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TBPNews #106 – September 14, 2006
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>>>> Tunnel Boat Performance News
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members!)
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In this issue:
1) U-5 Formula Boats Buys Two Miss
Budweiser Hulls
2) FEATURE - Who
Say's Boats Can't Fly - The Switzer Story
3) Cappellini
& Gillman Look for Repeat Wins in China
4) Terry Rinker Wins Greater
Chicagoland Grand Prix
5) "PropSearch" feature - (B&W Boats)
6) Powerboat Racing on TV
7) Jimboat's Feature articles
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1) U-5 Formula Boats Buys Two Miss
Budweiser Hulls
U-5 Racing has bought the two remaining Miss Budweiser hulls, the
T-5 and T-6, and will be racing them on the circuit this year.
Precision
Performance Engineering, LLC (DBA) U-5 Racing is a second year unlimited
hydroplane team that finished fifth in National High Points in 2005 has entered
into an agreement with Lakeland, Florida based Hydroplanes, Inc. to purchase a
significant amount of the remaining assets of the Miss Budweiser racing team.
The addition of the two new hulls brings the team to three including the boat raced in 2005. The team plans to race two of the three boats at all seven events in the 2006 American Boat Racing Association Unlimited Hydroplane Series. The U-5 team will once again be sponsored by Formula Boats of Decatur, Indiana, a nationally recognized manufacturer of quality recreational powerboats.
Mike Weber will return as the driver of the U-5 / “formulaboats.com” as well as taking on the additional responsibility of team manager for both teams.
The second boat will be the registered as the U-7. Driver and sponsorship information is undecided at this time.
Precision Performance Engineering, LLC also of Decatur , acquired the U-5
racing team from former owner Chad Sanderson of Auburn, Indiana last month.
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2) FEATURE: "Who Say's Boats Can't Fly" - The Switzer Story
[reprinted with permission of Casey Kiernan and Ron Polli of Extreme Boats Magazine, and Bob Switzer.]
[Ed. Note: I have known Bob Switzer for many years now, and correspond regularly. He is a wonderful man, heaped with a history of the most advanced performance powerboat design in the world, that began in the 1960's with the famous Switzer Wings. Bob remains committed to boat design, and even today is developing a new design of Switzer hull. The story of Bob and his brother Dave is a wonderful one. Here is a short background, reprinted from a recent story in Extreme Boats magazine. /Jimboat]
[Photos, from AeroMarine Research archive, courtesy of Bob Switzer.]
Few boats are able to capture the imagination and
stand out as being truly revolutionary. Rarely is a craft so ‘out of the
ordinary’ that it turns heads and has people saying, “What is that thing?”
So when we learned about a strange looking boat that broke the 100mph barrier
with just a pair of Mercury in-line six cylinder 80 hp outboards, we knew this
was a story that needed some extreme coverage. Especially since this boat was
built in the early 1960s!
During the birth of fiberglass boat building, two
brothers Bob and Dave Switzer left their mark on the boating world with a line
of vessels called Switzer Craft. The brothers built several models, all under
twenty two feet with names like Shooting Star and Hydro Cat that helped them to
earn a place in the record books and the hearts of performance enthusiasts
of the time. But one boat that the brothers built and raced stands bow and stern
above the rest. It set records that still stand today and will probably never be
surpassed. Here’s the story of the Switzer Flying Wing.
Bob and Dave Switzer have long since sold the company and retired, but they were both eager to recall some of the greatest moments of their shared youth during our conversations. Along the way I asked, how did you get into the boat building business and Bob launched right into the story, right from the beginning. “My brother Dave at the age of fourteen bought some plans for a sailboat for twenty five cents. He commenced building the boat until it was about ninety percent done and then it was hung in the ceiling of our basement for a few years. When Dave turned eighteen, he was drafted and before he went off to war, the family dragged out that boat and finished it, all of us, together. It was a great family project and a real nice way to spend some time with Dave before he went to war. While he was gone, I asked Dave if I could convert the sailboat to an outboard since the sailboat would not tack! Dave agreed, and my dad pitched in and made the first Switzer outboard.”
