AugiePensa

Steelintime, a gentlemen named John sent me footage of Sunday's race (Thank You John) and I would really like you to see it. Your boat was outta the water more than it was in. My boat is 12,000 lbs. with a full tank of fuel which is what we had. My speed was 80.1 not 81, we run 650 HP not 750. There are 2 sofas, queen bed, ref., bathroom, back seat and my fat a$$. The point is it's takes a lot to get her out of the water not saying I didn't get my a$$ kicked Sunday, that means everytime your boat is out of the water I'm gaining ground plus we turn the pins on a dime. That was our kinda of water Sunday. Bad Boys 32 chased us for 6 laps till he broke and was never more that 10 feet off my a$$, we swapped the lead at least 5 times and he was coming on strong and probley would have taken us if he hadn't broke. I'm sure at the calmer water races we have you guy's are all going to have the advantage over us, we'll be stuck to the water. We're running P3 this weekend in Sarastoa with SBI (Different Rules) every boat is faster than ours but we're on a fine line of P4 and P3, it doesn't matter, we're going to have fun. My choices are go down and run against bigger, faster boats but have a good time with all the friends I've made over the years or stay in Jersey a poke my dogs in their eyes all weekend! Kinda a no brainer. I hope you will continue to race with us but most of all, have fun with us. Augie

1HYPER1

Bruce,
If you asked me a question before and I did not respond I appologize for that,but as for the boats running in the wrong class I will have to say that I am not the only person who feels that way.My Velocity will run 95 mph so should I slow it down with smaller props and and just lay back and run it in p4,the awnser is no,that is not racing and I will not do that,I would have to run in P2 but the size of the boat will work against me because it is only 32 feet long and I would be competing against some much larger boats.I think that you guys need to look at the structure of each class and make some small changes,especially P5,it should be for the true entry level racer that is trying to get his feet wet and learn what the sport is all about,but what is happening is you get that guy to show up,spends his money to race and he gets his but stomped,what fun is that,NONE,now if he lost because he broke or had his set up wrong but was still just a little competetive then he will come back again and try a little harder,Agreed.The only way it will work for all of the P classes will be to have a single engine class for basicly a stock powered boat and then a class for a single modified powered boat with weight limits,size limits,and cubic inch limits and structure all of the other P classes the same way that way it comes down to boat set up and balance and preperation of the crew,this is how all of all other motorsports are handled and boat racing needs to be the same.I guess it would be like John Force racing against a Pro stock car it just would not be fair.

Ron P

Hyper, you have a pefect P3 boat.

Wazzup Racing

Gentlemen, understanably our first attempt at the GPS did not go very well. I just spoke to Kurt and Ron, In AC we will have the GPS fixed to the boat, by the tech crew. They will be in the boat before you leave the inlet. After the race, the racing team will be able to see their own final speed only. Average lap speeds will be posted on the race trailer. Any questions?

BRUCE SEROFF

Smitty...

Why cant the GPS speeds be posted as well? I dont see the logic.

Hyper1. As Ron says, you have a perfect P-3 boat so whats the problem?

I disagree that P-5 should be a "entry level class". It can be entry level for the smaller boats, but Its a 70 mph class, PERIOD. Maybe the people with the 24s will get their feet wet but they wont win in rough water against bigger boats. Maybe, after a season of running the 24s, they will realize, as I did (the hard way) that they need a bigger boat. P-classes are not going to change, so build a boat to fit a specific class. Otherwise stay on the beach.

With all due repect to you, I dont know you.
Im not trying to be difficult or a hard ass, Im just stating the facts. Just as your boat cant compete in P-2 against bigger boats, I cant compete in P-4. Its easier to slow my boat down than to speed it up just to run P-4 and totally beat the crap out of it. We beat it up pretty good in P-5 Sunday. I could just imagine what it would look like if we ran 10mph faster. If you want, I'll drop an HP500 in my boat, and the bigger boats will still dominate P-5.

So, lets move on, cause Im not movin up.

TomR

Bruce, As you know an HP500 is what we are running in our 28ft Pantera P5-15 "Sonic Boom Racing". As I'm sure you will concur, we were being quite competitive with you this past Sunday, that was until we cooked our motor!
On calmer water, it could be anyone's race, on rough water even in a smaller boat you could still do OK! It will come down to your ability to run a little harder and hope the other guy breaks or breaks out, and you don't!!

