Results 1 to 20 of 20
  1. #1
    Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022

    Race Time!!!! Three Lakes 2018

    Race season is starting this Saturday with a two great events in Northern Wisconsin. Saturday is a 800' radar race. Fastest boat on radar at the end of 800' wins the class. I will be running in the Enviro Green Racer class. That is boats with as single outboard engine, E-Tec / Opti-Max / V-Max, minimum 4 seats, and a fully upholstered interior. I'm kicking around running the Fun Class as well for bass boats, but I would have to put all my gear back in the boat during the race and then take it out again for Sunday.

    On Sunday UMPBA kicks off the season in Three Lakes as well. That event is boat on boat racing in brackets based on your boats top speed at the end of 1000' feet. I will most likely run the 65-75 class and the 75-85 class. I would switch props in between classes.

    http://threelakesshootout.com/race-classes/
    http://www.umpba.org/classes-and-safety-rules/

    For those in the north this is an incredible few days on the water to either race or watch. If you are in the area swing up. Friday is a tour of the lakes with all the boats. The last few years over 50 boats have gone on the tour and the event draws some of the fastest boats in the area. Friday night all the boats are parked for a boat show. I think they have had over 70 boats in the actual event on Saturday.

    This year I converted to a center steer for the event. I created a bracket that allows me to swap on the water without tools in about 5 minutes. Last week I started running it with all my gear in it just to get familiar with how it runs. Tonight I was out testing with the boat cleaned out. I have never run the boat with no batteries, fishing gear, or trolling motor not in the boat. I will get the Power Poles off by the weekend when my hydraulic disconnect parts show up.

    Thanks to Nathan Goff for really pushing me to try the center steer. It turns out I really like the boat in center steer configuration and surprisingly I don't have to change any weight to run it (I have only tested up to 95).

    Also thanks to Jay McDaniel and Tim Powell for all your assistance. Maybe a sponsorship by Fastbass Marine is in the future? I could go for a decal. Hint Hint.

    Tonight was just a shake down with no weight in the boat. I ran my 75mph class prop and wow!!! The boat comes alive with nothing in it. I ran my 26 Promax Lab. This prop normally hits the limiter at 88.7 tournament loaded. Today I couldn't get close to Neutral trim, but it went 89 with about 250 rpm left to go. It ran 85 in 15.5 seconds. It has ran 85 in 18.5 tournament loaded. So great pickups on both sides.







    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by River Rocket; 06-18-2018 at 11:17 PM.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  2. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Elephant Butte, NM 87935
    Posts
    4,472
    #2
    Great running and looks good, was the RC Car in there also?

  3. Member fishnfireman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Amarillo
    Posts
    12,446
    #3
    Good luck-- have fun-- be safe

    To think--- for the last ten years I thought I had the only ProSport with center steer option.

  4. BBC SPONSOR
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Calvert City, Ky
    Posts
    5,244
    #4
    Good luck my friend!
    Fastbass Marine LLC
    We specialize in NEW and USED ALLISON BOATS, Blazer Boats, Platinum Mercury Marine Repower Center, AquaTraction Flooring, and custom marine electronic installations on beautiful Kentucky and Barkley Lakes.

    2022 Allison XB-21 BasSport Pro Elite
    2022 Mercury 450R

    2012 Bullet 21ss
    2005 Mercury 300X

    https://youtu.be/FOnAGNWOgZ0

  5. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Goodwater, Alabama 35072
    Posts
    154
    #5
    Good luck brother! Go get em! smart work produces results.
    Woody

  6. Member tritontr21's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Mt. Pleasant, Tx
    Posts
    980
    #6
    Good luck Geoff keep it straight and level lol
    Jay McDaniel
    2003 Allison XB21 BasSport Elite 2+2
    2019 Mercury Racing 300R

  7. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Danbury, CT
    Posts
    2,136
    #7
    Geoff... stop making all those important well thought out and masterly crafted true performance enhancers and fix those fugly dash panels already lol
    Allison XB21 Prosport Mercury Racing 250XS with a 1.75 Sporty

  8. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    159 Jackson way Decatur, Alabama
    Posts
    762
    #8
    Geoff if you want to stay in our exclusive club you better win. Powell and Whiplash have very high standards you know! Me.....not so much. LOL. Good luck and be careful.

