We all know it was a matter of time for Erik.  Congratulations to everybody in the team.

The race is tomorrow and maybe we have a Swedish UIM F1 winner again.

It takes a man with big balls the pilot a thin plywood tunnel boat with no safety cockpit…
Check Buck Thornton in the Aronow Unlimited cat competing in the Unlimited Hydroplane class.
This boat was extremely fast and the powerful Hemi engines gave the Mercruiser racing sterndrives a hard time.
This is from the early eighties when boat racing was at all time high.

Thanks Sandy Ross for the first seven pictures and Bradley Huskin for the last one in San Diego 1982.

Enjoy

Edit:  This boat was designed and built by Mr. Bill  (Billy Seebold)

The brand new Mercury Verado four stroke is getting ready for racing 2016.

A mix of pictures.

UIM changed the rules a few weeks ago and increased the cylinder volym to a maximum of 2.1 liter in this popular class.
Now  Mercury Marine´s  new 115 four stroke is going to be the engine of choice for the racers.
I guess a few used Merc 115 XS and Evinrude 115 H.O. is going to be available on the used market for outboards.

Good or bad..I don’t know but time will tell..

Here is the weight…Evinrude 115 2 stroke 177kg – Mercury Marine 115 2 stroke 170kg – Mercury Marine 115 4 stroke 163kg..the four stroke is not as heavy as the 2 stroke and have way larger CC.. maybe the 2 strokes can keep up with the 4 stroke..I don’t know..!!

PS: The same new 2.1 liter rule is also for the Offshore 3 A class

New outboards and used resale value…

I like to start by saying the Evinrude G2 is a good engine but it is a two stroke.
Here in Florida the market is asking for four stroke outboards and the 2015 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show a few weeks ago is a perfect example to prove that.
I was at the main show located at Bahia Mar. Tons of new outboard powered boats all rigged with four stroke outboards.
We were looking so hard for two stroke rigged boats at Bahia Mar but could not find any boats with G2 power. Well..I know there was a few inside at the Convention Center located a few miles away on Seventeen Street.
As a former World Champion Powerboat racer using two stroke outboards I know the advantage of a two stroke but to get in to this argument “two stroke vs four stroke” is no fun if you do not have a “horse” in the outboard sales race anymore.
My outboard business sold over 10,000 new outboards years ago so I know how to promote outboard sales.

One of my friends in boat sales today have the perfect saying about this..
Lars..when a customer is ready to buy a new boat and ask for a four stoke outboard..you do not start to tell him about  two strokes. You have him sign the sales contract as soon as possible and everybody is happy.

We all know selling a used boat with two stroke power is really hard..does not matter if it is a clean E-TEC or a Merc Optimax..
Boating people in the large boating market in Florida are all asking for boats with four stroke outboards.

It is so much easier to sell a used boat with four stroke power to a much higher price than the same boat with two stroke power.

A brand new large four stroke outboard from Yamaha or Mercury cost no more than a brand new two stroke. Like it or not but down the road you are going to get way more money for your boat if it has four stroke power..Just saying..

A link to my 2015 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show picture album below.https://www.facebook.com/lars.strom.14/media_set?set=a.10206715038127497.1073741879.1020429044&type=3

EDIT: My picture album from Palm Beach Boat Show 2015. Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/lars.strom.14/media_set?set=a.10205156789332251.1073741866.1020429044&type=3