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back to current newsJuly 29, 2008
The Crosby Race Reports have been uploaded, including pictures from Bob Stone.
Bob also sent along the first known (to me) photo of the Dillon Sport C in motion. This was a test run I took Sunday morning in Crosby, using a prop borrowed from Ross Rolshoven. My GPS unit didn't function properly, so I don't know how fast I went. But my rpm was in the 6700-6800 range, which is good news. Ross generously let me take the prop home, so more tests will come soon.
July 28, 2008
GT Pro racing in Crosby this weekend went very well, with the two young ladies in the class really stepping up, plus a win for a Dillon boat. I'll have the reports written soon. I'm expecting some good pictures too, courtesy of soon-to-be-GT Pro-driver Bob Stone.
There's one more race in the pipeline. September 6-7, the weekend after Labor Day, in Little Falls, MN. This is a really nice site on the Mississippi River. The river is a bit narrow here, so the action comes close to the spectators. It's tentative right now, but hopefully it will come about.
July 24, 2008
The Race Report for Hastings in now online.
The weekend weather forecast for Crosby, MN, is fabulous. If you are within, say, 200 miles of Crosby, then pack up the kids and come watch the ONLY sanctioned powerboat racing anywhere in Minnesota. GT Pro, VP75, Sport C, Formula V, SST 60, SST 120 and Formula 150. Speeds from 45 mph to 120 mph. What could possibly be more fun than that? See you there.
July 23, 2008
I received some pictures this morning from a customer in South Carolina. He's making very fast progress on his Mini Vee. You can see for yourself in the Customer Projects section.
I'm planning to bring the Sport C to the Crosby Races this weekend, but I'm not planning to race it. I've arranged to borrow a propeller or two for testing Saturday evening (or Sunday morning). Hopefully I'll see some real progress and get a better handle on just what I need. And while I'm there, I'll hoist the boat up on the club scale to get an accurate weight.
Crosby is one of our very best racing venues, with lots of space for spectators and a dog-leg front straigtaway that brings the boats in close to the beach. The weather reports look great. We're racing both Saturday and Sunday, and the program should get underway about noon. Also VP75, our largest class, will be racing two times on one of those days -- compensation for getting bumped from the program in Hastings. (Details in my race reports, coming soon.) So come on out to Crosby, and stop by to say hello.
July 21, 2008
A perfect, almost windless summer day on the Mississippi River in Hastings, MN, yesterday. I'll have the full race report soon, but I'm happy to divulge that the Dillon Pro Vee brought home its first victory.
Scroll down to the YouTube player and check out the second video in the lefthand column. This is Denise Talcott's misshap at Champlin, MN, mentioned in my Champlin race report. Again, she was just fine, and her boat was virtually unharmed. She says she would have rejoined the race, but her boat had taken on way too much water.
July 19, 2008
Racing in Hastings, MN, tomorrow, on the Mississippi River just west of the Hwy 61 bridge. Be aware that the bridge is down to a single lane of traffic due to repair work.
Due to the limited amount of time they are willing to close the river for us, racing will begin at 11:00 sharp. They will reopen the river to traffic from 1:00 to 2:00, during which we will hold an autograph session. And racing will finish up between 2:00 and 3:00.
Hope to see you there.
July 18, 2008
Last couple of days I've had the Pro Vee out on the water. Wednesday I tried a couple of aluminum props I have lying around: a 14-pitch four-blade, and a severely cut-down 17 made into a cleaver. Both props gave me good rpm in the mid- to high-6000s, but speed no higher than 40 mph. Yesterday I tapped a little more cup into each prop, but I only managed to reduce both the rpm AND the speed.
I went back to the 15-pitch SST, just make sure all was working normally -- about 42.5 mph, mid-6000s rpm. Then I tried tapping a bit of cup out of that prop, but it didn't have any obvious effect. Maybe I'll get the hammer out again for that one, but for now let's declare the Pro Vee ready to race on Sunday.
Later, I installed a water pressure gauge on the Sport C. I started the motor on the garden hose to check for leaks. All was well, but barely registered any pressure at fast idle rpm. I'll need the lake test to make sure it's really working.
I've started work on a set of plans for the Pro Vee. Hope to have those ready by early August.
July 15, 2008
Out once again in the Sport C, mostly cruising around accumulating engine hours (or minutes, really) toward the on-going break-in. I did let it loose a couple of times.
