Super speed boat rant

[tweitz]

I was reading the February issue of Soundings and came across an article about a new boat, which they describe as the "Porsche of powerboats," a Fearless 28 and a Fearless 44. At a cool $350K for the small one and $750K to $1.2M for the bigger one, they seem to have only one purpose -- to go fast. The 44 can come with twin 1075HP stern drives, which they say should deliver 120 mph (of course they don't say knots; their market probably doesn't know what knots are). At least the 28 has no cabin, no place to fish and no shelter. Other than racing and running drugs I can't see much use for these boats. Although I am not one for more rules, and I don't much care if someone wants to waste his money on going very fast, it scares the [fill in the blank] out of me to think of someone using one of these on the same water that I use. What do you think?

 

[Kirk]

Poker Runs

Makes me think of being out in the middle of the bay when a poker runs is heading to the next bar. Not a fun time hearing them long before you see them...just waiting for them to come flying by you on all sides. And then just when you think it's over, along comes the second wave.

 

[Ross]

I call it McHales Navy .;D I am waiting for the day one of them runs out a fuel

I will cheerfully tow him behind my boat at 3-4 knots. With the price of gas topping 4 dollars at the fuel dock They won't make very many runs each day. They figure fuel consumption in gallons per mile.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

They probably sell them to drug runners

I don't think the Coast Guard has anything that fast (on the water of course).

 

[Ross]

Joe, the drug runners steal them.

The people smugglers also steal them pick up their people cargo and just run the boat up on the beach.

 

[Patrick S/V Shangra-La]

If you have 1/4 million to

3/4 milloin dollars to buy that boat I don't think they are worried about a couple thousand $ to fill the tank.The coast guard doesn't need something that fast when they have helos with several .50 calibers to take out the motor. ;D

 

[Bob V]

Nice boat

Can I get one with a trolling motor and downriggers?;-)

 

[Chris Burti]

I am a hard core sailor, but...

I have also seen three digit (no decimal) readings on an accurate speedometer thirty years ago or so back in the day...soFWIW, I offer a couple of comments with all due respect and in good humor...1. Y'all are starting to sound like your Dads.2. Most three digit speedometers that I had occasion to use back in the day were calibrated in MPH not knots, may be different now in the digital age.

 

[tweitz]

I concur with the comments that we are beginning to sound like our dads, but...My concern is that I already see too many jerks out on the water with far more horsepower than brains. If a skilled and knowledgable boater wants to find a truly empty place to run his boat at 100 mph, God bless him, and he can decide the risks to take. But most of these boats are kept in waters filled with other boats and hazards. Its not very often that I see the superfast boats willing to maintain moderate speeds in the crowded waters or paying attention to their wakes. And unfortunately many of them seem to be clueless that they are not driving a car. One day I was in my harbor (Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, NY) when a guy in a Cigarette type boat asked me if he was in Sag Harbor, which is about 8 nautical miles away. With all his expense on the boat he had no clue where he was, which also meant that he had no clue that if he turned to starboard he would have run aground in seemingly open water. On the other hand his first mate would have distracted me too, her bikini was only visible with a magnifying glass.

 

[Bob V]

You are right Chris

They are all starting to sound like my Dad when I was a teenager. He was a boater, too. He had a 16 ft Mirrocraft with a 10 hp engine that he bought in the late 50's and used until he died in the late 90's. He had to replace the motor one and he found a good used one. He bought used Chevys with 6 cylinder engines and kept them alive for another 20 years or so. It was a major challenge for me to look cool driving that stuff. When I bought my first car in '67 I had $300 in the bank and he matched it with $300 of his and said only fools borrow money for a car, find one for $600. Gas was $.35 a gallon then but he insisted that it be a 6 cylinder if he was going to help pay for it. I thought he was sooooo uncool. The guy was just ahead of his time.

 

[Dave from Mi.]

Credit where credit is due

I will admit to a deep dislike for "go fast" boats with no engine mufflers, especially when they fire up in the morning in a marina at 8:00AM and just sit there and make noise! Most have no idea what "NO WAKE" means. That being said, we were enroute from Beaver Island in Northern Lake Michigan last year when we heard the whole pack from a poker run coming out of Lake Charlevoix heading for Beaver Island. We could hear them long before we could see them, and when they got closer, they were outrunning the small plane doing photo shoots. They all altered course and gave us a wide berth, and other than the noise we were not bothered at all. We have had individual go fasters come within 20 feet of us while cruising and we can see them laughing about the wake they cause.So, my compliments to the organizers of that poker run, they must have given a good briefing, because all 50 or so boats were very considerate.(If I were 21 and had the money, I am sure I would have one;-)))fair windsDave

 

[Scott]

Bob, I had that Chevy, too!