“When Dave came home from the war he looked at
his old boat and said, ‘I would have done that differently’. Well that was
it. We started working on a new boat and before it was done, we had a few
orders. My brother was so excited about selling our first boat that he sold it
for $134, exactly what the material cost to build it. Then one day my Dad came
home from work early and told us that he quit his job and was going to work with
us building boats.
And that’s the real story of how Switzer Craft
got started in 1947.
(picture is Bob Switzer, 1995 Reunion)
To read the full story, visit www.extremeboatsmag.com and order Volume 3.4
**
Read more about Bob and Dave Switzer, and the development of the Tunnel Boat in "History
of Tunnel Boat Design" book
at AeroMarine
Research.
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3) Cappellini & Gillman Look for Repeat Wins in China
September, 2006 – The UIM. F1 World Championship Series for powerboat racing returns to exotic China for the 5th time in its history on the 4th and 5th of October to mark the turning point of the 2006 season as the city of Chongzhou hosts the 4th round of the championship.
The UIM F1 powerboat racing history goes back to the 1995 season when the tour stopped at the city of Hangzhou to one of the largest crowds in the history of the sport. Italian Guido Cappellini took the victory in front of close to one-half a million spectators pushed their way to see F1 powerboat racing for the first time around the circuit. The next event was at Wuzi in 1996 and again the native of Como, Italy took the victory marking his 6th straight in a season in which he was able to win a record 8 victories in 9 races. A return to China for the 3rd straight year marked the first time the series raced in Xiamen near the South China Sea and Jonathan Jones of Wales came away with his 2nd to last career victory in 1997. The series returned to China for the first time in the 21st century when in 2004 American Scott Gillman controlled the event winning from the pole in downtown Shanghai on his way to his 3rd World Championship.
This season it’s Cappellini who leads the championship in search of his
record breaking 10th World Title. He has accumulated 40 points thanks to two
straight wins in the season’s previous three starts at Portimao, Portugal and
Como, Italy. The Tamoil Racing number one driver has not however won in China in
ten years. Cappellini needs another victory to establish some breathing space from the
two Emirates Team drivers of Thani Al Qamzi and Scott Gillman. Thani, has 31
points with a season best 2nd place finish in Como as he chases his first ever
victory on the tour. His teammate Scott Gillman, lost the lead in the
championship after dropping out of the Grand Prix of Italy in July and now has
slipped to 3rd with 30 points as he searches for his first win of the season and
his 2nd in China.
A total of 21 drivers have scored points this season with a few surprises in this group including American Jay Price with the Qatar Team stepping up to F1 at the seasons 2nd race in Portimao, just missing a podium finish at the Grand Prix of Italy when he ran short of fuel with a lap to finish to take a disappointing 6th position. Another driver, Italian Francesco Cantando of the Singha Team, who is usually in the middle of the championship, is struggling to get going this season with only a 7th place in Portugal for his efforts.
Check
out more at: www.f1boat.com
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4) Terry Rinker Wins Greater Chicagoland Grand Prix
Sept. 2006 - Terry Rinker of Riverview, Fla., is
now five for five in the 2006 Champ Boat Racing Series after winning the Greater
Chicagoland Grand Prix on the Kankakee River in Kankakee, Ill., on Monday, Sept.
04. The win puts Rinker in the records books for
winning the most consecutive races in Champ Boat Grand Prix Series history. The
Kankakee
River Roar race was round five of the 2006 Champ Boat Racing Series presented by
Mercury Racing.
Rinker took advantage of pole sitter Shaun Torrente who had built up a half lap lead and encountered mechanical woes that forced him to the trailer with 21 of 50 laps completed. With Rinker enjoying a comfortable lead around the four-pin, 1.25-mile course, a great battle for second ensued between Chris Fairchild and a hard charging Tim Seebold. Seebold had moved up from fifth to third and was encroaching on Fairchild as time elapsed.
With two races to go, Rinker now has a total of 2,942 Champ class points, a 329-point lead over second-place contender Tim Seebold. Round six of the 2006 Champ Boat Racing Series presented by Mercury Racing is the Champ Boat Grand Prix of Hartford, Sept. 23-24, in Harford, Conn.
