What is the best V-bottom hull to build for river/lake racer and why??

[Tolly]

Okay guys, if you had to pick a V-bottom hull to build your river/lake racer, or even drag boat out of, what would you choose and why. I am talking about actual V-bottoms, not gullwings, and not flatbottoms or tunnels. The only really fast V-bottom hets I have ever seen personally were a couple of Elim.Libertys. One of which ran about 104mph with a big inch nitrous motor, and the guy never knew which way it was going to go when he let off the gas after a speed run "Scary!" The other had a 8-71 blown 441ci BBC in it and ran in the 90's. Both of these boats were heavy enough for a couple of G-string clad chicks to lay out on the deck sunbathing without cracking them, and they were both used on a regular basis at a lake that can and does get pretty rough.

[77charger]

based on hb jets numbers as i'd take the liberty.Second choice a rogers hull.

[Jake W]

I know a guy that races a Sunkist v close to 100.And Duane form HTP use to race a Hondo v back in the day right at or over 100.I think most v Kachina,Southwind,Hondo,Mantra,Eliminator Sprint,Rogers,and that alike can run close or at 100(with the right set up and motor) but do you really want to go 100 in a v bottom you just said you never know witch side they will pitch you from at thoes speeds.I plan to make my Kachina a runner but plan to keep it under or around 90.More relisticaly it will run in the upper 80s I hope.And isent Mikes(Cyclones) a TR Bonivile so more than just a V?
Jake :rolleyes:

[MikeF]

Liberty :D .
How fast you let off the throttle is the reason why those "scary" rides happen. That is with ANY v bottom. Hull sucks down to the water and then makes it's turn on it's own if you're not on the throttle.
Cyclone seems pretty happy wink with his Rogers and it is another WELL MADE hull. ToddnJuzz has an 18' that is supposed to be the ticket (according to Roger's himself) and I know it runs real good with a mild powerplant!
If you want to go fast pretty easy, get a 19' Daytona tunnel. It's hard to beat :cool: .

[MikeF]

Tolly:
One of which ran about 104mph with a big inch nitrous motor, and the guy never knew which way it was going to go when he let off the gas after a speed run "Scary!"That is another thing. When you let off the nitrous during one of those speed runs....it is the same as letting off the throttle too quickly. Nitrous should only be used for acceleration...NOT top speed!
THAT is why it becomes dangerous eek! .

[Jake W]

Or if the Motor dies or blows or pump locks up.I Jetaway would help but how much?I bought one for my Kachina and we are only talking upper 80s.
Jake eek!

[HBjet]

Tolly:
if you had to pick a V-bottom hull to build your river/lake racer......heavy enough for a couple of G-string clad chicks to lay out on the deck sunbathing without cracking them.......used on a regular basis at a lake that can and does get pretty rough.Are you talking about me?
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/36DSCN2292-med.JPG
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/203girls.jpg
HBjet

[HBjet]

I would check out the Rogers 19' bonn. TR (just like Cyclones boat)
His hull is a great hull, and it sure hauls ass with 740hp.
HBjet

[Aluminum Squirt]

Look at the Eagle aluminum jets. They are light, strong, turn well, look great and you can use a hammer to fix them, not glass and resin. I'm not even running 5000RPM's on a stock 350 and a B impeller and I'm getting 68 MPH. Of course its only 15ft but moderate horsepower will get you good speed and you don't ever have to worry about somebody showing up with the same boat, unless you move to Canada or Souther Oregon-Aluminum Squirt

[mrgoslow]

there a liberty on our lake w/ a bland 454 that seems to run well, mid 70's. but i think those aluminum jets are schiznick. after watching some of those river vids, makes me want to jump stuff at high speed.

[cyclone]

Here's my take. After riding in and driving Randy's boat, Todd's boat and of course mine, I'd have to go with either Todd's. The liberty's are very fast, but I'm not a big fan of the the way they spin out if you turn them too hard and they seem to hook when you let off the gas too fast. Of course experience behind the wheel and common sense can keep either of these circumstances from happening. My boat (Rogers 19' Bonneville TR) turns on a dime and you can literally shut it down from almost wide open throttle without it trying pitch you out of the boat. Now Todd's boat (Rogers 18' Bonneville) is probably the best v-bottom hull i've ever driven. He's got a mild 454 in his boat and its running at least 80mph and it handles beautifully. None of these hulls are light lay ups and you'd be well off with any of them, but if i were to do it all over again, I'd get a boat like Todd's.

