Just read a comparison outboard, sterndive, jet drive.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Well that's amazing. A 6.2L GM small block powered outboard with claimed 557 HP at the prop! However still haven't seen any unlimited racers using outboards.



I hesitated to make this claim earlier but checked and confirmed the racers are running 1000-1500 HP per engine with big block V8s. Now I'm pretty sure there isn't a 1000 HP outboard.

Not yet, but 7 marine is now up to 627 hp in a single engine.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Well that's amazing. A 6.2L GM small block powered outboard with claimed 557 HP at the prop! However still haven't seen any unlimited racers using outboards.

I hesitated to make this claim earlier but checked and confirmed the racers are running 1000-1500 HP per engine with big block V8s. Now I'm pretty sure there isn't a 1000 HP outboard.

the grinning winners in H1 Unlimited are into gas turbines that run on avgas now, not exactly the province of auto engine adaptions

hydroplane powerboat racing classes big block supercharged engines you speak of in the Grand Prix category, while outboards share Formula Circuit racing events

really all these boats are so unique they dont have any relationship to the discussion

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by ZULU40

the grinning winners in H1 Unlimited are into gas turbines that run on avgas now, not exactly the province of auto engine adaptions

hydroplane powerboat racing classes big block supercharged engines you speak of in the Grand Prix category, while outboards share Formula Circuit racing events

really all these boats are so unique they dont have any relationship to the discussion

I have been basing my comments on offshore powerboats in the US, not hydroplanes or other exotic niches of powerboat racing. Yes there are classes for outboards and, like most racing be it powerboat, auto, sailboat or whatever, the engines and hulls/bodies have very little in common with what your average Joe is driving.

Regardless, the point I was trying to make, the biggest, fastest boats are using V8 inboards, not outboards. Turbines of course are a whole different category of engines. In the US as far as I know, even the unlimited class in Superboats is using gas powered inboards and not turbines.

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I have been basing my comments on offshore powerboats in the US, not hydroplanes or other exotic niches of powerboat racing. Yes there are classes for outboards and, like most racing be it powerboat, auto, sailboat or whatever, the engines and hulls/bodies have very little in common with what your average Joe is driving.

Regardless, the point I was trying to make, the biggest, fastest boats are using V8 inboards, not outboards. Turbines of course are a whole different category of engines. In the US as far as I know, even the unlimited class in Superboats is using gas powered inboards and not turbines.

Very true when you need 3000hp thats alot of outboards. There you either have stern drives (Special ones see Merc #6 drives) or arneson or other surface drives. But the market even there seems to be liking outboards like Outerlimits new triple 400 hp outboard 41. 107 MPH not to bad.
https://speedonthewater.com/in-the-n...-up-to-107-mph

When I was in high school I worked for a shop that worked on a lot of high performance (merc 2,4L mostly) outboards. Allison, Hydrostream, Laser, Velocity. Man were those things scary fast for a little boat. Doing 80 MPH in a big fountain is fun but doing 80 in an 18' is downright scary. We rigged a bass boat that went right around 95mph.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by ZULU40

the grinning winners in H1 Unlimited are into gas turbines that run on avgas now, not exactly the province of auto engine adaptions

hydroplane powerboat racing classes big block supercharged engines you speak of in the Grand Prix category, while outboards share Formula Circuit racing events

really all these boats are so unique they dont have any relationship to the discussion

What was the original question?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Colin A

Very true when you need 3000hp thats alot of outboards. There you either have stern drives (Special ones see Merc #6 drives) or arneson or other surface drives. But the market even there seems to be liking outboards like Outerlimits new triple 400 hp outboard 41. 107 MPH not to bad.
https://speedonthewater.com/in-the-n...-up-to-107-mph

When I was in high school I worked for a shop that worked on a lot of high performance (merc 2,4L mostly) outboards. Allison, Hydrostream, Laser, Velocity. Man were those things scary fast for a little boat. Doing 80 MPH in a big fountain is fun but doing 80 in an 18' is downright scary. We rigged a bass boat that went right around 95mph.

I agree. Bassboats to me are some of the scariest. Have a buddy that fishes the tournaments. The starts are amazing and most of the boats are going at least 60 many 70+. On a 17-20' boat with about a foot of freeboard that's just nuts.

Years ago I had a friend in Miami that had a 16' Donzi and put a Johnson 235 HP on it when they first came out. At the time it was the most HP ever put out on a commercially available outboard. That would do about 75 which is the fastest I ever went in a boat.

He let me take it out for a spin on Biscayne Bay and a guy in a similar size Checkmate zoomed by and wanted to race. It was little choppy and I guess too much for the Checkmate who hit a swell and went straight vertical. Bet he had to clean the seats after that.

[tuffr2]

Everytime I see 4 outboards on the back of a big center console boat I think, man, I only want 1 of those engines.

I really like the E-Tec G2 paint accent that can match the strip on the boat.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Attachment 160688Everytime I see 4 outboards on the back of a big center console boat I think, man, I only want 1 of those engines.

I really like the E-Tec G2 paint accent that can match the strip on the boat.

I can't imagine what the cost of what is hanging of the stern is? Do the off shore tournaments pay that much? I doubt it, I wish I could afford such a hobby.

[tuffr2]

Got to agree with that, cost to buy is one thing but fuel costs have to also be astronomical. The more lower units in the water the more hydro drag. To get 40 or 50 miles off shore and back probably take 200 gallons of fuel.

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I agree. Bassboats to me are some of the scariest. Have a buddy that fishes the tournaments. The starts are amazing and most of the boats are going at least 60 many 70+. On a 17-20' boat with about a foot of freeboard that's just nuts.

Years ago I had a friend in Miami that had a 16' Donzi and put a Johnson 235 HP on it when they first came out. At the time it was the most HP ever put out on a commercially available outboard. That would do about 75 which is the fastest I ever went in a boat.

He let me take it out for a spin on Biscayne Bay and a guy in a similar size Checkmate zoomed by and wanted to race. It was little choppy and I guess too much for the Checkmate who hit a swell and went straight vertical. Bet he had to clean the seats after that.

The vertical thing is entertaining I have two stories for that.
One of the guys at that same shop bought a Hydrostream Viper
Viper Page
15' with 115 hp Merc tower of power. We put a foot throttle in it. One day playing on the lake we threw a lower pitch 4 blade SS prop on it. He then found much to his amusement and not the amusement of his passengers, that he could max the trim floor the thorttle and the boat would essential pull a wheely a little over 45 degrees. I almost pulled the windshield off the first time he did with me in the boat.

Years later at the start of the modern 4 stroke out board era (15 years or so ago) I was sea trialing a new boat for delivery 15-16' RIB with a new 90 HP 4 stroke on it. The boat had originally been designed for a 2 stroke and the weight of the 4 stroke was a bit too much. I came off a wake in probably rougher water then I should have been out in for winter in CT, and it landed almost vertical as the weight of the outboard dragged down the rear. I looked back and the outboard briefly disappeared below the water before it popped back up luckily right side up. I idled to the launch ramp after that.

[SpillTheWine]

Jet boats are fuel to noise converters. Many think they are fastest because they are the noisiest going by.