phantom/merc owners powerboat race

[dowdy]

trying to organize race for phantom/merc owners at pwhellei,may10/11 2009 same venue,same date as honda 150/225 event.want to put record straight once and for all.anyone up for it?got sponsor for trophies.lets show these granny racers how phantom/mercs do it.powerboat extravaganza weekend,in association with rock powerboats,andy musgrave.

[the edge]

HF4S plus Phantoms plus granny racers ?? new class to me ! put what record straight ?

[andyxs]

why not try for a poker run event. not sure if there are enough race boats around this end with the gear-licences-insurance etc if there are great il try n come out n watch. do you mean phantom only or merc only event?

[dowdy]

yo andy,sick of hearing all this crap about hondas,am i the only one?i am a merc man thro and thro,want to prove a point,poker run sounds fun,anyone else any comments?

[andyxs]

Lot of organising involved ina poker run but usualy exelent fun. there have been some good cruises organised such as the formula one (yes yes i know) done by ocean powerboats. the powerboat club in pwllheli usualy seems to have a hand in some of them.

[dowdy]

yo andy,working on it,you mean the marina powerboat club?propped the bar up there for the last25 years,off and on,keep in touch,cheers den.

[the edge]

What crap about Hondas !- great idea , great series ,great socialising , great back up , great promotion , you organise a series and keep it going for 10 years with 40 boats !

[The Docta]

Originally Posted by the edge

What crap about Hondas !

How about all the BS that the 225's do 70 plus even though the records state only 68!





S'only 29mph short of the phantom record

[dowdy]

i agree with most of what you say,great series ,great socialising great venues and yes great back up,cos you need it,my mate scott williams has been running team williams in both classes,nearly won it last year,have a geuss how many engines he has had to rebuild? how many gear boxes have fell off?or broke?how many engine brackets snapped? how many other boats had same problems?raymarine broke down right in front of me at the albert dock race, they were non too happy,i really felt for them,i know the feeling well,thats why i stick with mercs,i am 57 now and have raced water craft of every description since i was a nipper,got acupboard full off trophies to prove it.not knocking steve curtis or his boats,brilliant man,he has nothing to prove,he has got the t shirt,nor mike ring i know him,bought a ring 21 and a ring24 off him,shared several bottles of chardonay with him at his local in littlehampton in the late 80,s,what i am concerned with is the honda engines,it is old car engine,revamped,at best it would be a commercial fishing boat engine,it most certainly is not a high performance powerboat racing engine,stick a merc of equal h.p.on them cougars you will see what i am on about,i have been back stage in the pits at two venues now and them poor honda mechanics are stressed to hell,they certainly bang some overtime in, as i said earlier they need to,look in that big trailer they lug about every event,let me know how many spare gearboxes and heads you can count, i f their engines where that good why this?65m.p.h.tops 68m.p.h.if you cheat a little and thro your wallet at it.great for honda,not great for the lads and lasses with their hands in their pockets.strap a merc on you would be in to your 70,s with better reliabilty,i think steve curtis would quietly agree with me but wont admit it publicly,theres too much money at stake.moan over, hope you get my point,incidently,scott is talking about jacking it in,not fast enough for him,wonder what engines he will running next?nuff said.

[dowdy]

Originally Posted by The Docta

How about all the BS that the 225's do 70 plus even though the records state only 68!





S'only 29mph short of the phantom record

you go docta,lets give em some welly.mercs rule,o.k.

[the edge]

So Mercs never go wrong !!! all engines go wrong ! I have had various boat engines over the last thirty years and no matter how old or how new THEY ALL CAN GO WRONG. Mercury make some great engines but are you telling me that out of 40 odd starters in a race weekend there would be no problems ?
BTW the 2.4 150 engine first came out in 2002 and my own experience with jap engines has been very good both auto and marine.
Speed wise what is the point of a boat that does 110 if the other 2 or 3 that you are racing againest don't ?
The Honda series is obviously not for you but it was a great idea of Dave Sewell's and Tony Davis's to create a one make series that has lasted for 10 years !I hope you manage to get a field of Phantoms out there it would be a great site others have tried in the past Cancer Research Race etc.

[dowdy]

Originally Posted by the edge

What crap about Hondas !- great idea , great series ,great socialising , great back up , great promotion , you organise a series and keep it going for 10 years with 40 boats !

your garage in wiltshire,not a honda dealership is it,by any chance?also,honda are not paying for the series it is the likes of scott who are paying for it,do you actually know what honda charge to race in their series?as far as honda are concerned it is a self financing glorified advert,probably making a profit for them now,looking at the latest charges to join in with the racing.they want 30k of my mate andy musgrave to bring it to phwellei on may 10/11 as well as charging all the competitors fees.rip off. i could run this series for 50 years at this format and be a rich man at the end of it all.

[the edge]

As I said in the thread above the series is obviously not for you but has given alot of people alot of enjoyment over the years and has been a good stepping stone for some i e Shelly and James.
Entry costs - people don't have to race in the series !

[wiggy808]

I'm not on anyones side here, but if the competitors don't like the costs, they shouldn't race! Simple!

[the edge]

EXACTLY don't like - then don't watch or compete simple.

[dowdy]

Originally Posted by wiggy808

I'm not on anyones side here, but if the competitors don't like the costs, they shouldn't race! Simple!

my point exactly,there does not seem to be any real alternatives to the honda series,i know a lot of people that would like to race again,hence trying to do something at phwellei again,we did it at the wirral twice when we all joined in with the u.k.o.b.a.lads,hell of a weekend for all concerned.also why should it be down to cost?

[Matt]

Cool idea. You sort the $$$ out, to the same tune honda have financed their series and I'll organise it.

Originally Posted by the edge

What crap about Hondas !- great idea , great series ,great socialising , great back up , great promotion , you organise a series and keep it going for 10 years with 40 boats !

[the edge]

Get them all to enter the charity race in Poole in june what a great starting point .As I said before they tried to organise a Phantom challange years ago but not that many competed [advertising ? - I don't know] this site is a great medium get all your friends down there to beat any Honda's entered !

[dowdy]

Originally Posted by the edge

Get them all to enter the charity race in Poole in june what a great starting point .As I said before they tried to organise a Phantom challange years ago but not that many competed [advertising ? - I don't know] this site is a great medium get all your friends down there to beat any Honda's entered !

yo mr.edge sounds good to me send details to fireplaceman@btinternet.com i will see how many i can drag out of the cobwebs for it.yes it is a good site,only been on 4 days,found people havent seen for years.apologies for going off on one,scotts dad bert was my co driver for years and his other son lee skied behind us,it breaks my heart to see what i call,cheque book racing,rob a young man of his money,then again as you say its their choice.are you connected with shelly/raymarine by the way?den.

[the edge]

No only through the Honda series and I know her ex.