  9. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    St. Louis
    Posts
    6,699
    #9
    Good luck geofff

  10. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #10
    Thanks guys.

    Johnny, They go fast and win tournaments. I just go fast. You guys will have to help me on the fishing thing. My son and I did have a top 10 finish last week, so we are getting better. He is 8, so I feel fortunate that he can sit in the boat all day and cast and not want to play video games or give up. I have to be realistic on the racing. My class will be full of STV's, Hydrostreams, and a few Ally 2002's with "green" motors. That is some competition. My bare hull weights the same as some of those loaded ready to race. I enjoy tweaking and tuning like all of us. This just puts a purpose behind it.

    Goal is to run faster than last year and the year before.

    Testing has been difficult this year.
    Last week I found a broken motor mount bolt. I fixed it and the next outing I lost my trim pin bushing. Replaced that got one trouble free outing last night without any essential items breaking. This morning I broke my throttle cable (I guess I pushed the throttle super hard thinking that would speed the boat up). Today I replaced both the throttle and the shifter cable. While I was at it I pulled all the motor cables and put a new rigging hose in. Mine seemed short after adding more setback. I also untangled the mess of wires someone made when rigging the boat before I owned it. My stainless marine trim indicator has also broke several times and I'm waiting for those parts to show up Thursday. I feel blessed to have all this happen before the event. I guess that is why you test.

    I was hoping to test my race wheel today, but the broken throttle cable on the water left me idling for 45 minutes to get back to the launch. I travel the rest of the week so I won't run the boat again until the event and a few shakedown passes.

    Thanks for all the support!
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  11. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Humble,TX
    Posts
    4,377
    #11
    Very cool, if it hasn’t been mentioned before a V-Box Performance box can be a big help when testing.

    Using fishing graphs for gps on testing the cycle rate is too slow, the lowrance still shows the boat accelerating as it’s actually slowing down and not capturing true top mph like something like a dedicated race gps like the vbox will.

    I can post a clip later showing what I’m talking about if you haven’t seen it happen on yours yet(you really need to be staring at the gps to see it).
    Holeshot is key as is consistency, a trim computer makes a world of difference too if you are allowed to run one.

  12. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #12
    I’m running a Vbox sport. I use it to generate all my times and splits. I used a phone app before that has a really solid algorithm to make up for the lower reading frequency that is surprisingly close to the Vbox. The Vbox is more consistent and accurate. Like you said, you can’t really see what is going on without it.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  13. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Humble,TX
    Posts
    4,377
    #13
    Quote Originally Posted by River Rocket View Post
    I’m running a Vbox sport. I use it to generate all my times and splits. I used a phone app before that has a really solid algorithm to make up for the lower reading frequency that is surprisingly close to the Vbox. The Vbox is more consistent and accurate. Like you said, you can’t really see what is going on without it.
    Thats cool,the thing I didn’t like about the sport is you have to download the run to see what’s what, and hard to make a pass and make a change and see it right away but you are definitely on the right track with using the sport

  14. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #14
    .
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  15. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #15
    Not sure about that. The Vbox app lets you see everything real time on your phone. It does everything I need it to do.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  16. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #16
    .You can record all sorts ofsplits. I have it spit out 5-95 info in 10mph increments (5-15, 5-25, 5-35 etc.) along with 800’ and 1000’ speeds and times. You can do any combination you want. It allows a rolling start at whatever speed you program which is what we do in the races. The app only records timing info that you tell it to do. It will graph it on your phone as well.
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  17. Member River Rocket's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Blaine, MN
    Posts
    1,022
    #17
    Well they say practice makes perfect. In this case I was ready to run and felt very comfortable in the boat race light. I have never run the boat without batteries or gear in it and add the center steer change and I was a little worried I would have the control I wanted. I ended up just fine. Boat felt locked in. Unfortunately, I missed an obvious one that now that I look back the writing was on the wall.

    After I replaced my cable I went out at night and made a few passes with the race wheel. It was faster than loaded, but off from what I thought it should do. I chocked it up to evening heat and thought I will run both props and see who does better that day at the race. In hindsight I should have realized something was off and went back and tested the other prop again, but I had too much prep and a work trip planned and ran out of time.