Check
out more at: www.champboat.com
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5) "PropSearch" feature - (B&W Boats)
Check out the new "PropSearch" feature at the Bass & Walleye Boats Magazine web site. Most propeller manufacturers are covered in their website; most blade configurations and performance levels. Contact info for each supplier also given in search results.
Try out PropSearch at: www.bassandwalleyeboats.com
Check out more detailed Propeller information with the "Secrets
of Propeller Design" book, and "PropWorks2"
software for speed prediction and propeller selection at AeroMarine
Research.
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6) Powerboat Racing on TV
*** "Thrill Zone: Extreme Powerboats" -
National Geographic powerboat show.
Author Jim Russell (Jimboat) is powerboat design technical consultant on a new
National Geographic special for "Thrill Zone" series...Wednesday,
August 30, 2006, at 07pm, Thursday, August 31, 2am, and Tuesday, September 5,
12pm.
Details at: (channel.nationalgeographic.com)
Watch for other show dates on AR's website!
www.aeromarineresearch.com/NatGeo_thrill-zone.html
*** "F1 World Championship TV
Show"
on The Water Channel -
Hosted by Steve Michael, the
"Voice of F1," and 3-time F1 World Champion, Jonathan Jones, F1
World Championship brings you the electrifying world of F1 racing from an
insider's perspective. The two-hour show brings you flag to flag coverage along
with driver interviews, vital information, color, sights and sounds from each of
the 13 races in the Grand Prix season. Check it out at: www.waterchannel.com;
Next Show is on: Saturday Sept 16, 2006 at 12:00amEST.
*** NEW "War On Water" TV Show" on The Water Channel - Co-Producer Ian Howard tells me that this new show begin Sept. 14, 2006 and will run every Thursday barring any scheduling changes at 8:30 pm EST (5:30 pm PST). The show covers the APBA National Watercross Tour and the National Championships. We cover Southern California Speedboat Club races; the Parker Spring Classic and the Long Beach Sprint Nationals. We also cover some one-off events from around the country including the DePue PRO Category Nationals, the Catalina Water Ski Race, the Long Beach to Catalina Rum Run Offshore Race and the Long Beach to Catalina and back PWC race. We'll also have the Crackerbox Western Divisionals and National Championships. Check it out at: www.waterchannel.com; Next Show is on: Sunday Sept 17, 2006 at 9:00pmEST.
*** "American Powerboat Television" on The Water Channel - APBTV is the first in-depth news and feature series to bring you the action and excitement of the 2006 performance boat season. APBTV provides the most current information on the sport. We’ve got the latest scoops on the offshore racing and poker run circuits, the nation’s biggest boat shows, consumer info, and performance tips. Check it out at: www.waterchannel.com; Next Show is on: Sunday Sept 17, 2006 at 8:30pmEST.
*** "APBA Pro Nationals from DePue, IL" - on Water Channel; Sunday, September 17, 2006; 9:00 PM EST; DISH Network
[Ed. Note: The Water Channel is available
on The Dish Network]
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7) Jimboat's Feature articles
Jimboat writes Feature articles in HotBoat, Family&Performance Boating, World of Powerboats, Extreme Boats magazines.
-
'The Bottom Line'-"Why does a Pad make a vee Hull faster?" -
F&PB-Sept 2005
- "10
Smokin' Speed Secrets Revealed..." -
HB-Feb2005
-
"Winterizing your Performance Outboard" - F&PB-Jan2005
-
"What a Drag" - 'Trim Angle & Engine Height Can Reduce Drag and
Increase Speed' - HB-Sept2004
-
"10 Safety Tips" - 'Ten Safety Ideas for High Performance Go-Fast
Boats' - HB-Aug2004
- "Flight
Path" - 'Where does Lift Come From?' - HB-April2004
- "Rocket
Science" - 'How To Increase Your Hull's Design Speed With Aerodynamics' -
World of Powerboats-Winter2004
-
"Tunnel
Vision" - 'What Factors Influence Tunnel Hull Performance' - Extreme
Boats-April2003
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See you next time!
/Jimboat
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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Boat Performance News >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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