME!!” You see I happen to own one of the best Mod VP boats built, and at this time I was in Daytona at the National meeting trying to find out what happened to Mod VP?! I mean , I had this real cool boat,, bought it the year the class died, got to race it once in Augusta on a last minute invite. Then IOGP died! So as I was at my peak of frustration during the Daytona meeting (sorry Mike Jones for making a seen) someone turns to me and says “hey Jeff, you’ve got a cool boat, we’re going to put 150 hp stock motors on boats like yours and race them, it’s going to be great!!” WHAT???? And I do mean WWHHAATT???? I am a race boat driver, my Blackbird is capable of 115+mph, I slow down to 80mph to relax, and you want to do WWWHHAAT?? I walked off and said to myself “well, ok, that will be good for someone else”.
Having no avenue to race the Blackbird , I continued to race the Formula V, met some fantastic people and learned quite a lot. For those of you who have not been exposed to Formula V, you are missing out! Talk about , edge of your seat racing, WOW what fun! And for those who have seen us run, I was the boat that everyone was sure to go upside down as I spent most of my race out of the water making the onlooker’s butt cheeks pucker, struggling for the pass. ( thanks Jose’ for pushing me so hard) So what so great about this? You see, I was racing! OMC vs MERC vs YAMAHA, big boat vs small boat. Her I was, a triple digit speed freak duking it out at each race, driving on the edge, making the boat do unspeakable things,, all at 80mph......How about that! this is when I learned, that speed is not an issue when competition is present!
So what about Super Sport?? Let me tell you! I first drove one after a regular motor blowing session at a race in Eustis FL.. I really feel that Danny was feeling sorry for me and knew I needed a ride in something, anything, well anything racy. I started to know Danny thru many phone conversations and he was selling me on the Super Sport concept. OK, big boat ,,1600lbs,,150hp motor, ,and one of those new slow direct injected one at that! Danny says” hey Jeff why don’t you take that blue boat for a ride...”
As I sat in the safety cell going down the launch ramp I wasn’t sure what to expect. My first thought was “ what a tubb,,,,,,well at least it looks like a 300hp motor back there, it’s really big.” I idled out, hit the gas and the boat LEAPED on a plane! I thought “ ccooooll!” I hit the gas again , found the trim button and away we went. As the large amounts of torque from the almost silent motor set my head back against the rest once again I thought “cooool”! Once more on the trim and the thought “ what a tub “ left my mind!! Next thing you know I got thing aired to the max, pickles pointed at the sky,, I decided it was time to turn!! Down goes the trim,,,, I spin the wheel,,,,, my body gets pinned against the side at about 2 G’S I straighten up with my foot still mashed on the peddle and within a couple of seconds I was back up to top speed!! I continued to put this boat through it’s paces and in doing so I found that I had TOTAL CONTROL!! That was neat! As I got out of the boat my forearms were throbbing with joy, and my head still spinning from the G- forces, I turned to Danny and said “ man that was fun!!”.............and it was.
Several weeks went by, and Danny calls me up and says “we’ve been invited to run Super Sport at Chatahoochee with the APR circuit and I’m in need of a driver for one of------------” “ I’ll be there!!!” I said. The deal was, Jack Barsh of Full Throttle had built a new boat for the Super Sport class and I was going to drive it in a series race event in front of thousands of people. What an honor!! So I got to know the other drivers involved,( we only had four boats) and I found out that I was the only one with current racing experience. Donny used to run MOD VP, Ed had driven stock cars, and Danny was pretty much just involved in drags. As we went to the water on Friday for testing, I found myself in a boat that hasn’t been wet yet. It was finished Wednesday, delivered on Thursday, an d here I am sitting in it on Friday hoping that someone had the set up at least close! The end of the day came near and I wound up with the course to myself. In an effort to learn the boat as quickly as possible, I proceeded to hang it out way passed the envelope. As there butt cheeks puckered the safety crew shot off a flare, which ended the day. As I got out of the boat with a grin on my face, I was informed that everyone, drivers, officials, inspectors, etc.... had stopped what they were doing to watch. Not too bad for a1600lb snail that doesn’t make any noise, HUH!!!
Race day arrived and the four of us lined up on the start dock awaiting the start. History was about to be made! As we launch off the dock, foot pedals mashed, trim motors wizzin, we rounded the commitment bouy, together. After rounding the first turn, we were together! second turn, together. Front straight away, still together!! On the third turn Donny out maneuvered me, and Ed was right on my BUTT!!! As the race continued Donny and I were swapping dirty looks at each other while running side by side. Ed was right behind us learning how to avoid a white out wind shield while staying so close. Donny managed to keep me at bay and win the first heat. The second heat started the same. I managed to take the lead, which made Donny bring back that MOD VP experience and pushed his way back out in front. This really upset me, and I was determined to take back what was rightfully mine. While Donny and I were swapping spit and throwing out the boat racers etiquette hand book, Ed decided he needed more seat time before getting in this battle, but was still directly behind us. It was the last lap when I saw my opportunity, Donny was too confident that he had the win. I dove into turn three with absolute aggression, accelerated hard out of turn four and took the checkered flag by half a boat length. As Ed (right on our heels) crossed the finish, he heard a strange noise. He thought he had motor problems, but quickly discovered the noise was from the thousands of people on the shore. No one was sitting down, you could not hear the announcer. Let’s face it the crowd was excited!!! Can you imagine, four sixteen hundred pound tubs, with noiseless exhaust had given a race to these people they haven’t seen in a long time. As we went to the announcers stand for interviews, someone from the crowd yelled out “hey man you just won me $50.00” apparently he had made a bet with someone else that the Merc would beat the Yamaha. When was the last time that ever happened in a boat race??
You see, it’s the competition! That’s what racing is all about. That is what Super Sport is all about. This weekend we had four different boats with four different motors, four different props and four different skill levels of drivers. What was the result,, heart pounding, head rushing competition between boats that were EVEN !! No one had the advantage! As I talked with other racers at the event, many times the statement was made “oh, they’re too slow, the boats will be boring”. Well I ask you, what’s boring about several thousand people screaming their heads off over only four boats going around a few bouys? As for being slow? On this day, I set a faster lap speed than all of SST 45’s, all of SST 60, and the last six place finishers of SST 120. All this with a boat in the water for the first time and eyeball setup, and a propeller that happened to be available on the shelf.
Super Sport works!!!!!!!!! It’s a class for those who want to race boats, compete against other drivers and not their mechanics. For those on any given race day that they have a chance at winning not just riding around in the back. To know that when you tow your rig behind an old pickup, that your equipment is just as good as the guy with the tractor trailer and deep pockets. Super Sport is boat racing on an even keel. For the first time we have NASCAR on the water only better, at least for me. Hell, I know I can drive a car. Besides, what’s life without trim!
We’ve had several races since, and the results remain the same. Want a new challenge? Come to Super Sport!!!!

