Full size race boats

[greenman407]

When we build model submarines we are almost without exception modeling our sub after a full size counterpart. No less is true with fast or scale model boating. So here is a brief exposure to some of the boats(full size) that I have personally had dealings with.
Here is yours truly at a recent Clearwater Offshore race. I was very privileged to be able to tour the boat and actually sit in the drivers seat. Here I am with my son Nathan having our questions answered by the crew chief. This boats name was "Aquamania". It came in second to the Miss Geico. Both boats are twin turbine powered boats easily running upwards of 200 Mph. Here is Nathan again posing with the son of the crew chief, they made friends very quickly. Hey! maybe thats why I got the tour!

[greenman407]

Ok , on to somemore hardware. I was able to spend sometime at the crane where they put the boats in the water. Most rewarding.

[greenman407]

This race was run right along Clearwater beach, only about 5 miles from my house. I used my digital camera at full zoom to capture these images. Dopey me, I forgot about taking video!

[greenman407]

Alot of rooster tails out there.

[greenman407]

The previous posts under this topic were boats that are considered offshore boats. They are designed to be used in water conditions that can vary from mild to heavy. The following pictures are of Unlimited Hydroplanes. They need water conditions as smooth as they can get. Except for one entry , they are all turbine powered.

[greenman407]

All the water that you see being thrown around mostly comes from the turns where the large turn fin, on the port side bites hard into the water and throws a huge geyser. Depending on a lot of facters, sometimes the boats take a hop in the turn, making for quite a show!

[greenman407]

Because the big money teams have left the sport(Budweiser,Camel) the boats that are left are much more evenly matched.

[greenman407]

You can clearly see the long hood scoop sticking out here. That is a dead giveaway that this race is being run on a saltwater course. The salt in the water, once injested, will destroy one of these turbine engines in a hurry. On the fresh water courses you will see much shorter scoops.
The turbine engines are left over Lycoming engines from the Vietnam era Chinook helicopters. They are performance inhanced and produce "somewhere" around 2800 HP and weigh in the neighborhood of 800 lbs. That is the recipe for a fast ride. The wall of water that can be seen behind O Boy Oberto gives you some idea of the forces involved in this sport. Unfortunately this sport is not so popular with the masses and tv coverage is always scant and rare. If it comes on at all it will be at 3:15 in the morning with no warning. People would rather watch Nascar cars go round and round and round again than watch something truly exciting!

[greenman407]

The speeds on the straights were getting upwards of 215 , 220 years ago when the Winston Eagle and the Miss Budweiser were dueling it out , neck and neck, that the official decided that they were going , too fast and they introduced fuel restriction. They did this not only for safety but also because the teams were burning thru there limited supply of engines.

[greenman407]

I am bringing this to the fore because these boats are what Proboat is modeling their 1/12th Hydros after. To be sure , everyone should have one or be thinking about it. Another thing that youll notice, if you watch a televised boat race and then watch a model boat race , it looks like the model boats are going much faster. Thats because the model boats are going much faster than scale speed. They are indeed traveling 3 or 4 times faster and this makes for enhanced excitment, especially so as YOU are in control!

[greenman407]

I attended the Saturday Clearwater boat race event to take pictures. The actual race was not until Sunday. I was quite disapointed as the big fast boats were not in attendance. So I just took pictures of the smaller classes and some of the Poker run boats that were there.He's on his favorite

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

[greenman407]

Notice the three pictures of the twin turbine powered boat. No Sponsor names or logos and no numbers tell me that this is a private owner boat as were a few of the others who would not participate in the races.

[greenman407]