JohnS

This is “speed bracket” racing, not top speed racing or maximum boat speed racing. If I had a boat that had a max speed of 73 MPH, would I want to be at the bottom of the P4 or the top of the P5 class? If I ever hoped of winning I would choose the latter. If you want to compete you need to be at the top or near top of your bracket. All the boats we raced last Sunday had the capability of running 70MPH. GPS, albeit not gospel due to spikes is the great equalizer. Last year without the GPS, we were passed so fast by boats in our class it nearly sucked our helmets off. This year OPA is trying to enforce the speed limits and I applaud their efforts. I have heard countless stories of GPS spikes of more than just a few MPH. Until anyone can come up with a way to truly measure the consistent speed of these boats, it’s the best they have. How we get them into the boat is being improved (from what I’m reading here).
I hear a lot about same prop/engine/weight, they have those classes in other organizations SVL, F1-2. There is to much diversification between competitors in the lower classes, of the four 28’ Pantera’s no one runs the same set-up, different props, max RPM’s and drive heights. This organization is “race what you have”. They will find a place for you from 70 to 110MPH. I think it’s just as much fun to watch two or three boats fighting it out at 88-89MPH regardless of what size they are or how many engines they have. Actually I think that is more fun to watch.
As far as “pulling back” goes, and I mean no disrespect hyper1, I would truly enjoy seeing you come out and race Wazzup at 89.9 MPH. Run smaller wheels and get him out of the corners. Is that racing…. absolutely. Can your boat go faster, yes…can you get to 89.9 faster, yes….but abuse that advantage and you break out and get penalized for it.
Everyone is hung up on the max speed a boat is capable of and boat size, we got our clocks cleaned last year by a 24’ boat, almost twice. Sunday we led our class and the last 2/3rds of the race we barley broke 64 MPH. There are obvious advantages of both but a proper set up can be competitive.
Is OPA perfect, no. Can anyone come up with a better way to accommodate the masses to go out and race, I’m sure Smitty, Augie, Kurt and Ron are listening.

See you all in AC

1HYPER1

Dont you agree that whatever class you race in it should have a weight ,length and cubic inch limitation wheather you are running a single,twin or tripple engine boat or does the level of competition not matter anymore,because I always thought it was about a fair and level playing field which at this present time you really dont have,and no my boat is not a good P3 boat because of the speeds it is capable of,I might not be able to run those speeds all of the time in the ocean but I will bet you on almost any day I can break the P3 speeds with no problem at all.So keep it the way it is and it will remain what it is,or make a few changes and and rule changes and maybe you will see the sport grow in our area when after all that is what is trying to be accomplished.

AugiePensa

Hyper, I gotta hop a plane and would love to discuss this futher with you but...if we went by weight limits I'd be pulling barges and turning aircraft carriers around in the Hudson River, not having fun. Talk to you after Sarasota. Augie

TeamRelentless

all i have to say is this got way off topic...i will say one last thing and then i will keep my mouth shut....hyper if u want weight length and engine limitations in every class then go buy urself a super vee or super cat for a couple mil and have fun but thats not what bracket racing is about that is y it is what it is....u choose what u want to do obviously but i dont think u r goin to see any of those ideas as rules any time soon in any of the bracket classes....atleast i hope not because then i wouldnt have a class to run in....as of right now comin to ac for P1 i have a 40' motion supercat with all legal specs for oss supercat, 36 spectre with 750hp motors and no.6's , 36 skater with 525hp with no.6's , possible 36 skater supercat light with 525's and xr's, and of course myself a 32 skater with 675hp with no. 5's,....now that doesnt seem like a very evenly matched class right well i will let u be the judge come check it out in ac and u tell me the distance between all 5 cats during the course of the race because i can tell u now that its gonna be a great race no doubt about it...all about how u set the boat up...everyone should stop thinkin about top speed and starting thinkin about how fast u can get it to the top speed u wanna run even if it means shaving a few off the top and gainin a couple seconds out of the corner thats how u will win a race...again all my opinion thanx for listening hope u all come to run ac...u wont wanna miss it trust me!!!!!
Stroker