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The rules for the class changed . Originally in was a Mod 3 cylinder class call SSV . The hulls were the Brighton Florida built Celled critchfield Boats. Later other celled critchfield boats raced. It then expanded to allow larger motors up to 100 cubic inch and larger boats. The class died after that change because the three cylinder motors weren’t competitive and there was too much difference in boat size which really affected the water conditions.

These three records would have been set running basic SST 60 powerheads on a 950 lb celled critchfield. Not much faster than the old EP 49 cubic inch OMC 850 lb recond. That was the idea behind the class. APBA needed a class replace EP.
APBA: 3 mile/3 laps - Closed-Course May 16, 1999 Lake Alfred, FL Ron Titus John Hansen Chupacabras (Critchfield) Evinrude 64.247
APBA: 3 mile/4 laps - Closed-Course Apr 18, 1998 Hazlehurst, GA Ron Titus John Hansen Chupacabras (Critchfield) Evinrude 56.639
APBA: 5 mile/3 laps - Closed-Course Mar 28, 1999 Lakeland, FL Ron Titus Ron Titus Chupacabras (Critchfield) Evinrude 70.561

Now this record I believe has a typo. I don’t recall a Steve Cooper Racing in the class. I did know a Steve Cooler and Steve was very competitive in the class running a Yamaha Mod 90 /15 inch midsection/55 hp Yamaha gearcase
APBA: 5 mile/4 laps - Closed-Course Oct 9, 1999 Lake Alfred, FL Steve Cooper Steve Cooper (Critchfield) Yamaha 68.519

Now this is after they changed the rules. Jerry raced a modV4 , celled 15 foot Allison. You can see the huge jump in performance. They adjusted the weight rules so the larger motors had to weigh more ....total weight was boat/motor/driver..there were different weights for different motors, but it was obvious the 3 cylinder racers couldn’t compete.
WORLD: Kilo - Straightaway Apr 8, 2006 Crescent City, FL Jerry Sellner Jerry Sellner (Allison) Johnson 86.772

History does repeat itself and you learn a lot from the history of APBA Sportcraft OPC division.
Look at the number of Mod race classes there have been in OPC division that have failed in a few years. Only one that hasn’t is Mod U.

Now look at Stock Outboard Division....the stock motor classes have lasted decades....the mod classes have trouble.

T class in Canada has the rule structure to adjust immediately unlike other classes. There are far more T boats in Ontario than any other type of raceboat.
You can run different class groups in the same heat and award points to each group.
Rule 24
24. Fair Competition Rule: A motor's eligibility and class placement is subject to TCORD Racing Committee approval. A boat will race in the class where it is most competitive. No boat will be allowed to dominate.


Think of the bigger picture.....first off Not every T boat owner cares to run 75 plus mph...most parents wouldn’t want their child to have a small boat that was ORIGINALLY a 64-68 mph raceboat to now run 75 plus mph.
I still think it’s possible to get 15 to 20 T boats at each event. Fact is we did have that many and maybe we got too selfish and only thought of our own success.
It only takes a few people to regenerate T750. The class proved that it could draw new people into the class....Pandemic hurt our sport, but a unique feature of boat racers is they leave for a while because of changes in their life....then they return or their children start racing.

Oh, well maybe turning 80 has got me out of touch with the young generation, but I hope not!

Hounddog (quote) T class in Canada has the rule structure to adjust immediately unlike other classes. There are far more T boats in Ontario than any other type of raceboat.
You can run different class groups in the same heat and award points to each group.
Rule 24
24. Fair Competition Rule: A motor's eligibility and class placement is subject to TCORD Racing Committee approval. A boat will race in the class where it is most competitive. No boat will be allowed to dominate.[/quote]

I think it’s an easy rule to understand. I think few have read the rule book . Non racers wouldn’t even know about the rule. The rule encourages new people to try racing.

To discover the thrill and fun of T boat racing you need to try it. You wouldn’t be racing the other T boats on your lake or even have a T boat if you weren’t that type. You want to know how fast you are compared to the other T boats. And you want to compete against your friends.

T Class in Ontario was based on that fact and the reason for rule 24.
The class is open to most T boats powered by production outboards up to 60 cubic inch on 12 to 15 foot fiberglass V hulls.

The majority of the recreational T boats in Ontario run between 50 to 65 mph. The 3 cylinder ones performance is similar to a top racing T750. The rule allows many of those triples to run T750.
They won’t receive points racing in T750, but can sometimes get points in T850.
Example
You have a Voodoo with a long shaft 70 Johnson. The entries list shows 16 boats. 4 of the boats are T750 and 12 are T850. Of the 12 T850 entries 3 wouldn’t be competitive with the other T850 including your Voodoo.
They will run the 3 T850 boats with the 4 T750 so there are 7 boats in T750 and 9 in T850.
The T750 race is much more fun for you. for the fans and for the 4 T750 racers. The top T750 boats will be very competitive with your Voodoo. Say you finish 3 rd. The T750 finish 1,2,4 & 6th.
The T750 boats will be scored 1,2,3 & 4 in T750. You would be scored 10 in T850, the 5 th place 11 thi in T850 and the 7 th place 12 th in T850.

Now it isn’t automatic this will happen It will depends on the entries and how competitive the groupings are .

My previous post got me thinking about things we did in the early years to encourage new people to try racing in T Class.
In the beginning we didn’t have many former FV drivers or legal boats. To grow the class we needed to promote and draw new people.
The Boat Show and Fast Boats Canada gave the class some exposure.
Toronto Outboard Racing Club allowed us to run testing at their events so I could design rules to fit the wide range of boat and motor combinations .
Once we had rules approved by CBF we were allowed to race.
The lucky draw for $100.00 cash draw out of a hat each race day was a bonus.

It wasn’t long before we had 15 to 20 T boats at each TORC event. To give each racer an opportunity to gain experience I would mix the entries in the heats so everyone got the chance to run near the front. We would put all the experienced racers in one heat and the rookies in the second heat. As the rookies improved the top rookies moved up to race with the more experienced drivers.

Lots of funny happenings and it was great to see the smiles.