Victory Closer To Sport Cat Distribution With FB Marine Group, PPI And More On Board

[Speed on the Water]

More hot go-fast boating news from the Miami International Boat Show, https://speedonthewater.com/in-the-news/5884-victory-closer-to-sport-cat-distribution-with-fb-marine-group-ppi-and-more.

[Ratickle]

I'm really curious to see Gary's new outboard race boat when t shows up. Any time from what I'm hearing.

[Ratickle]

And, who is the second race boat going to? No one seems to know yet, and if it will race this season.

[ozarkjignpig]

I've heard a +10 boat fleet for S-Class will be together this year! That is sure to include more tight battles....looking forward to Cocoa Beach.

[Ratickle]

Currently there is a group of 12 teams in constant contact. There are also 3 additional potential teams who have not totally committed, depending on what happens with the P1/OPA combo and Key West event.

10 to 12 seems to be a very good bet at this time though. They are still discussing total weight. I, and others, believe they should add the difference in weight between the old 2.5's and the new 300's. That would be about 150 lbs each, 300 lbs total. Reasoning, not to obsolete the older boats built to the weight of the 2.5's. It will severly hinder the class if only the new potato chips are competitive due to weight.

I have my fingers crossed.

[ozarkjignpig]

You're saying that newer boats will need to weigh more, in order to be more competitive with the older boats? So a 4,600 lbs min?

[Ratickle]

Kind of, but not exactly.

The engines were changed from 2.5's to 300's. The 300's weigh approximately 100 lbs more each than the 2.5's. So, the big pocket guys can build new boats that are 200 lbs lighter than the class has raced for years. If someone does that, then every not-new boat is automatically obsolete. It's like adding a third person to the boat.

Just raise the weight by whatever is the exact weight increase. Then, the class can continue to grow and not shrink because every not-new boat is obsolete.

The goal is to make the sport grow, not obsolete every existing team because of an engine change due to obsolescence.

They now quit making the 300 2 stroke, the V8 will probably be the next engine utilized for the class. So, the weight of the engines will increase again. So, the weight will go from approximately 370 with the 2.5, to 460 with the current 300's, to over 500 lbs with the V8 in the future.

Does somebody build a lighter boat yet in 2 or 3 years to take advantage of the new V8 when it happens? Mercury has already said they will only provide replacement powerheads for the 300's for 5 years. That leaves 4 more to go.

Or does the weight of the class increase to keep all of the boats competitive? This should be settled now. Do not make existing race boats obsolete every time an engine change is required.

[Ratickle]

The worst case of this is the new 1100 class. They are putting the weight at 12,000 lbs to begin with to make sure they do not obsolete 1 boat, one!!

Everybody else will be adding over 1000 lbs of lead. We're talking about a couple hundred pounds.