[cyclone]

a couple of things i did forget to mention is that Randy's boat has way more interior room in the cockpit than Todds or my boat. Plus it seems to attract thong-clad ladies very well.

[Hotcrusader76]

Yeah my thong clad lady was driving his boat last weekend....right by me as I was being towed in....grrr :D

[Bense468]

When you let off the gas too fast in a jet the impellar stops spinning or slows way down I should say. Now all that water that is being sent through the intake has no where to go. So it lifts the back of the boat and thats where you get into trouble. This happens very fast at 90.
Libertys were ran in circles back in the day. They need a center skag to turn hard.
[ August 28, 2003, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: Bense468 ]

[THE BOSTON SIDEWINDER]

HEY, ANY BODY KNOW OF ANY SIDEWINDERS THAT THEY OWN OR HAVE HEARD ABOUT THAT DO 80 OR 90 MPH WITH A BERKELERY JG PUMP, OR ARE THEY TOO HEAVY? I LOVE THE SOFT RIDE BUT AM ALWAYS TRYING TO GET MORE. WOULD A WHIPPLE CHARGER FOR IT'S FUTURE BE TOO MUCH, GIVEN EVERYTHING CAN STAND THE STRAIN?...BILL.

[BrendellaJet]

I was talking to Jack at MPD yesterday, and we had a conversation about the Liberty and the Rogers. His opinion was that the Liberty ran circles better than the Rogers, but for just a lake boat the Rogers would be a faster hull. I beleive it coming from him, especially since he owns a liberty. Very unbiased.

[Heatseeker]

I am always glad to here how nice Roger's 19'Bonnevilles handle, especially since I'm working on one. But I heard that not long ago Roger himself was looking for a 18' Bonneville for his own personal use.
That says something about the 18'!

[quiet riot]

I'm kinda biased with the strength to weight ratio of the aluminum hulls such as the eagles that aluminum squirt mentioned above. A 6-700lb 19 ft hull will hold up very well to bouncing off rocks, a lightweight version (I think eagle racing does these too) is all kindsa plenty strong for rough lake chop and such.
On the fiberglass side of things there are a couple eliminator sprint boats that I run with in the columbia drag boat association (a division of ihba) that are great lake boats and respond well with medium power. The rogers I've been in were really good performers with a good ride and solid build.
Bottom line, whatever catches your eye and fits the budget from the list that everyones giving you.

[quiet riot]

And as far as turning when letting off at high speeds, I had a fun :mad: experience with that this year. Right before the finish line at the drags, my msd box died, killing the motor. It set down straight for a second then hit a little chop and sent me sideways in a big hurry.
Keep in mind my boat is made for turning really fast, not neccessarily for speed. I just grabbed the steering wheel as hard as I could to hang on and went through the speed trap sideways at 77mph. I luckily stayed in the boat and came to rest about 35 feet past the speed trap that measured 77mph and had the boat pointing back at the start line.
Just had to be towed in and replace the msd box and went back to racing eliminations on sunday. This is the only time my boat broke down on me in the 8 years I've had it, just happened to be at about the worst possible time. Oh well, guess it could have been in the middle of some class IV rapids. eek! eek!

[Jungle Boy]

If you want a nice boat that is fast and light, then get a Eagle 19' Sport with a Step-Tech bottom. A stock ZZ4 engine will move them to nearly 80 mph in a striped mode. With a full interior and a 400 hp small block, you'll get 75 mph. Check them out at www.EagleRacing.ca. (http://www.EagleRacing.ca.) You'll be very happy with one of these boats. I'm building another 19' sport over this winter and am going to power it with my 434 ci small block. With full interior and windshield, I am expecting 80 - 85 mph on pump gas.

