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It only happened in Canada in the Canadian Boating Federation because of Mercury Marine’s Canadian Division support of and influence in the OPC (Outboard Performance Craft). EP was cubic 50 inch maximum displacement by definition. The first rule change in the mid 1970’s was to allow the 650XS to race in EP. APBA nor UIM didn’t allow the 650XS in a stock production class due to the low production number of motors manufactured. The addition of the 650XS in Canadian EP division ended up being a positive and made the class very competitive between OMC and Mercury.
The 650XS was a 49 cubic inch motor.
In 1991 Mercury suggested an increase in EP from 50 cubic inch to 53 cubic inch maximum displacement in 1992 mercury came out with the 52 cubic inch model. In 1997 mercury did it again and requested the displacement be increased to 60 cubic inches. And as expected in 1998 the 59 cubic mercury came into production. Individuals never would have be able to get those changes passed in CBF. Mercury was never able or even attempted to make similar changes in APBA or UIM. The changes were upsetting to the OMC racers, but without mercury’s Continuing support of CBF OPC there wouldn’t have been any Canadian OPC period!
The increase to 60 cubic inches enabled the 70CES Yamaha and the OMC 56 cubic inch OMC motors into the class. EP became FV under Professional Powerboat Racing leadership and FV became T850.
All in all the mercury changes all thou upsetting at the time have benefited the class and it wouldn’t be here today had those changes not happened.

“yes Don but the SST 90 Mercury really screwed up our SST 60 class!”

I didn’t race in SST 60 until 2004, but, we were racing in CBF in the early1990’s in Sport C and later EP so I was on site at the time and heard all the complaints from the OMC racers and watched the SST 60/75/90 races where the few mercury SST 90 boats dominated the class and I think the only difference CBF did was to increase the weight minimum on the SST 90’s. One SST 90 a Toth hull was very dominant and won with ease. So I could understand why the OMC racers were frustrated.
My opinion changed when Blair Kant’s won the Canadian Nationals with a SST 60 on a Yeehaa hull and beat that Toth SST 90 mercury.
I checked the APBA record book and saw the records for the SST 60 were better that the records for the SST 90. The Canadian SST 60’s didn’t perform was well as the American SST 60s.
The Yeehaa hull was not the dominant hull in the US. Paul Pitman was the dominant SST 60 racer and he designed an built his own boat.
A YouTube in boat camera showing the dashboard and tachometer while Paul Pitman drove his boat to victory in the US Nationals was an eye opener. You could see how quickly the rpm’s increased as the boat accelerated and the maximum rpm of a consistent 7800. When APBA posted his lap times you understood why he was so strong.
Paul Pitman sold plans of his boat to other racers and to this day his boat design and the Pugh hull are the dominant hulls in SST 60. Interesting that Blair Kant’s last SST 60 was a Pitman hull and it was superior in performance to the Yeehaa
We raced a Pugh hull with a Scycraft bottom in APR Superleaque. Formula 3 (SST 60).