    Race day was much hotter than I have ever seen at this event and my first pass was 7mph off from what I had been running earlier in the week. I pulled the prop and went with the wheel I had tested and set my best with and that one ended up 6mph off. I then ran a total of 11 passes and couldn't touch my best or get near it. I called and talked to Nathan and Jay at the race and we tried all sorts of things to speed it up but nothing helped. I pulled the data logger chip at the race got in my truck with the laptop and compared runs about 8 passes into the event and it was clear something was wrong. My 1000' times were way off. I thought maybe fuel, altitude, or heat, but some of my testing passes were in heat and the I was using the same gas used for testing. In the end I never got up to my testing speeds and ended up with third place 3 mph behind second place and 9 mph behind first.

    I have run this event for almost 10 years (I have broke at the race or the day before...) and this is my best finish yet so I'm happy with it I just would have liked to have seen what the boat could do. I still had a great time at an awesome event.

    Since my motor was off I decided to skip the second day of drags and go home and fish a tournament with my son.

    After looking into the motor I found that my plugs are worn out and my gap was 0.054" not the recommended 0.044", the long idle fouled things up and that was the final nail for them. I have new plugs on the way and I bought a second set just to use for racing. If I would have thought of this I had a used set with me that were in way better shape than what was in the motor. Looking forward to better performance next month at the second race of the year.

    Attached Images Attached Images
    Allison XB21 2+2
    Mercury 300R




  18. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Humble,TX
    Posts
    4,377
    #18
    Quote Originally Posted by River Rocket View Post
    Well they say practice makes perfect. In this case I was ready to run and felt very comfortable in the boat race light. I have never run the boat without batteries or gear in it and add the center steer change and I was a little worried I would have the control I wanted. I ended up just fine. Boat felt locked in. Unfortunately, I missed an obvious one that now that I look back the writing was on the wall.

    After I replaced my cable I went out at night and made a few passes with the race wheel. It was faster than loaded, but off from what I thought it should do. I chocked it up to evening heat and thought I will run both props and see who does better that day at the race. In hindsight I should have realized something was off and went back and tested the other prop again, but I had too much prep and a work trip planned and ran out of time.

    Race day was much hotter than I have ever seen at this event and my first pass was 7mph off from what I had been running earlier in the week. I pulled the prop and went with the wheel I had tested and set my best with and that one ended up 6mph off. I then ran a total of 11 passes and couldn't touch my best or get near it. I called and talked to Nathan and Jay at the race and we tried all sorts of things to speed it up but nothing helped. I pulled the data logger chip at the race got in my truck with the laptop and compared runs about 8 passes into the event and it was clear something was wrong. My 1000' times were way off. I thought maybe fuel, altitude, or heat, but some of my testing passes were in heat and the I was using the same gas used for testing. In the end I never got up to my testing speeds and ended up with third place 3 mph behind second place and 9 mph behind first.

    I have run this event for almost 10 years (I have broke at the race or the day before...) and this is my best finish yet so I'm happy with it I just would have liked to have seen what the boat could do. I still had a great time at an awesome event.

    Since my motor was off I decided to skip the second day of drags and go home and fish a tournament with my son.

    After looking into the motor I found that my plugs are worn out and my gap was 0.054" not the recommended 0.044", the long idle fouled things up and that was the final nail for them. I have new plugs on the way and I bought a second set just to use for racing. If I would have thought of this I had a used set with me that were in way better shape than what was in the motor. Looking forward to better performance next month at the second race of the year.


    Good job, I knew about the app but not all it could do.

    Will the the app display live? So you could mount the phone and use it as a live display? That would be pretty cool

    7.4mph is what our race start is so set recording to start at 8mph etc.

    I had a set of plugs bite me a few years back, I normally throw a fresh set in every race , but keeping a separate set clean for race and another set to fish with would work too.

    When I raced my bass boat I ran a different heat range on race gas than pump gas fishing set-up so it was easy to make sure clean plugs where always in.

    When it gets hot have you tried stepping up a heat range or two? That can make a difference too

  19. Member fishnfireman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Amarillo
    Posts
    12,446
    #19


    Pulled my plugs last week (It still had the original's) - was amazed to see the difference in gap from .034 to .054
    One hundred and eighty dollars later I'm ready to run.. as soon as I get a new idler pulley.

  20. Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    St. Louis
    Posts
    6,699
    #20
    So apparently I should consider changing plugs. I bought my
    Motor used 3 years ago and have never checked them