Powerboat racing! Mercury outboard hydroplane action.

APBA sanctioned racing in Beloit Wisconsin 1994. Racing action in the D-mod hydro class.
I had just rebuilt my engine after an embarassing showing at my previous race. I made some major internal engine improvements. I made no other changes to my setup. The engine work paid off! My engine went from weak to strong. My boat was too fast for me! In the second heat, I went into a turn too fast, I turned the wheel too much and hooked the boat in the turn. Bummer. A bad ending to what would have been a perfect day.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• powerboat
• racing
• hydroplane
• mercury
• APBA
• propeller
• beloit
• marine
• badger
• Wisconsin

[brojaracing]

This one hits home for me. My dad passed away 2 years ago, and he is in the 72W in this race. Finding this video ment alot to me. R.I.P Dave Ambrose

[jeff55v]

@brojaracing - I'm glad you liked the video. Sorry for the poor quality. I had a rough time converting it from an old VHS tape to a computer usable file.

I remember Dave Ambrose, he was a great racer and friend.

[115ona14]

how fast are these little hydros  running?

[jeff55v]

@115ona14 We were going 75mph on the straightaways.

[speedymcgee855]

What Internal improvements did you do to your motor?

[jeff55v]

I switched from stock brass reedcages to some slightly flowed aluminum ones. I also did a lot of flow work on the backs of the carbs and the front of the crankcase to blend into the square opening of the reedcage.

No other changes to the motor.

The H.P. difference was very dramatic!

I think I still have this engine block laying around. It's for sale cheap.

[jeff55v]

This class was called D-mod (modified) hydro. It has recently been renamed to 750cc hydro. The engines used are modifed Merc 50 hp engines.

Thanks for the question.

[casarezamy]

they had these same boats on a river where i come from. what engine are you running?