HPBCANADA.COM

Racing with the lead.. ONE ON ONE
There are 4 great advantages when you have the lead.
[1] you choose the lane you want to run in and you can change lanes.
[2] the wake of your boat
[3] your roster tail.
[4] the passing rules

[1] Lanes
There are Sportsman, Racers, and Dopes.
Sportsman are too nice, they get in a lane and allow the competitor behind to run without
interference in any other lane. They don’t win a lot of races.
Racers size up the situation and react accordingly. They will shut the door on you if you come on the inside and they
position themselves to their best advantage. They will force you to take the long way around. You can catch them but they make it difficult to pass.
Dopes are dangerous and you have no idea what they’re going to do or where they are going to position themselves.
[2] Your wake slows them down and takes away the clear lanes. You can drift from one lane to another on the straights. Too much will slow you down and you could allow the 3rd. place boat a chance to catch up.
[3] The Roster tail....Nothing gets your attention better than a face full of water. It is like getting hit with water out of a fire hose. Lead boats will often position themselves so they can wash you down in the corners.
[4] Passing rules favor the leader. The passing boat has to be clear of you before moving over.

if I ever get there ,I'll use all of the above,for now it might work to stop t--g-n. from lapping me!and don't give a half lap headstart is important,so don't rely on a flag,keep the clock in sight!

Playing the angles and knowing your boat and the competition

Playing the angles
Crossing the wake is the same as on the lake. It is better to cross the wake at a sharp angle rather than slowly roll through it. Many times you have no choice and ride it out.
There is more than one line through a corner. The shape of the turn will tell you the lines that will work. Three bouy turns can sometimes be done at WOT with a minor trim change. The last 50 yards before the corner are the most important.
Remember these are 80 hp motors and they take time to spool up if you get off the throttle. Drive the boat into the corner and use the power trim to set the boat. Once you feel it set, TURN and as soon is it is half way in the turn get on the trim.
25% of the time is spend in the turns and turn speed, exit speed and acceleration out of the turn win races. Sharper turns will always have two QUICK lines. You can either be on the pin entering [that results in you being wide coming out of the turn] or wide on the pin entering [that results in being close to the exit pin] In a one on one battle there can be the opportunity to take advantage of the different line. In the first 2 laps, if you are running top 2, the water condition in the turn will allow you to dirty track the boat or slide it round the turn. This takes race experience and knowing your boat and your driving skill. The boat will be flat in the turn and chine walking. It drifts in a controlled slide. After lap 2, I would not try it.
HOLES! Those are the big deep ones that result from all the cross waves and as a result of numerous boat going around the pin.. They normally appear just after the first turn pin.
HOOKING.. T Boats hook to the left. Your always safer on the right when passing a boat in the corner.
PACK RACING.. You normally focus on the boat ahead and the boat behind. After one straight you know if you have speed on the boat ahead. Don't go wide if you don't have speed over the boat ahead. The racers behind will move up on the inside. There are only 2 good lines in the corner, not 3. Stay in-line close to the pin rather than go 3 wide.
Straight into the pin with no angle with a boat infront and you will flip! The lead boat cuts the corner and you turn into the wake..game over.

Now that you know what you can do. Watch the video. There is only 2 mph difference in the speed of the top two boats. It second place boat wins because of cornering and exit speed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igE9KQEj ... C-VeoWPTRz

Keeping it Simple

The boat
Weight does make a difference. Most of the T850 boats are overweight by 40lbs. It is easier for you to loose weight than it is taking weight out of the boat.
Weight in the front of the boat hurts the performance of the boat double compared to weight in the back.
So 30 pounds in the front is equal to 60 pounds in the back.
A blueprinted straight bottom boat handles better on the oval. On a Lake Racer the hook in the bottom makes the boat more controllable at high speed by keeping the nose down. The hook hurts the race boat in the corners.
It causes the nose to stuff.
Unless you are an expert in V bottom design , just straighten the bottom and leave the special tricks alone.

The Motor
The rules are simple. Stock motors with a shaved head or decked block to a maximum of 160 lbs. compression.
You just need a good motor not a high dollar special. The gain in performance is not worth the money.

Power trim
Test the boat turning with the in trim set just at the point with the hull is catching. Put a stop there or use the tilt pin as the stop. The boat will not stuff and you don’t have to think about it when racing. For the out position see where the maximum is. While at the max get out of the throttle. The nose must come down and not fly up. Then look at the tilt angle of the motor. The motor should be a close to vertical as possible. If it is tilted too much add more setback. Setback raises the bow. Once you have the perfect out position put a stop there. Large bolts and washers through the tilt pint hole work. Now you do not need to think while racing. It is trim in and trim out. Trim pump run on. Some trim pumps will not stop instantly and it alters the trim position. Stop in and stop out trim stops solve the problem and allow you to use high flow quick trim in and out.

Engine height
Oval race boats are different than Lake Racers. Too much height and the boat doesn’t turn. It spins out. If you are too high , the prop loses thrust in the rough water. Too high and the prop torque will make driving difficult.
Cleaver props raise the stern. The larger the diameter and thicker the wedge in the cleaver the more stern lift.

great post Don! the trim position locks I could have used to my advantage on the weekend!it's difficult to tell if the trim "in" is correct before the boat takes a set and I found in the rough sometimes it doesn't set at all!