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

HBjet:
Tolly:
if you had to pick a V-bottom hull to build your river/lake racer......heavy enough for a couple of G-string clad chicks to lay out on the deck sunbathing without cracking them.......used on a regular basis at a lake that can and does get pretty rough.Are you talking about me?
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/36DSCN2292-med.JPG
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/203girls.jpg
HBjet yes it appears you have a new fan. wink Refer him to me (president of the HBjet fan club) and I can fix him up with t-shirts, hats, sun-glasses the whole HB apparel line. I also am working on getting some stickers...... :D
Omega
(still the president)

[pops1]

Tolly:
I have ever seen personally were a couple of Elim.Libertys. One of which ran about 104mph with a big inch nitrous motor, and the guy never knew which way it was going to go when he let off the gas after a speed run "Scary!" The other had a 8-71 blown 441ci BBC in it and ran in the 90's. Both of these boats were heavy enough for a couple of G-string clad chicks to lay out on the deck sunbathing without cracking them, and they were both used on a regular basis at a lake that can and does get pretty rough. You must remember the head pressure you are building at shut down in and after 80 MPH.
The impellers is dropped to 600-800 rpms thus blocking the flow thru of water out the pump.
The intake is still loading hard, no where for the water to go except in the Suction.
You get transom lift and bow steer and a wild shut down or worse!. In a bad design tunnel you get the added atraction of 90 degree turns which always pitch you in the drink. I call them the "Get Wet's"
That's why all 80 MPH boats should have a Pop Off & a Rachet. The Pop Off reads the pressure and vacate's the suction when over-pressured.
A rachet will help some -maybe -what a rachet doe's is freewheel and consumes the twist of the Torque when you lose a motor or blower. Both are safety features and save lives.
[ September 08, 2003, 10:08 AM: Message edited by: pops1 ]

[LAPD Gary]

Having owned a stock powered Liberty for eight years, I can say it handled chop well, but the Eliminator versions (mine) were heavy. The Bonneville (I've driven 3) planes faster with similar power and held plenty of NJBA circle race wins. Jack is not only biased, he helped design the Liberty. It's bottom is based off of a Horizon hull. The Carrera Eclipse shares the same bottom. Just ask Jack about the Von Bacon Express, it was a Rogers Bonneville and was not beat often.
As far as spin outs, I spun my Liberty 3 times in the first year, between speeds of 40-50 mph. It was my first boat, was new to boats, can say the bow stayed up and very little amount of water came in. As bad as those scenarios were, the boat handled the situation well. Many other hulls would have swamped.
Of course, you could always do a heavy lay up gullwing at 600lbs. like the guy in Havasu. No cracks there.
Either way, an average gullwing 19ft. is around 500+ lbs., most normal weight women can lay on them. It's the 420lb and < 18ft. gull wings that have "weight issues" for the gals.
As for the Libertys?/ well, I had a drunk 6-8" 270 pounder stand on mine once, no cracks before/after I shoved him off/LOL.
You can make most 18-19 hulls hit 100, it's all in enough horsepower and pump designs. Some need a LOT more than others.

[MikeF]

LAPD Gary:
It's bottom is based off of a Horizon hull.That would be a HORNET hull. :p :D wink .

[Jake W]

Its like I am reading my post over and over just in other peoples post(jet away) idea (most boats around 18 19 feet with the rite set up will do 100) idea BUT ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO 100 IN A V BOTTOM?At the track for sure but at the lake?you better get a helment and life line jacket.
Jake :D

[LAPD Gary]

Oops, my bad,
Got the "HOR" part right, at least/lol. Those Hornet decks were ugly too.

[LAPD Gary]

And while I'm here, what about the late, great Dale Anderson 19ft. CP? That boat is a standard weight 19 that can, with full interior, run an honest 9.5 sec. quarter mile and go even quicker with a few extra mods and no interior at Ming. It started with a 572 Pfaff single carb to boot and has more power now thanks to DNE. I saw that boat pull tubers during the day and lay down 106 mph passes at Lost Lake back in 2000. It still can today.

[Freak]

Jungle boy do they make a 21sport with the step tek bottom?

[scorpionking]

i have a 21 ft eagle steptech fully decked out with interior,carpet,subs,amps,coolers etc that rides and drives like a cadillac with a zz502 with a agressor pump that is running 82 mph fully loaded with two guys and 40 gallons of gas. they make a 21 ft tunnel that really looks more like a v bottom and handles like a v bottom but outperforms the steptech hull hands down,if you want speed, the eagle tunnel is the way to go, here in the midwest a company called gator boats buys the eagle hulls and finishes them off. they have several tunnels running well over 100mph naturally aspirated. you can see the boats at www.gatorboatsjet.com. (http://www.gatorboatsjet.com.) they have some cool video on the website. check em out.......