Only in the U.S.!

[Cookee]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=63684&item=4516446307&rd=1 and one of the companies responsible for this lunacy! http://www.playcraftboats.com/xtreme.htm Carefull you don't spill your cocktail madam!

 

[Petrol Head]

First time I saw one up close was moored on the Arun at littlehampton!

I couldnt beleive my eyes.

 

[DIESEL DIGGLER]

the yanks like to call them PARTY BARGES.

 

[Petrol Head]

I think load up FULLY with beer, knackered mini tyres from one end to the other for fenders.

It would go down really well on the upper reaches of the Thames.

 

[kiwiracer]

why the hell would anyone want to put 500hp on one of those
not as if you would want to punch through a 2 metre chop on the way home!

 

[Cookee]

Not much chance of a 2 metre chop on one of those US lakes I suppose!

 

[roofer]

my mate at preston has one,he does pleasure trips on the canal,not with 500hp though.

 

[Jon]

theres something like that been up the top of the Hamble for years now.

 

[catmando]

Dorris brings his boats to the Dallas show twice a year. I talked to him last summer and will see him again at the show in a couple weeks. I saw him set the record at LOTO last year. Everybody was agog and cheering for him.

And if you guys don't think LOTO is rough water, the Callan Marine turbine cat(43' Tencara) almost got airborne last year when it hit some rollers coming off the shoreline at 190mph. Ripped the rudder off the transom when it started sponson-walking. Most of the boats on that lake are 30'+ because of the rough water.

What Dorris has done with the pontoons is flatten them on the bottom and added lifting rails so it planes off. I suspect there are more tweaks, but he didn't say anything about them.

Dorris will build to suit, which means Livorsi gauges, hydraulic external steering, whatever you want. His build quality is very high and everything is very plush. The helm is just like a high performance boat.

It's a hoot to see those "party barges" haulin ass.

 

[catmando]

Hey Cookee I sent you an email on your race site.

 

[Cookee]

Just read it!

 

[LorenZo]

Whas staying in Lake Havasu city for a couple of days on mi hols 01 purely coinsidentally when Advantage Boats had there summer get together. They had around 15/20 of various types inc these Party Cats - but more like a trihull as the center pod ran to nearly the front of the tunnel. The surfaces looked just the same as the go-fast cats.

We rented a pontoon boat with a V6 was ok ish lots of space for 5 plus could ski with it ok.

Lake Havasu rocked for me where a gas stations sellis 105 octane on there main pumps.

Photo from there site;

 

[Burty]

Whas staying in Lake Havasu city for a couple of days on mi hols 01 purely coinsidentally when Advantage Boats had there summer get together. They had around 15/20 of various types inc these Party Cats - but more like a trihull as the center pod ran to nearly the front of the tunnel. The surfaces looked just the same as the go-fast cats.

We rented a pontoon boat with a V6 was ok ish lots of space for 5 plus could ski with it ok.

Lake Havasu rocked for me where a gas stations sellis 105 octane on there main pumps.

Photo from there site;

dude i was there too. stayed for 2 days in march 01 was well cool would go again

did you walk over london bridge?????

 

[catmando]

All the single engine tunnel boats built here have centerpods. Protects the drive.

Eliminator builds their twin engine cats with centerpods. I would say it takes away air pack from the tunnel, therefore the boat should be slower, except that the 2300HP Eliminator 30 Daytona ran 155 in Feb. Powerboat mag.

 

[Ben]

Not much chance of a 2 metre chop on one of those US lakes I suppose!

The crew of the 'Edmund Fitzgerald' might disagree.

 

[catmando]

The crew of the 'Edmund Fitzgerald' might disagree.

Good point. The Big Five glacier lakes are very unpredictable and dangerous for ALL boat traffic, especially in the winter.

 

[Jon Fuller]

Anyone who's flown over the great lakes, will know that they're more like a fresh water sea!....they're fkkn massive, and I've no doubt they regularly get sea states on them every bit as bad as anything we get, the advantage those fkkn Yanks have, is that they can wait a day or two, and be fairly sure it'll be luuuuuuuvly again.

Still, ........grey sky, horrizontal rain, cold, dear fuel, no decent service, brown sea, etc. what have we got to complain about?

 

[Ben]

Still, ........grey sky, horrizontal rain, cold, dear fuel, no decent service, brown sea, etc. what have we got to complain about?

Surely, the upside is the friendly reception we get from the 'yotties'.

 

[Jon Fuller]

Oh yeah, forgot about them, and the ribnobbas, who think all hardboaters are Anti-Christ's

 

[Scottb]

PlayCraft Sets New World Pontoon Speed Record


A chapter in the boating history book was rewritten on February 4, 2003 at Lake X, St. Cloud, Florida. Jim Dorris, owner of PlayCraft Boats, set the official pontoon speed record at 81.0 MPH in a PlayCraft Pontoon Boat. “You have to have a sturdy boat to feel confident at those speeds. This boat has the same construction features found on the boats that come off our production line,” Dorris said.


The record-breaking speed was reached with a Mercury Twin Pro Max 300X Outboard motors. The weather conditions were favorable, with a temperature of 69 degrees and a slight wind. “We’ve been bragging about having the fastest production pontoon boat on the water,” Dorris said. “And now we’ve proven it.” Jim Dorris has also held the Pontoon Speed Record on Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri at the Annual Shooter’s Shootout. “If you really want to test the character of a boat, run it on Lake of the Ozarks, one of the roughest lakes in the country next to Lake Havasu,” says Dorris. Jim holds the Shootout record at 75 MPH.