In 1971, when I started driving, I could take the Ford Country Squire station wagon on the weekend or the 6 cylinder Chevelle. Neither was very cool. I envied my friends who had Firebirds, Mustangs and 442's. At least the station wagon had a 390 ci v8 that had some guts. When you opened the hood of the Chevy, it had a straight 6 and it was so skinny, there was mostly just empty space under the hood. It didn't help that the only reason that I had the use of the car to drive to school was because it was given to me by my Norwegian great-great Aunt Ingeborg who was in her late 80's and she didn't think she could drive anymore.Ted, I think that the problem is that there is too much paid out in bonuses on Wall Street and the idiots who don't deserve those bonuses anyway have too much money and not enough class!

 

[sailaway78]

Loud

I have a guy who lives directly across the canal from me, who has a Baja, with an unmuffled 502 in it. Being an old hot rodder, motorcycle racer, et al, I kind of like to listen to it a little bit, when he idles out of his slip. But as soon as he idles it up enough that it quits loping it gets bothersome in a hurry. Don't care anything at all about listening to one of them at wide open throttle.

 

[Landsend]

Sounding like a bunch of old women on this forum...

isn't going to do squat. If you don't like the situation, write to some one that will do some good.

 

[Ross]

Landsend , A bunch of old women would write to

someone in a position to make changes. We already have noise laws and they define when and where and during what hours boats may be operated without silencers on the exhaust systems. Out on open water is one place such operation is permitted. In the marinas and in other restricted areas speed and sound levels must be in compliance. Identifying the offending vessel and taking a complaint to the appropriate law enforcement agency and pursuing prosecution diligently will have the complaint heard.

 

[higgs]

Power Boaters

Even many power boaters I have talked to (I do talk to power boaters) hate cigarette boats for the same reason many of us hate them.

 

[Banooma]

They're a different breed

I think that as long as someone can make money selling them, bigger and louder boats are going to keep coming. There's one positive about an economic downturn!More than the noise nuisance and safety threat of those speedboat yahoos, I'm disturbed about what their fuel consumption and pollution says about their regard for other inhabitants of our planet.... and even as a teen, I never wanted to be like that!

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

Are we being a bit too snobby

Have sailors turned into snobs? Sounds like it to me. Powerboaters have just as much right to the watreways as do sailors. I love the water and much prefer sailing over powerboating but would not turn down a ride on a power boat. Maybe some people just need to feel superior. Just for fun, I rewrote this original post and substituted 'sailboat' for 'powerboat'. Let the games begin, LOL.I was reading the February issue of Soundings and came across an article about a new boat, which they describe as the "Porsche of sailboats," a Nameless 28 and a Nameless 44. At a cool $350K for the small one and $750K to $1.2M for the bigger one, they seem to have only one purpose -- to go slow and block the channels.The 44 can come with 70 Ft mast and a 160 jenny, which they say should deliver 7.2 knots (of course they don't say mile per hour; their market dictates that they use sophisticated terms while wearing their ivy league clothes). At least the 28 has no cabin, no place to fish and no shelter, that might keep them off the water longer. Other than blocking the channels and fishing areas, I cant see much use for them other than shortening their lifespan by being bored to death.Although I am not one for more rules, and I don't much care if someone wants to waste his money on going very slow or not at all, it scares the [fill in the blank] out of me to think of someone using one of these on the same water that I use. What do you think? Tony B

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Sailors have always been snobs, Tony

For as long as I can remember, sailors looked down their noses at powerboaters...Referring to us as stinkpotters...asserting that we only know how to turn on the engine and go, making as much wake as possible...whereas sailing requires real skill. But that knife cut BOTH ways...powerboaters who are convinced that sailors think they always have ROW...whose main purpose in life is make life miserable for every every powerboat in a narrow channel by insisting on sailing up it, tacking across their bows...and who believe that all sailors are cheap--the wind is free, so everything else should be too! And for years there was a lot of truth to both positions...though not so much any more. People who buy both power and sail boats today are not the same kinds of people who did 20 years ago. Today there are as many idiots with more money than brains who buy large sailboats and equip 'em with every gadget and device that will allow 'em (they think, anyway) to avoid learning ANY skills as there are powerboaters of the same ilk...which leaves little any more for either type to be snobbish about.

 

[Ross]

I have a 1950 edition of a Chesapeake Bay Cruising

Guide. It was written by sailors for sailors. In those days yachtsmen had their wives along for the ride and would stop to give the "ladies" the opportunity to shop in what ever port they visited. All other boats either power or sail were beneath contempt. Work boats and fishing gear were inconvenient obstacles. Times have changed and "whatever floats your boat" is far superior to "stinkpots" and "ragbags". I have suggested organizing "The We ain't Got No Pride, We're Just glad It floats Boat Club". But most people don't get it.