Outboard racing?
H Krause
I know that 90+% of the engines are Mercs, but I have at least a vague
memory of an Evinrude raced. I think I've seen one Yamaha on a tunnel
boat, but maybe it was conjured up by a bit of undigested potato(e) from
the previous night's roast.
Is Merc the only brand of outboard into racing in a serious way?
--
Harry Krause
- - - - - - - - - - - -
I joined the Klingon Overhand Bowling Team.
Mark75H
>Is OMC still involved in pro and semi-pro outboard racing?
No.
There are rumors of possible OMC and Yamaha racers in the near future, but for
now Merc is the only one producing racing motors or factory support (parts) for
outboard racing. And unfortuantely, its only for the 3 largest displacement
motor classes. Yamaha and Selva are kicking butt in the mid range European
tunnel boat classes.
Down the line to Stock 15, 20, 30 and 40/44/45 cubic inch classes only rebuilt
Yamato (not Yamaha) racers and a limited number of new from NOS parts, Hot Rod
(formerly Champion) racers are available as new motors. Plenty of used equipment
out there for anyone interested in starting out in outboard racing. (Merc 25ss,
25xs, 44xs, 55H's OMC 15A, OMC 45ss, Hot Rods, older Yamato's etc.) Many of the
top Unlimited Hydroplane racers started in Stock outboard classes and moved up.
Crossing over to Modified outboard the same used motors are the mainstay of the
smaller Mod classes. 44 cubic inch Mercs converted with Quicksilver racing lower
unit are popular in the D Mod class. The top class in Mod, Formula E in APBA and
Super E in AOF, uses the 44 cubic inch Merc, 49 cubic inch Merc, 49 cubic inch
OMC's and a few older 60 and 62 cubic inch Merc 650's. FE/Super E hydros get
close to 100 mph in the straight a ways in 13 foot boats that are 4 1/2 feet
wide and 18 inches high. Old Quicksilver lower units, Eldridge, Inson, Konig,
Yamato, Stearns, and a few Merc Speedmaster's keep company with Sid Bass's new
racing lower unit.
In PRO (Alky) 125 and 250cc classes are pretty well covered by converted Yamaha
and Kawasaki motors on Konig and Yamato lower units. 350 and 500cc races are
mostly seeing Konigs dominating, with an occaisional "Konny" Konig clone from
Hungry or one of the new super hot Rossi motors from Italy. 700cc is pure Konig
territory. 1100cc finds some super modified Mercs (Merc850's with the Twister II
front cases grafted on as 4 cylinders instead of 6's) a few old Quincy Loopers
(hand built racers using a Merc crankshaft and loop charging with flat topped
pistons) but 1100cc Konigs generally rule.
Alky also has a version of the internationally popular Yamato class: OSY400. The
next Summer Olympics may feature OSY 400 or 500cc Alky as a demonstration, non-
medal event. Cool, huh?
Kids as young as 9 can race in the "J" kid's class at around 40 mph. J uses the
OMC 15ss restricted to about 6 hp.
Interested in more info? Email me or check these sites:
and
http;//clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/aof
and the "rec.boats.racing.power" newsgroup
Mid Atlantic area will have 14 Stock/Mod/J races this season, begining this
weekend in Camden, NC, on the way out to the Outer Banks and May 1 & 2 just
north of Salisbury MD, on the way to Ocean City, MD.
If you are around the Chesapeake Bay area, look for an article that may find its
way into the June "Mariner" free boating rag.
Sam Cullis
APBA & AOF Mod 4-E FE & Super E
WANATEE OR
with an omc v-8 on the colorado river in the late 1980's. mercury or yamaha?
step up to the plate. cubic inches will usually prevail. I saw the apba website
and the fastest speed I recall for a mercury is a little over 140 mph. I was in
central florida and saw radar readings of 180. this was a 3.5 liter v-8 with
dual injected methanol/castrol mix and had nitrous oxide for a booster. please
e-mail me any higher speed figures and their source.
David.
Mark75H
>did anyone beat the kilo world speed record for outboards set by bob wartinger
>with an omc v-8 on the colorado river in the late 1980's.
Nope, the record set at Parker, AZ on November 30, 1989 at 176.556 mph is
still the fastest outboard.
It is predicted that it will be a long time before this record is broken. As
far as Merc challenging it, originally Wartinger and B. Davie were working with
Merc on it, but it was too low a priority for Merc's engineering department to
continue giving them the level of support needed to break the previous 169.531
record set in '86. The Merc was a turbocharged EFI V-6. Every change in turbo
configuration and prop required a different chip in the EFI and was very time
consuming for Merc to help with.