and we all know they ain't no 200 mph+ outboards in offshore. truck motors ROCK! :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
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and we all know they ain't no 200 mph+ outboards in offshore. truck motors ROCK! :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Instigator
look in the first video at them coming down that straight and that big HUFF of black smoke as the fuel hits that monster!!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::DQuote:
Originally Posted by Oz Dude
the turn fins on some of them.
http://www.skirace.net/wp-content/up...-belgium-2.jpg
http://www.skirace.net/wp-content/up...-belgium-3.jpg
<!-- <rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/"> <rdf:Description rdf:about="http://www.skirace.net/?p=1530" dc:identifier="http://www.skirace.net/?p=1530" dc:title="Phenomenal Photos of Belgium’s Final 2008 Race" trackback:ping="http://www.skirace.net/wp-trackback.php?p=1530" /></rdf:RDF> --><!-- You can start editing here. --><HR>A couple of pictures from a recent European race. A little busier!
mr fun - I hadn't noticed that on the "Superman" pic before - I'm a cooler photographer than I thought :cool:
As for "What does one do?" Well, the guy who owns all of the "Hell" boats runs a concrete business. The guy who owns Stinga is a plumber. Oh, and he's retiring Stinga this year. Reportedly has a room built for it to sit in along with all of the trophies, memorabilia, etc it's had over the years. How'd you like THAT sitting in the end of the room where your pool table was!! So, what's replacing the legendary Stinga? He's just ordered 2 x 21' Force Boats. One for him and one for his son.
Good luck to them all I say. Crap, if I could generate enough spare cash to do that, I'd buy one and give it everything I had!!
As for your suggested combination, I think the arneson drive would bring you undone cause of the way the propeller is so exposed. Them ski ropes would go "bing"...
Could always just try a really big blower:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCF1343.jpg
At least, that's what they used to run here... Turbos are more forgiving, hence the wholesale conversion by all the top teams.
As for prize money / sponsorship / etc. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *thud*. Ahem, sorry I laughed out loud till I passed out. THIS IS AUSTRALIA. STUFF COSTS LOTS AND YOU PAY FOR EVERYTHING - NO FREE RIDE$!! I had to laugh back in August - on the weekend that a big race was being run they organisers held a "show and shine" event on the Friday afternoon. Theoretically you could have made more money in winning the show and shine than racing the whole weekend. Unfortunately as good as our sport is, there is no ground swell of support outside of the ranks of members. It's finally getting limited TV coverage but it's being pushed into the corner in favour of other events. Such a shame cause this sport is something the whole family can do.
What really hurts though is when something unexpected goes *bang*. It's hard enough cost-wise to keep things running and freshen up the motors but a big bang ends up being in the $xxK bracket. Last year one of the Superclass boats was rounding a bend in the river when he hit a submerged log. It tore the #6 off the back of the boat and obviously left a VERY big hole where that thing called the transom should be. 2min from start to finish - bang to bottom-O-river. Salvage crews recovered it the next day but it took a lot of "digging deep" for that guy to put his boat back together. Nice boat too, all air-brushed paintwork, and a real nice guy that owns it (Col McQuinn).
Chief:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...aftonB2B02.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCF2001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCF1349.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...g/DSCF2026.jpg
Instigator - if you want to see some boats for sale, do a search on Ski Racing Victoria and look at their classifieds section. It's always got a couple of nice boats in there.
As for pricing - yup - you guys have never had to experience what it's like to buy expensive parts and that's awesome cause it means you all go out there and have a ball at 100mph. Here it's another thing all together. I buy directly from US suppliers when I can because if you buy locally there are too many margins from all the people involved along the way and because Aussies just expect stuff costs a lot, well those that are selling the gear will then mark up accordingly. Not that there's anything wrong with that - when you're in business you sell stuff for what you believe the market will tolerate. It's just that when you find out that the part you just bought for A$90 is worth US$12 from the supplier in America, plus say $8 shipping, you get a little :mad:
With regard to the "Parker 300", I'm gonna take a guess here and say that is a 300 mile race?? From what I've seen, y'all don't have anything that's like our ski-race boats in the big TT stuff. These motors are designed for lots of punishment and longevity. That's not to say they don't fail, they do. There's usually 1 or 2 DNF's at a big race but for the most part, the guys who have the cash to spend on the motors and the mechanics to build em, get it right. It would be interesting to see how they would fare in a race such as the Parker.
