Gt Pro -- New Class For Region 8

[Chairman]

At the January meeting of the Twin City Powerboat Association, the GT Pro Rules Committee presented the revised rules, the board approved them, and now they will be brought to the APBA national meeting by Region 8 chairman Al Tucker. The revised rules:

GT PRO Rules

A. Driver's Minimum Age 14

B. Motors (NOTE: see also OPC rules #24 and #25 regarding replacement parts and modifications.)
1. Any 35 horsepower, two cylinder, 31.8 cid. Johnson or Evinrude is allowed.
2. Unlimited part swapping with parts origninal to the 31.8 cid. OMC powerhead is allowed.
3.Engines must be stock, -- as manufactured (no blueprinting) -- with the following exceptions

a. Rpm limiters and oil injection systems may be removed.
b. Electric start may be added
c. Solid or pinned motor mounts are allowed.
d. Tiller arms may be removed
e. Air silencers may be removed
f. Skeg wear bar may be removed
g. Under-flywheel ignition may be converted to powerpack ignition using OEM or
aftermarket parts/kits.
h. Neutral start switch may be removed
i. Cylinders may be bored .30 over and fitted with OEM oversize pistons.
j. Reeds of any material, OEM or aftermarket, are allowed.

4. Power trim, manual-trim or spoilers, adjustable while the boat is underway is allowed.
5. Transom adapters for raising, lowering or extending the engine will be allowed, but must be fixed while
underway
6. Two 1"diameter holes that can be readily plugged (for testing) may be drilled in the lower unit above the
cavitation plate.
7. Cosmetic appearance of engine may be changed.
8. Engines must be securely bolted to the boat with a minimum of two bolts

C. Boats: 10'0" long, 48" wide minimum; Minimum Weight 650 Lbs.
1. Boats of any material, homebuilt, custom-built or production, are allowed
2. Boats may be v-bottom, modified vee or tunnel (no hydroplanes). Four inch minimum tunnel depth at
transom.
3. Drivers must be sitting in a seat at all times, using a foot throttle and steering wheel.
4. Junction of seat and seat back may not be more than 36" rearward of midships.
5. Boats must have a minimum of 3 cu. ft. of floatation foam.
6. Boats will be required to start off plane.

D. Propellers – Any propeller, prop nut, washer and thrust washer.

[Ron Hill]

Chairman: You say, "Cylinders may be bored .30 over and fitted with OEM oversize pistons." Prop Marine sells and OEM REPLACEMENT PISTON and so does Wiseco. In the 45's the Wiseco are slower, so there is no reason to fight about making them legal. Pro Marine's prices are very good...

Is there a reason to now allow Wiseco or Pro Marine pistons? Or is it just easier to enforce the rules? Watching Moto Cross on TV, again today, , I saw sponsors that weren't Yamaha or Kawasaki....Seems, I feel, we need to bring in a WISECO, JP1, Pro Marine as outside sponosrs... (JP1's oil is legal but he doesn't push it for outboards)...

Is it a big deal to disconnect the rev limiters or is it just a wire somewhere...

ADD:

I know there was a seat rule at one time for EP and others...How do you plan to measure this seat, as I see, a BIG *** like me, maybe wanting to get my butt back as far as possible...Any like plus or minus here??? Put an "X" where your *** goses and that is the measuring spot???

LAST ADD; Two one ich exhaust holes...Was this MY IDEA??? When my kids drove little boats, I put hoes in the gearcase so I could hear them of the river...I lways felt threading them or drilling them so a bolt and washer could close them was a great idea...

This is a GREAT SPORTSMEN'S Class...

LAST , LAST ADD:

Anyway you could give me serial numbers or model numbers of legal motors...I find these mother all the time and have no clue if they are a PROP GT

THANKS: WHEN THE GREAT SCORED IS COUNTED PRO GT WILL BE IN THE TOP FIVE!!!!

Ports, heads an such are to be stock, plus or minus....a few hundred thosandths???

Why not, when the lake gets soft, run a GT PRO with a GPS for a BRF Record??? I' think it would be a kick to see the speeds and all!!!

[Chairman]

The OEM rule is really for simplicity. We don't know if Wiseco pistons would be a plus or a minus, but if they result in a distinct advantage then everyone will need them to compete. Which just adds expense and complexity, and we're trying to keep it a simple, stock class. We are allowing plastic reeds to protect engines in case of breakage.

The seat rule seems pretty straightforward, no need for plus or minus. We just don't want someone sitting so far back that his boat is likely to go over backward. We lifted this one right off the Mini GT rules.

I don't know who the drilled lower unit rule came from, maybe Howard Pipkorn -- the rule applies to "his" VP class as well. On newer (~1989 +) OMCs, the exhaust relief at the top of the mid-section has a plastic cover which is easily removed (and replaced) to accomplish the same thing.

