This last weekend was the season opener of the Southern Drag Boat Association points championship on the Brazos River at Waco, Texas. We did not fair well after spinning a main bearing and demolishing the gear drive as it exitted the engine block, but it is repairable. After we broke I became a spectator and took a bunch of pics of the qualifying action.
They can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/apeximages
Let me know what you think.
PaulSands
30 Apr 2003, 09:07
Drag Boats? Coooooool :laugh: what sort of speeds are we talking?
Nice pics btw
Thanks. Drag boats are something thats hard to put into words. The violence and speed can be amazing in person.
Our boat ran 12.355 at 88 mph. Not our best pass by far. We race in the second to slowest sportsman class. The fastest open cockpit boats run up to 8.25 seconds at 135 mph. The enclosed cockpit boats, depending on class, can exceed 200 mph. Tim Stokes set a new speed record at Waco in his Top Alcohol Hydro Widowmaker. The old record was 208 mph and he ran a 215 mph pass and then backed it up with a 217 mph pass. Drag racing requires that two passes within 10% of each other be made to set a national record. The bright green capsule boat, Screamin' Demon, is the first Blown Gas Hydro to exceed 200 mph, which he did last year at Oklahoma City.
Something else that impressed me was the Personal Watercraft class this year. A boat called the Texas Slingshot, a 1200cc Polaris, went 13.87 seconds at 88 mph. That is way fast on a personal watercraft.