With some of the smaller boats that run Under 6 Liter class, a couple of the guys have NASCAR shops in the USA build their motors and ship em over fully crated ready to go. NASCAR is the closest comparison for a motor from a torture and load perspective and when you see a 6 Liter boat screaming it's nuts off at 105 for 40min in a boat, you have to pay it respect.
Oh, and turn fins?? They're not turn fins, they're training wheels (stabilisers) :D Sometimes when learning to drive these boats, or in rough conditions, it helps the boat settle a lot better when you add a little down tab to the back of it. The propeller is so far back on these #6 drives, they can feel a little squirly to drive. It's be like adding a 2ft jacking plate to your boat.
gar163y - You guys are nuts! :leaving:
Skiing in those canals next to those bloody rock walls - I don't care if you're not going 130 - you're all still NUTS!! :p
I'd love to come over and see some of your racing though. Probably one of the reasons why you have the popularity is because most of it can be seen by the spectators. Over here, you get to see the boats for such a small portion of the race due to the majority of it being run on rivers.
Hey, do you know the guys that own "Tactics"? They were Down Under a couple of years ago and one of them ended up skiing with a mate of mine I was observing for in an 8 Liter boat for the race. He had the time of his life and they were really good guys too. They gave us their team shirts which was awesome.
Thanks for all your interest guys - keep it coming!
Oz
Crazy sh_t there:thumbsup: Hows this for a U turn:eek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syiwu1gTzc4
Hehe, yeah I know. I had the pleasure of riding in it, did a little prop testing in it and said to Rick, the owner, sell it. So we did and I'm still sitting beside him in the new boat. His wife was observing that day, his son's skiing, she ended up under the back of the boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by tunnelmann
That damn boat was just bad luck. The bloke who had it before him backed it down the ramp for the first ever ride and a tree fell on his car. Rick took it for a drive and ran it up a bank and took off the screen. Another bloke borrowed it for a race, dropped the skiers in, took off and did a left turn as the skiers got up.
Thing is, that hull type is the fastest Smoc and Moc boat in Australia at present.
Pilot to Co-Pilot - "We're going to turn left"
Co-Pilot - What...now??"
Pilot - "YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS"
Hey woodduck - I get what you mean about stuff that's just plain bad luck. Sometimes you just know and you gotta get the hell away from that chit! :)
So that was Rick driving that day?? Wow, other than his wife being thrown out (and obviously a bit battered and bruised) I'm glad they are ok...
Oz
It gets better, the bloke came down from sydney to echuca, picked up the boat, hooked it up, got a 100 metres and the first speed hump it , the trailer came off the ball and ran into his car. Got the boat to Sydney and had problems with the 3.0, then he hit a dead body in the Nepean River and buggered his lower.Quote:
Originally Posted by Oz Dude
Ok...:eek:...right there is when you know the boat you have is cursed!Quote:
Originally Posted by woodduck
Oz
i'm learning this mercruser stuff, looks like a #5??? not a bravo??? that stash requires some work :iagree: good stuff! fun out :thumbsup:
mr fun - as far as I'm aware, all of the big guys are running #6 drives. No Bravos allowed *boom*...
Oz
i'm not that up on all the offerings by merc, but in some previous discussions i've been made aware of #5's. all i remember were TRS as heavyduty, and some well built bravo's. a unit called "conrad" i've witnessed at key west was quite impressive, said to handle 1200 hp. :confused: i dunno, 40k for a 6 is outta my range this week. :cool:
Chief may be running something different but I can't tell from the pic. If woodduck is around, he'd be able to tell you as he knows the boat much better than me.
I think "Mirror Image" and the "Chief" have similiar setups, both maintained by the Robertsons in Sydney. Mirror has a #3A drive so I would imagine so does the chief.