TESTING.....What to do and what not to do.

What not to do.
[1] only make one change to the set-up at a time. Don't do multiple things.
example..shifting weight, raising the motor, rejetting the carb, changing the prop, changing setback,
[2] changing things without recording and marking where the original positions were. You always need the option to be able to go back to where you were before.
[3] don't do big changes..like raising the motor an inch..Do it in stages

What to do
[1] use a GPS and a stop watch.
[2] have someone video the testing
[3] test with another boat and compare. test race in an oval with the other boat.
[4] keep notes on the changes and how they affected the boat.
[5] test in different water conditions.
[6] practised speed, distance and time. Use two mark points and the shore and work on judging the time it takes to go from point A to point B at different RPM's. This will help you with the clock starts.
[7] Your goal if it is a T850 boat is to run 68 mph [T750 is 55 mph] with handling and acceleration on a 3/4 to 1 mile oval.

Other Tips

Never start a test session with changes... Always run a baseline setup you know and have documented from previous test session. Different days/water/air temp/humidity/water temp offer different speeds, so you need a baseline to start your session to see if changes improved or reduced performance. If the change you made required serious change like hull alterations that took time to complete, pick a test day with weather/water situation a close to comparable as your last documented test session.

REMEMBER: GPS does not account for water current speed caused by wind or water flow. You can't compare test data from a river to a lake and things like that if using GPS. Try to test in the same location all the time. If a river flows at 2 mph, you just gained 2 mph top speed on a GPS. In racing, you are trying to find 1/4 mphs once you are dialed in.

Lap time can mean more than top speed.

A leader of the pack setup might not work in the back of the pack and vice versa.

DYNO HORSEPOWER NUMBERS COMPARED TO T BOAT PERFORMANCE
I am only going to give my opinion and your welcome to post an agree with or disagree.

My Opinion
Other than the power band chart [RPM and horsepower] they don't give you much.
The engine load on the dyno doesn't reflect the engine load on the motor during the race.
Engine builders can alter the load on the dyno to improve the numbers. They want to prove that your getting more power and it justifies the bill.

How to tell, what you have motor wise testing.
Remember these are stock motors other than the 650 XS and the SST 60 motors. The OMC 49 is very close and falls in the middle. The fishing motors will produce power in the 6000 to 7000 range. The OMC 49, the 650XS and the SST 60 can run well into the 7000s. The SST 60 has to get into the 7000 in order to get performance.

So if your running a 21 to a 23 on your OMC. Put a 19 on it and that will tell you the maximum that motor can turn RPM wise. Motors all hit a fat spot because of the porting, rotating mass of the crank and pistons. The horspower drops off quickly. Most motors will have a usable racing power curve of 500 to 900 rpm MAX. Example a 70 hp OMC. It is 70 hp at 5500. At 6200 it is likely 60 hp. The 160lb head raises the RPM where the motor produces its maximum HP. So with the head the motor is 70 plus hp at 6100 rpm and at 6400 it is 66 hp. This widens the band for racing and improves performance.

You need to know where that performance band is for your particular motor. You prop your boat to have the lower end of the power band be your corner exit rpm. That gives you the punch out of the turn. That is the key factor. The rest looks after itself. Don't worry if the rpm goes high on the straights. The reeds, good fuel and oil and the short time period do not hurt it. Listen to Todd's motor coming out of the turn. It is right in the power band. By 3/4 down the straight it is at its peak.
THAT IS A GOOD SET-UP!!

Notes from the T Boat notebook

Props
They are all Cleavers

650XS....11 x 18 or 11 x 20
Jim raced 11 1/2 x 18 and 11 1/2 x 19
He also ran two different ratios 1:64 and 1:86

70 Yamaha..1:71 and 1:84
Jim runs 12 x 18
Rick runs 11 x 22
Mike runs 11 x 20, 12 x 22/23..DOC you need to try that prop.

49 OMC..1:87 ratio
Jake runs 12 x 22 and 12 1/2 x 21/23
Larry runs 12 1/2 x 23
Zonka varys from 11 3/4 to 12 !/2 x 23

56 OMC..1.87 ratio
Ryley runs 12 1/2 x 24
Paul runs many props mostly in the 12 1/2 x 22 to 23 range
Dave Whittington ran 13 x 22
Dave W ran 12 x 23 a Scott Whittington prop
Gig, Top Gun, looks like about 12 x 23
Todd appears to run 12 1/2 x 21 to 23

What does this all mean?
The Yamahas like 11 to 12 diameter.
Both the Yamaha and the OMC with 1:86 and 1:87 ratio can turn 21 to 23 pitch.
The OMC likes 11 3/4 to 12 1/2 diameter
The OMC cannot turn 24 pitch over 12 1/2 diameter.

FOR FELLOWS THAT RACED SUNDAY IN THE PACK
Remember the diameter you were running.
Was the prop breaking loose in the rough water?
Small diameter props work better in clean water.
Larger diameter props work better in the rough and hook up better.
It is not all about horsepower, it is about getting the power to the water...PROP SELECTION!

I've got it for testing this week...along with his head lol.