OMC made 31.8 cubic inch motors, with thru-hub exhaust, for the following years:

1976 -- 1994 35 hp
1984 -- 2005 30 hp
1985 -- 2005 25 hp
1985 -- 1999 20 hp

As far as we can tell the blocks are all the same, except that some have oval ports and some drilled ports. Most of the oval ports are on 30 hp motors with electric start, and some of the earlier 35s. Basically, you can start with any one of these motors, upgrade the intake and carb if it's a 20 or 25, and you're ready to go.

Best speed I've seen so far is 46+ with a v-bottom. That's using an off-the-shelf OMC prop that was worked a bit by a rank amateur (me). I'm hoping we can push the "record" up to about 50 mph. I suspect tunnels will be a little faster overall, but v-bottoms may get better hole shot. We'll see.

It's 10 degrees below zero this morning, so I don't think the water getting soft yet.

[Ron Hill]

This has a thur hub exhaust...is this one....of the legal ones?

[Chairman]

Yup, that is one of the legal ones. Looks a bit salty!!

[Ron Hill]

In the summer I get really busy, I get about 150 E-Mails a day...AND, I actaully answer almost all of them...I'd guess that 25% of the e-mails I get are for boats with 75 HP or less. I usually assume, it is because anyone who readings BRF know I love small boats as muchas, or even more than big boats....

I was told the other day by a very close friend, "That I was a very happy man..." I believe she's right, and I believe it is because I enjoy helping others with their boats...

I was reading Region 8's news in the November 2008, Propeller Magazine and saw wher Jeff Larson, jfcllama@comcast.net had written about a race in Little Falls, Minnesota... Several things STOOD OUT to me in this article...

One, he said it was a NON-Sponsored race.....Well, I've said for a long time, the best race of the day is the one you are in or the one your kid is in.....If we want BOAT RACING to survive as a FAMILY SPORT, Families have to pay for their play... It appears anyway, that the people in Region 8 have enough people to put on their own race....for themselves....BRF's Moto: Family, Friends and Fun...

Second, 8 GT Pro boats......, as OPC Chair, reinstated MINI Gran Prix as Mini GT....made it a local class...These Region 8 people made Mini GT into PROP GT....But are racing sit down boats, fishing motors........pay as you go equipment....

As far as LOCAL RACING GOES.......I think all racing is LOCAL....

Kudos to Region 8..... Would someone from Region 8 contact me...I will give a NEW GT PROP propeller to the top three point winners and a random draw...Four propellers for PRO GT for Ron Hill for 2009!!! AND, I'll send the props ahead of time so you could allow people to test these four props, and I could rework them.....by the time Region 8 awards come around...

[Chairman]

Ron,

A very generous offer, and I thank you very much on behalf of the GT Pro class, of which I am class captain. The top three highpoints winners for 2008 were:

1st Bob Dillon
2nd Stephanie Hansen
3rd Megan Halver

Other GT Pro boat owners are:

Tyler Welch
Don Yuronich (two boats !!)
Brander Halver
Mervin Bjork

I can provide addresses via PM when the time comes.

Again, many thanks to you, Ron.

Bob

[Chairman]

Now is the time to start that winter boatbuilding project. I am currently offering plans for three GT Pro boats:



The Dillon Mini Tunnel: Plans price $45. Construction notes at http://www.dillon-racing.com/plans/m...page-index.htm







The Dillon Mini Vee: Plans price $40. Construction notes at http://www.dillon-racing.com/mini-ve...page-index.htm. This is a particularly good project for a first-time boatbuilder.






The Dillon Pro Vee: Plans price $45. (2008 Highpoints winner) Construction notes at http://www.dillon-racing.com/pro-vee...page-index.htm






Plans are available at http://www.dillon-racing.com, payable thru Paypal and shipped FREE via email. Also see more picutures, race reports, YouTube videos, boats for sale, GT Pro racing rules and my latest project, the Dillon Pro Tunnel, under construction right now.

Also available at http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/bobdillon

Bob

[Chairman]

GT Pro is a Region 8 Sportsman class which was introduced in Minnesota in 2007 by the Twin City Powerboat Association.

This is simple, fishing motor racing using readily available 35 hp OMCs on tunnels and v-bottoms at least ten feet long.

The class really took off in 2008. We had a total of nine drivers this year. All of them had at least one top four finish; eight of them had at least one podium finish; and four drivers took home first place trophies.

Build your own boat, or buy what you can find. Besides four homebuilts we had three Racemasters, a Kober Cat and a Rinker in 2008. We are hoping for three more homebuilts next year along with a Flyer and maybe a Hydrasport.

I know of a few boats for sale including a Yamato v-bottom and a Grand Prix tunnel. See http://www.dillon-racing.com/boats-for-sale.htm.

Come to http://www.dillon-racing.com for the full story. See also http://www.twincitypowerboatracing.com/.

Bob

[Ron Hill]

I'm interested in knowing how many e-mails you get about your boat plans....as I know I get about 100 prop questions, per week, for boats about this size...
http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...4200#post64200

Also, do you know how many Mini GT's and Pro GT's cross the starting line this year??? (In Region 8)...How many Sport C's cross the starting line in 2008, in Region 8???