Sincerely,


Jeff Pira
APBA Member #8675
207 Formula V

[Ron Hill]

Jeff:

Considering I conducted the meeting for OPC in Daytona, I thought your passion for Mod VP was obvious. As I told you over lunch at the time, putting MOD VP back together was going to be impossible in my eye. Boat Racing needs people like you!!!

With OUR GOVERNMENT requiring outboard companies to build 150 HP motors that are 150 HP, we as racers, can expect some pretty even racing...I feel we can expect FACTORY SUPPORT, not CONTROL.

More than one company told me, while I was OPC Chair, that they would be interested in racing, "IF THE PLAYING FIELD WAS LEVEL." I consider Super Sport's field to be level. I know Jeff Titus will keep the drivers honest be being an HONEST AND QUALIFIED INSPECTOR.

I believe that keeping the drivers honest will be easy because most of us have "PLAYED THE MODIFIED MOTOR GAME" and we just want to "RACE", not work on motors...

[dan agnew]

ron, as i said the other nite when you called my son and i a couple years ago and spoke about the green class i was just like jeff pira very against this i had run mod vp in the 80s and saw where it was going many $$$ and no end in sight. from what you guys say about the class guess we need a new look. my son mike ran formula v when jeff was running and i know he wants to try this new class. sooo i guess we need to start a new search pattern for stuff to put together.

see yall soon i hope

Danny & Mike

[BLACKBIRD]

For staightening this letter out.

I hope that all that read it relize that this was not a sales pitch but a result of what really happened.

[Mike Fjeld]

It seems like it's been a long time since I read that letter, but it's only been about 1 1/2 yrs. I must say that it pushed me over the edge! Thanks for all of your passion and drive!!! I would also like to thank you and Donnie for all the time you guy's spent practicing and teaching me how to drive a circle boat. It's been FUN!!! However, I have noticed ya all don't give me tips anymore! Whats up with that????

Mike Fjeld

[BLACKBIRD]

O.K. Next time your on the course try this,, just as you go by the judges stand, pull your kill-switch stand up through the canopy face the judges and yell " DO YOU REALIZE THAT I'M IN THE LEAD!!??" This will surely open their eyes are score you accordingly.