Again, got about 6300 rpm or so, and up to 51 mph. With very aggressive trim I was able to hold the bow up, although a mild porpoise was evident. Also, I experienced severe rightward pull on the steering wheel, suggesting the motor is too high. Maybe I'll drop it down just a bit -- 1/8" or so. It is beginning to look like I need a prop with a bit less pitch as well.
Our next race is coming up this Sunday in Hasting, MN. A pretty nice place to race on the Mississippi River practically under the bridge. I'm hoping for eight GT Pro racers, although one driver reports gearcase troubles (it won't stay in gear).
July 10, 2008
More Sport C testing: I tested two props today without changing anything else.
First, I tried the other prop I borrowed from Dave Halver. This one has slightly longer, but decidedly narrower blades. I expected more rpm from this prop, and wasn't sure if the speed would be higher or lower.
With full negative trim, the boat crawled right up onto plane. On my wot pass across the lake I saw barely 6000 rpm, and no more than 48 mph. Very high tendancy to porpoise as well. This prop must have more pitch than the other, because I didn't expect performance to go in this direction.
The second prop probably is an unlikely Sport C propeller, but I have it so I figured I'd give it a whirl. It's a 10.375" x 18" small hub Mercury chopper. It was a little more reluctant to get me on plane, but no actual difficulty there. Then it felt rather sluggish, like too much propeller. My wot pass, however, got me to 6200 or so at 48-49 mph. Somewhere in between the other two props. But it was verrrrry slow to accelerate. A weird feel to that propeller in general.
I'll give my lakeside neighbors a break for the weekend, and get back to testing sometime next week.
July 9, 2008
Another test drive for the Sport C. I had raised the jackplate 1/2" yesterday, then the engine quit, ending testing for the day.
That 1/2" made some significant changes. First, getting on plane is no longer a simple climb out of the hole. There's some cavitation and struggling first, then the firm bite of the prop and off you go.
I made a couple of passes achieving 50 mph at about 6300 rpm. Another 500 rpm or so would get me where I want to be, but it won't bring me the additional eight or nine mph I need.
Tomorrow I'll try another prop or two, see how it goes. I'm still holding back some, still consider this part of the break-in period.
July 8, 2008
I borrowed a couple of Sport C props and went back down to the lake for some testing. Without making any setup changes, I boosted my performance up to 5300 rpm and 42 mph. A ways to go, but that's ok for the time being, as I'm still breaking in the motor.
I went back to the trailer and jacked up the motor about 1/2". Back on the water, I idled away from the beach, and when I pushed down the accelerator the motor hesitated, then quit. Wouldn't restart. And the battery was fading. Fortunately the wind pushed me right back to the dock.
Back in the driveway I found silt and flakes in the fuel filter bowl. Best guess, the flakes were blocking the outlet to the fuel pump. Anyway, I dumped that out, hit the starter and it fired momentarily. Too late to go back to the lake, so I'll try again tomorrow.
July 6, 2008
A soon-to-be GT Pro builder/racer pointed out that you can translate the Ukrainian racing site, mentioned a few days ago, using babelfish.com. You'll find the translated site HERE.
July 5, 2008
I heard again from my correspondent in Ukraine. (I thought he was from Russia, but he corrected me.) He sent a link to this photo album. Looks like a lot of homebuilt boats. Now that's my kind of racing.
July 3, 2008
FINALLY! My Sport C project got started in October, 2006. Today I finally backed her down the beach and fired up the Nissan. This is a newly rebuilt motor, so break-in is the first step. Here it is idling on the trailer, which was step one as recommended by my engine builder.
Later, I took her out on the lake, at 2000 rpm, then 3000, then 4000. With a raw 11.5" x 18" cleaver and the motor set a bit deep, it turned out I couldn't get much more than 4000. I got maybe 4300 and 24 mph before the batteries died on my gps. But it didn't get any better, anyway. After the 4th of July weekend I'll go out again, this time with a real Sport C prop, or maybe my little ten-inch chopper.
July 2, 2008
It's official, the Beloit races have been cancelled. On the other hand, I hear there are a couple of possibilities brewing for August races, one of them in St. Cloud, MN.
Meantime, next race is July 20 in Hastings, MN.
I got an email the other day from a racer in Ukraine. He had some questions, and also sent a link back to his site. While his English is quite good, I, unfortunatly, can't read anything on his site. But by looking at the photos you get a feeling for the kind of grass-roots racing that is going on there. A lot of small tunnel boats and hydroplanes powered by motors I don't recognize. A lot of homebuilt boats, too. Take a look.